Music, Sound and Image in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Title Sequence

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Title Sequence

In this post I'm going to look at three points in the title sequence for, Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and look at what the image is doing, what the music is doing and then explaining how they work together to create a certain effect.

1/ Time Code ref: 01.00.30  09.21

At this point the images are moving from exterior to interior, the camera is on a spiraling close up of one of the chimneys of the factory. It then changes to an areal view, tilts and falls down the chimney turning into spiraling chocolate with the title of the film superimposed on to the film. 

What we can hear is a low melody played in the strings section, accompanied by higher strings, playing the same phrase on top, with 'music box' sounds playing fragmented notes, subtly hidden in the layers and high, female, vocals ascending and descending in the background, giving the piece a thick texture. The texture then becomes thinner and all of the instruments remain silent except for the violin section which, play a slightly higher ranged melody, gradually the texture is thickened by adding in the lower range instruments to play smooth legato notes of the rapid and jagged, staccato notes played by the violins. The volume of the string section increases as they play a short melody that ascends and then descends, followed by a short pause, signaling the change in dynamics of the piece. It then changes to have a very distinct 2/2 drum beat with one note slightly more punctuated than the other. There are now male voices to accompany the female voices that sing contrasting ostinauto melodies, modulated by Sci-Fi SFx, which is a signature of the composer.

The music supports the pictures here because, as you hear the repeated melody on the strings, the camera is climbing the chimney and the strings use staccato notes to give the effect of a fast paced climb. When the vocals are introduced, they sing a melody which is ascending then descending, which emphasises the climb, but also, suggests that there is a fall. At this point the texture of the is very thick which supports the images by creating a thick and heavy atmosphere, for the audience, tying in with the heavy snowfall and thick smog seen in the images. At the point where the music becomes thinner, it is preparing to change from exterior to interior, the lightness of the music at this point is simply a build to make the dramatic drop to the very low melody more dramatic.

2/ Timecode ref:  01.02.29  11.64

At this point the conveyor belt has stopped and the camera is on the hand of Willy Wonks. The camera begins to rotate around the chocolate bar as he places the first golden ticket on to the chocolate bars, during which the camera continues to move around them, zooming in at the same time until it pauses on the fifth ticket, showing it clearly.

What we can hear is the music has a slightly thinner texture as the instruments are whittled down to; mid-section strings, which play a simple bass line melody in 4/4, a music box, playing a higher melody over the strings, accompanied by high female voices, which are harmonising  with the music box. if you go from the beginning of this section the third and fifth bars have a guitar whammy over the music. All of this happens at a slower pace and is played using quaver beats, and is done with no use of percussion.

The music supports the pictures here by firstly; the music slows and becoming lighter when you first see the hand and all percussion is taken away from this scene. This supports the pictures by making the hand the main focus as the music is in the background, but, still creates a lighter and happy atmosphere for the audience, portraying the delight the ticket may bring as well as, signifying that the chaotic work pace of the machines has stopped. The repeated melody of the music box works in time with the scene changes between each ticket, giving a build up to each one and creating suspense for both, what it may say and where it may go. Finally as you get to the last ticket, of which you get a full view of, the high female vocals hold a long note as the camera hovers of the ticket. This works with the image because it highlights the previous build up and tells the audience that, this is the final ticket, giving it a glorified feel to the moment an the ticket it self.

3/ Timecode ref: 01.03.37  20.12

At this point the film has gone back to exterior surroundings outside the factory. You see the delivery vans lined up and loaded, the driven off one by one in a very uniformed manner. The camera then changes to a wide shot from behind, then very quickly, to a front view where you continue to watch the vans leave. After this the camera changes to an offside aerial view, where you can see a part of the factory and the final vans leave.

What we can hear at first is a low wind instrument ( possibly Tuba) play a short four note phrase, over the top of the music. As the low instrument fades the rest picks up the volume slightly at which point you can hear, violins playing a staccato melody accompanied by either, wind or brass instruments, playing a slightly lower tone and military style drumming. This is followed by a loud single hit of a drum, a soft droning vocal melody, ascending and a light twinkling of chimes in the background.

