Intro of the Film, Scene and Character
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi is the final movie in the original trilogy of the well acclaimed movie franchise, known as Star Wars. Starring the original occurring cast and the three main characters, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, the movie was released in June 1983 and directed by Richard Marquand (most known for directing Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Jagged Edge and Eye of the Needle). This scene is located at the beginning of the movie, following events from the previous Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. The movie received very positive reviews, getting a rating of 8.4/10 on IMDb and 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. The main genre for this movie is Fantasy because this is set almost in another dimension, full of strange galaxies and creative planets with names such as Endor, Tatooine and Dagobah. It also features made-up characters with complicated names, such as Lando Calrissian and Han Solo. The scene I chose is the beginning scene to this film and it shows the entrance of Darth Vader entering the new construction of the Death Star II, and visiting Tiaan Jerjerrod, commander of the new Death Star. Vader informs him that his master, Emperor Palpatine, is visiting the station to see the progress of the space station, but it has fallen behind schedule and Commander Jerjerrod begins to feel the pressure as they 'need more men'. Jerjerrod comes to the conclusion, stating to Vader that the station will 'double their efforts', which Vader takes his word on.
Music
At the beginning of the scene, there are examples of diegetic music that is used when Darth Vader's shuttle enters the space station. Diegetic sounds is sound that the characters can hear to explain the action of a scene. It is otherwise known as Actual sound. An example of this is from 0:39 to 0:50, where the command centre aboard the Death Star is allowing Vader's shuttle to enter the station. There are sounds that can be heard, for example button-pressing and workers talking, which is an example of diegetic sounds because the characters (and also the audience) can hear these effects in the scene. Another example of diegetic sounds is from 1:11 to 1:21 where Vader's shuttle lands in the station. The sounds used here are examples of landing effects, which are sounds normally used when vehicles arrive somewhere. In this case, Darth Vader's shuttle arrives on the station with sounds that go from a lower pitch to a higher pitch when the camera cuts to another point of view of the ship arriving. From 2:00 to 2:15, Vader walks in the station and talks to Jerjerrod. When he is walking, the sounds of his footsteps are emphasised and also adds a bit of dramatic effect. This is another example of a diegetic sound. His footsteps emphasise his authority amongst the station and tell us, the audience, that he has more power than the other characters in the scene. When Darth Vader arrives on the Death Star and talks to Jerjerrod (from 1:51 to 3:03), the director, Richard Marquand uses a sound motif. Sound motifs are a sound effect or theme that is associated with a particular character, in this case the sound motif belongs to Darth Vader. The sound motif in this scene is Darth Vader's theme, known as the Imperial March. It is also background music which is a good example for non-diegetic sounds. Non-diegetic sounds are sounds that the audience can hear but the characters on screen cannot hear. When this soundtrack is played in this scene, it once again shows his authority amongst the other characters in the scene, including Commander Jerjerrod. This scene focuses on the villains of the movie, which creates a very negative mood in the scene. The mood is the emotional feel of the scene and in this scene, Darth Vader shows that he is the leader to everyone else and that he is to be feared.
Spoken Word
This scene features anti-naturalistic language spoken between the two characters, Commander Jerjerrod and Darth Vader. Anti-naturalistic language is words normally spoken in a film that is not seen or heard in real life. There are plenty of examples of anti-naturalistic sentences said, for example, from 2:03 to 2:08, when Darth Vader enters from his spacecraft and Commander Jerjerrod welcomes him aboard the new Death Star, Darth Vader states 'You many dispense with the pleasantries, Commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule'. This is an obvious use of anti-naturalistic language but has some fragments of naturalistic language (words or sentences seen or heard in real life), as Darth Vader seems to be the boss or the manager of the reconstruction of this new Death Star, and he is meeting with one of his workers to discuss what has happened. There is a sudden change of emotion in the face of Commander Jerjerrod, as he hears the news that the Emperor, Darth Vader's master, is visiting the station. This sudden change of emotion explains to us, as the audience, that the Emperor is somebody who has strict authority among these workers, especially for Jerjerrod. When getting the news that the Emperor is coming, Jerjerrod changes his way of speaking to Vader, stating in a very worried voice 'The Emperor's coming here...' from 2:31 to 2:36, then confidently stating to Vader that they will 'double their efforts', from 2:41 to 2:43, just to make sure that he does not feel the wrath of the Emperor (being killed by him). This can be shown in realistic times when a worker is not doing their job right and getting fired from his job by the CEO of a company. In this particular scene, there is no use of functional dialogue or emotional realism. Functional Dialogue are words that emphasise a scene. Examples are words such as 'Run!', 'Look out!' etc. Emotional Realism are words that get into a character's head which are not shown in this particular scene.
