Harry Potter sound analysis

PART SEVEN

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE (2009) OPENING SCENE

SOUND ANALYSIS

I'm going to analyze Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I have chosen to analyse the first sequence because i find the sound in this extract multilayered and polyseimic. It has many different pieces, sounds and tempos, all conoting different things. It is open to many interpretations. Sound is important because it conveys meaning. It is an invisible but powerful tool. Aural motives reinforce the character's actions. Even though it is not visual it can provoke an equally powerful response in the viewer.

 NON DIEGETIC

 As the sanity badge becomes closer and closer, the non-diegetic music is played to support the dark mood at atmosphere that is trying to be conveyed. The theme tune starts to play, however in a more eery, slower and more simplistic way, connoting how it forebodes and foreshadows the upcoming scene. The sound of string instruments contrasts with the harsh WARNER BROS. image. This makes it contrapuntal. I can denote that there's strong string music, mainly violins, playing near the beginning. It relates to the film and becomes stronger when the actions within the film become stronger, supporting what's going on in the narrative. This is called parallel sound. This string music plays over the top of visuals of Harry. It signifies that Harry is the hero and savior. At 0.24 wicked laughter can be heard over the top of the music. It's asynchronous because it has the same properties as a voice over/dialogue from a different scene. It's separate from the visuals. There are more cries and screams at 0.31, however they are asynchronous because it is dialogue from the previous Harry Potter film. I think the director has added in all of these asynchronous voice overs and dialogue that are separate from the visuals because it causes the audience to look back in hindsight and remember the final scene from the last film, in order to recall and then understand the present film. Sound triggers memories and so do the visuals so this is very cleverly directed. The contrapuntal and asynchronous screams connote anger. Classical choirs are singing at 0.44 which creates a tense and despair filled atmosphere. This denotes that Harry has lost someone important and he's mourning (he's lost Dumbledore). 

 

DIEGETIC

The use of diegetic sounds like Thunder, help us to understand the setting of the scene. For instance, at 1.20, the thunder is ambient sound and asynchronous as we cannot see it but in a previous shot, at 0.25, the thunder and weather had already been established so the viewer can from then understand what the noise is when it next replays. There are sound effects such as glass shattering, at 2.06, which is parallel sound and is synchronous because it's caused by an event that happens on screen. The sound matches the action. This helps to establish the visuals by supporting them with the noise effects. There is a sound bridge from 0.24 to 0.28 where the Sound effects oand visuals of thunder become sound effects of camera shots and the visuals of camera reflections in Harry's eye. This is a clever way of linking the weather and atmosphere with Harry's current whereabouts. It helps to establish the setting. The synchronous camera shots connotes that paparazzi are taking pictures of Harry. The frequency of the shots tells the audience that there are many photographers rather than just one.  This is followed by the supporting visuals. When the death eaters are passing through the air, there are many sound effects which can be heard as they fly past buses, traffic, and wind. This establishes that they are flying through a busy city. (Later recognized as London).

To conclude, I feel like this sequence was established the way it was in order to remind the audience of the events of the previous film. Their purpose was to use sound and visuals to convey the feelings of Harry and the general atmosphere and mood of London.