As the low trombone comes in, you see the first van start up and go. The trombone creates an effect of slowly trudging on, which supports the image well here, as it portrays a heavy start and a long route ahead to the audience. The violins and either woodwind or brass, instruments play a theme similar to the start of the title sequence, this triggers in the audience's mind and reminds them that they are still in the area of the factory. The military style drumming supports the image by creating a very uniformed and militarised feel to the way the vans are leaving making the importance of their deliveries a higher value than of what it usually is. It also creates a more serious side to the film by the way that it shows the organisation and timing to the vans moving out of the courtyard. As the camera changes to the aerial view you hear the single beat of a drum, the timing of it makes the audiences stop and pay attention to what is changing. After the drum you hear the soft, vocal, melody and twinkling chimes, which creates a very contrasting atmosphere to a few seconds ago bey taking it out of the serious mood and lightening it. At the point where the camera is pulling away you hear the twinkling chimes. They support the image here by adding to the lighter tone but also creates a new effect of something of a much happier tone and more magical is about to happen.     

Use of Hyper-real Sound in Films

Hyper-real Sound in Films

Hyper-real sound is where sound is exaggerated for a dramatic/narrative effect. One element of a sound score for a film could be increased in volume, brought to the front of a piece with no texture behind it or it could be sharpened and changed to intensify it's presence.

An example of this is in the trailer for The Da Vinci Code. There are many examples of hyper-real sound in this trailer alone but the point i want to talk about is, the monk whipping himself, it's only one hit but it conveys a lot of emotions and resonates in the clip.

Between 0.24 and 0.26 you hear and see the whip hit the back of the monk. The texture of the sound score has been thinned out dramatically compared to the opening scene, and the sound of the whip has been pushed to the front of the structure. You can hear that the 'whoooosh' sound that the whip makes in the build up has been dulled down very slightly and the volume then increases for the point of attack when the whip hits down on the monks back. This change in dynamics along with the thinner texture intensifies the attack, conveying the anger and emotion that the monk has but at the same time distilling fear into the audience as they make the connection between the discipline of the monk and some of the shocking circumstances that occur in the film. As well as the intensified attack, the echo of the whip resonates across the scene change by another technique called sound bridge. The accompaniment of the hyper-real sound and sound bridge create an almost blood curdling feel to this point as the audience almost feel the pain and anger in this clip as they put themselves into the situation of the monk.    

Similarly, if you look to my previous post on Foley, at the Nightmare on Elm Street clip. That scene also uses hyper-real sound in the same way, as The Da Vinci Code, to create fear in the audience.

 At the point where you hear the sound of the blades scraping against each other, the texture of the sound score is very thin, there is almost no background noise. As well as that the volume has been increased slightly, so that the sound of the blades is pushed to the front of the sound score. The almost silent background exaggerates the sound of the blades. Both films in fact, have their hyper-real sound as diegetic which helps to put the audience into the film world, making it feel more realistic and intensifying the fear that is being portrayed to the audience.

  Hyper-real sound is not always used to convey fear, anger and negative emotions, it can also be used to convey more positive emotions and be used as a great climax to a scene in a film. An example of this is in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring, the scene in which Gandalf battles the Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-Dum. 

At about 0.37 the music in the sound score decreases in volume and the voice of Gandalf ( Ian Mckellen ) is brought forward and increased in volume, when you hear, possibly the most famous line in the whole Lord of the Rings franchise "You shall not pass". As just a volume increase you may not see it as an example of hyper-real sound, however his voice is put at the front and realistically he would never be able to shout that loud in his surroundings, but to add to it the sound artists have added a slight echo to his voice to exaggerate the power behind his character, being a wizard. The immense power given to Gandalf's voice in this scene conveys a sense of courage and for a brief moment turns the film to have a more positive outlook, creating a sense of hope for the audience. 

Another example of the voice being the main element of hyper-real sounds, takes us back to The Da Vinci Code. Later in the trailer at about 1.15 you hear the sound of running footsteps and heavy breathing, before the camera moves down to then follow a man running and frantically looking behind him. The sound is synchronous with what the audience sees so it becomes obvious very quickly what it links to in the story line. The texture in this scene is very think, you have two elements, the sound of the feet and the sound of the breathing. In contrast to all of the other examples of hyper real sound the breathing is put behind the foot steps, but falls in between them so it is not hidden behind and is highlighted by the short but silent gaps between each foot step. The thin texture allows for this, as if it was to bee too thick it would disguise the breathing and take away the element of fear in this scene. Keeping with the theme of fear in The Da Vinci Code rather than using the voice to create a more positive mood keeps the sound empathetic with the rest of the clip, however, in this scene of the clip the pace is much faster than the rest of the trailer but is also brought to a sudden halt. This takes the feeling of fear up a level for the audience as it increases the pace as well as puts them into a feeling of being watched, as the sound is diegetic, it is surrounding them and really exaggerating the intensity of the film.         