Sound FX
This scene features a lot of anti-naturalistic sound effects. Anti-naturalistic sound effects are sounds used in a film that is not heard in real life and are often made up. The first use of anti-naturalistic sound effects in this scene are the engines of a TIE fighter. This is also an example of a hyper-reality sound, which are exaggerated sound effects. TIE fighters are vehicles used by the Galactic Empire and are normally driven by Imperial pilots. The Galactic Empire is otherwise known as the villains in Star Wars. From 0:22 to 0:30, we hear these sound effects. During this period of the scene, the engines of the TIE fighters are very dominant and easy to hear. This sound effect is very screechy and of a higher pitch and tone, which is relevant in this scene because audiences know if the two vehicles to the side of Vader's shuttle are TIE fighters, even if they were heard off-screen. The key sound effect however, present when Darth Vader arrives onto the Death Star and then eventually leaves, is the metallic breathing of the character from 1:56 to 2:49. This is known as an ambient sound. An ambient sound are background sounds which are present in a scene. The metallic breathing is very cold and dark, almost like a sinister machine, which suits the character of Darth Vader very well. The sound effect is soon dyed down but can still be heard when Vader is speaking to Jerjerrod, which gives a sense that this dark sound effect will always be with Darth Vader, which is key as Vader always seems to strike fear whenever he enters a scene in the movie. This is also a foley sound effect. Foley sound effects are use of everyday sound effects included into the film. The breathing originated from a scuba diving breathing mask, which was recorded, and then included to make the metallic breathing of Darth Vader. Being the main character in this scene, Darth Vader is dominant and it is also shown whenever he walks as it is louder than the other characters. Whenever he walks, there is a synchronous sound effect. Synchronous sound effects are sounds to match certain movements occurring in a scene, in this case Darth Vader's footsteps corresponding with his feet walking in the scene.
The Shining - Come and Play with Us
Intro of the Film and Scene
The Shining is one of the most iconic horror movies ever to hit cinemas in history. The film follows the story of a family in which the father, Jack Torrance, takes his family to an isolated hotel in the middle of winter. The film is based on the book written by iconic American horror author Stephen King. The movie was released in November 1980 and was directed by Stanley Kubrick, who is known for directing iconic movies including The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange. This scene is located near the middle of the movie, which follows the child character, Danny driving in his toy bike, as he goes around the hotel and suddenly gets stopped in his tracks by two twin ghosts to tell him to 'come and play with us'. This is an iconic horror movie which got extremely positive reviews, including a 8.4/10 rating on IMDb and an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film stars three main characters including Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, Shelley Duvall as Jack's wife, Wendy Torrance and their son, Danny Torrance, played by Danny Lloyd.
Music
At the beginning of the scene, the music seems to build up very eerily, going from a lower volume to a higher volume. This is seen from 0:00 to 0:10. This particular moment in the scene creates a more scarier tone and gives us as the audience that the child Danny, seems to be all alone and we are expecting something to happen. At 0:22, we see the introduction of the ghostly twins. When they appear, there seems to be a loud crash of cymbals. This is an example of a musical sting which means there is a loud crash to emphasise a jump-cut or the introduction of a character. This scene uses non-diegetic music which is music not heard by the characters on scene. Instead, Stanley Kubrick uses eery music to almost follow the character, Danny, around.
Spoken Word
This scene features not a lot of dialogue but the dialogue used here is naturalistic language. Naturalistic language are words spoken in a film that are also heard in real life. The only key words featured in this scene are 'Come and play with us' featured between 0:38 to 0:40 and 0:45 to 0:47. When this particular words are spoken, the twins create a scary tone as these characters aren't shown in the rest of the film. By this, they are able to scare when they are on screen. These particular words get into the character's head so it creates emotional realism. Emotional realism are words or sounds that get into a character's head. In this case, the words spoken by the ghostly twins get into Danny's head and eventually he has to close his eyes (1:01).
Sound FX
Despite the film being set in modern-day, this particular scene features hyper-reality sound effects. Hyper-reality are exaggerated sound effects and in this case, the hyper reality sound effect comes at the beginning when Danny is strolling in his toy tricycle, with a very exaggerated soundtrack to follow him around. If this soundtrack did not appear in the film, audiences would think this is very normal but using the soundtrack, the audience knows that something is going to happen. This scene features synchronous sound effects with Danny's tricycle rolling around the hotel. At the beginning, he is rolling on a quite hard surface then immediately transitions to quite a soft surface when he turns the corner. The transition happens between 0:11 to 0:17. Lastly, throughout the scene, it features a ambient soundtrack, which means background sounds which are present in a scene. In this case, the soundtrack flows throughout the scene, even when the ghostly twins disappear.
