Rocks the Sound!

http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/the-conversation-rocks-th e-sound/

Watching The Conversation was a breath of fresh air for me because it made me realize how little I thought about sound’s two cents in a film. I’ve gained enormous respect for sound mixers, editors, and foley artists for the hard work they put into their job. To capture the reality and impact of a story, sound technicians must manipulate the dialogue with any background or source music to flow naturally. The thing we, as audience members, do not recognize is the complexity and extreme measures sound editors go to in order to capture everyday sounds of background noises and/or to highlight specific aspects of the world the character may be experiencing with more focus.

When I think of films with great sound quality, my mind stereotypically thinks of the action genre. The Conversation is not an action film, but stings with a powerful sound design. The sound is more vast than you could expect or maybe even notice on an initial viewing. The storyline allows its main character, played by Gene Hackman, to act as an on-screen sound mixer, so in a way the sound mixing becomes almost self-referential.

Uses of Sound That Stood Out During My Viewing:
- the volume change in sound perspective with space: the dramatic difference between looking down on a street, then being plunged in the middle of it like a bystander.
- every sound in the middle of the street (birds chipping, traffic, people talking, music on the street) may be all added (or definitely enhanced) by foley artists and the way we listen to the conversation between the couple through Hackman’s services.
- the piano score drowns out city traffic.
- the musical composition is stressed in areas, whereas in other places in the film it’s muffled.
- Gene Hackman’s coat sound is enhanced by foley artists.
- Hackman tapping on the pay phone is presented with more of a “BOOM” than most likely had during shooting.
- the sound of the wine bottle being opened and poured was most likely re-recorded.
- the strange sounds in the elevator scenes is curved for effect.
- Hackman’s sound equipment allows the sound to be creative and playful.
- the misinterpreted line that dominates the film as a death threat reoccurs as offscreen sound.
- the climatic scene in the hotel rooms plays with its sound in a quiet manner, but hits hard in certain parts (drilling into the bathroom wall and the murder behind the glass), plays with offscreen sound, as Hackman tries to listen to what’s going on in the next room.

The Conversation frequently withholds the clarity of the dialogue from us for the misunderstood effect of the film. It’s a filed with complex sound work, using the stingers to excite us, rounding out the film. Francis Ford Coppola ultimately questions technology with The Conversation– is it more destructive than helpful?

Rating: 9

Grade: A

Feel the Films: A Blog by R.C.S. -> http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/