The Use of Foley in Films

The use of Foley in Films

Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects which are added in post production to enhance the quality of audio for films, television, video, video games and radio. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. The best Foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to create a sense of reality within a scene. Without these crucial background noises, movies feel unnaturally quiet and uncomfortable. 

Foley is often recorded by the artists watching the film and recording sounds that create a normal effect for what the audience is seeing. For example, if the audience were to see a woman running in high heels the Foley artist would watch the clip and record themselves tapping a pair of high heels on a surface that matches the sound of the surface shown on the screen in time to the woman running. 

Foley allows filmmakers to put more realistic sounds into the production of the film. Sounds, also don't have to be   recorded in a studio, Foley allows for film makers to record sound effects on location so that the right atmosphere is recorded at the time rather that adding it in as an after effect. 

An example of this is in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit : an Unexpected Journey. In the scene in caves with the Goblins and Dwarves all of the sounds you hear for example, the sword fighting and the sounds of things breaking like wooden boxes, were recorded in some caves in New Zeland to create the echo that caves naturally have. 

  
In the video clip you can hear the sound of the swords, clashing against one another and the wooden structure of the mines collapsing. All of the sounds you hear have a slight echo, the sounds is not repeated like a normal echo but smoothly held and faded which really gives you an insight to the surroundings and puts the audience in the same spacial awareness that the characters are in. 

According to Chris Ward (co-supervising sound editor) a technique that they used to create this echo is impulse responses. Impulse Response is a technique that allows you to measure the sound response to changes in the environment, by picking up the frequencies from different airwaves. For example the frequency picked up from a clap recorded in a, studio would come back much sharper than a clap recorded in some caves, because caves have a natural echo due to their acoustics and studios have flat surfaces that reflect sound much more clearly.
If you would like to know any more on this the video I got my evidence from is linked here: http://soundworkscollection.com/videos/hobbit

In my opinion one of the most interesting and fun parts of Foley comes in after the recording. For a lot of films, especially in the Fantasy and Sci-Fi genre, common sounds may not suit the need so in comes sound modulation.

Sound Modulation is simply taking the recorded sound and changing the pitch, level and the frequency that it works on to create a new sound. You can also layer different recordings to create something very unnatural. An Example of this is in George Lucas' Star Wars movies, the sound of the TIE fighter is a drastically altered Elephant bellow.

At 3.02 you see the fighthers come in and the sound you hear with them moving is the sound of the Elephant's bellow. This scene also contains a lot of SFX for the laser blats coming from the various ships guns, the sound for which was created by, according to Filmsound.org, Ben Burt (Foley artist for Star Wars) tapping a hammer on the guy wire of a radio tower, illustrated here by this image.

  This, personally is my favourite part of Foley because they take something that's and organic sound that you would find anywhere, in the real world, and turned it inorganic to create the unnatural world that the films are set in. This scene in particular has a very good example of this with the TIE fighters but as well with the sound of the laser blasts, you can hear the attack as the hammer hits the wire and the reverberation as it fades out. All of the sound is synchronous and diegetic so it puts the audience into the films, making the story seem more realistic than it is.
All of my information on the creation of these sounds and a few more was taken from filmsound.org/starwars

Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street displays a much simpler take on Foley. According to Michael Payne, Supervising Sound Effects Editor,created most of the “finger-knives” sound effects using a variety of long blades:
machetes, bayonets, Titanium martial arts swords. To Help the sound of he blade ring out more.

At 1.36 you hear the sound of Freddie Kruger flexing his hand and scraping his blades whilst he is doing this. The sound diegetic, so it is coming from within the film world, you can see that also the other characters can hear this sound, due to their reactions of fear. This technique of Foley is similar to that of the one used in The Hobbit, as it uses layering and a variation of organic sounds, to create the desired sound. The layering technique is also used in Star Wars, however, Nightmare on Elm Street have stayed away from sound modulation, which, although the film is based on a fictional character, it is set in the 'real world', so the Foley Artists need to maintain a sense of realism. The combination of the sound coming from within the film ( being diegetic ) and the use of organic sounds,  blurs the line between the film world and the reality that the audience are in, with the addition of the setting being the present day for when the film was created, this, in turn adds a more chilling effect to the scene and brings the audience out of their comfort zone. 
All of my evidence for how the Foley was created in this scene was taken from an interview at this web address: http://designingsound.org/2010/05/a-nightmare-on-elm-street-exclusive-interview-with-andrew-decristofaro-michael-payne-and-david-farmer/