Helloween Readers!
As you all know, today is Halloween. In the spirit of the day here is an assignment I did- an audio analysis of the spooky "Donnie Darko". (If you have not seen it **SPOILER ALERT**.)
This is one of the "Cool College Assignments" I will be posting periodically.
An audio analysis is a very (very) detailed look at the sound design and music choice of a film. Most of the commentary is based off of my own opinion, which you may agree or disagree with. I looked at the aesthetics of certain elements of the choice of sound as well as logistical reasons (such as the absence of sound itself vs. the sound of a door closing- one is for the art, the other is so you believe the world on the screen is real)
I appreciate you reading this week, and be safe out there!
Love,
Ob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOWwPP6HFzQ
Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko (2001) is a psycho- drama
reflective of the “end of the world” time period it was produced in. In it we
follow a young man named Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) through 28 days to the end of
the world.
The story itself is a roller-coaster
ride on which one questions the very meaning of life and all personal
perspectives on time and understanding. Each element of the film carries another
in both aesthetics and logistical research of the ideas presented within it.
Visually dark and somewhat
comfortably-uncomfortable, Donnie Darko
carries a weight in film that gives way to the idea that film can really do
anything. If you were to close your eyes and listen only to the sound design,
score, and soundtrack you would probably come to the same conclusive feeling.
(There are no words in the music until the final sequence)
Given the excerpt I was assigned
to analyze the sound of, I came to this realization: sound design can and does
carry its film, and Donnie Darko
delivers a genius medley of thrill, confusion, drama, and romance in its
collection of audio tracks.
Throughout the movie the sound
gives you the feeling that this town is the only place in the world. The crisp
sound of every footstep, movement of clothing, lighting of a cigarette, scooting
of a chair… All are given the spotlight in this film. Undisturbed by any vocal
track in the music, these sounds stand alone as our characters seem to be.
The story of Donnie Darko is simply complicated. It has a very distinct flavor
of confusing: one that made me personally go check the Internet for different
break downs of the journey of Donnie.
It seems that Donnie is (humorously
mentioned by another character) a super hero. He is given the unique
opportunity to save the universe by traveling through time. Now, a director who hadn't written this story could have changed the very campy feel to something
much more diluted and hackneyed through the use of high key lighting and an
early 2000’s to late 1990’s stereotypical electronica soundtrack, but the subtle
base tones and slight sort of gallops to the ear give the film a growing
tension that ultimately builds supports the climax and conclusion of the film.
This film is also a great example
of the power of silence. Nowadays in our media (mostly network TV, but I
digress) we are fed over-saturated sounds- be it an incessant laugh track or a
half- assed underscore to less-assed dialogue. Though I’m sure these very
successful directors were taught that not everything they create needs to fill
the ears as much as the eyes, they could learn a thing or twenty from Richard
Kelly’s sound design. The heavy feeling of silence throughout Darko is a testament to the loneliness
of the characters within the story. Everyone could very easily exist without
being a character in a film and therefore always has a specific purpose for
being where they are when they are there. The silence connotes the loneliness
of Donnie, most importantly. He at one point states that he does not want to be
alone, but we as the viewers need to see him this way in order for the story to
carry on, so we accept the non-diegetic score of simple piano and quiet horns.
In the ending scene there are a
sequence of shots featuring nothing but the ambiance of wind, thunder and rain,
a bit of human gasps and laughs, and a very slow monotonous two notes playing
on piano with orchestra vocals. This gives the viewer the feeling of a certain
weight being lifted- even if you have no idea what the movie was about, the
sounds let us know that things are going to be at least OK for the character we
learned to love, Donnie Darko.
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