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Sound in cinematography
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Robert Enrico, the director of the film An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge crafted a masterpiece that leaves viewers questioning “What just happened?” The film can become easily misleading to viewers due to the blurred lines between illusion and reality. Enrico uses strategic, well-thought-out methods when displaying the imagery and using minimal sound effects during the film to create a storyline ending by snapping viewers back into reality from the illusion they did not even know they were in. Furthermore, the film begins by showing the bare trees which leads the viewers to a view of a bridge appearing in the dime light. With no words to explain what is happening the audience is awaiting answers already in the first thirty second of the short …show more content…
Still, photographed in black and white, Enrico’s film depends enormously upon sound editing for its effectiveness” (46). For example, one of the most effective scenes in the short film in applying sound is when the audience hears a clock ticking in the background right before Ambrose Bierce is supposed to be hung. The general stops, and removes Bierce’s pocket watch, and the ticking sound of the clock stops, which eludes to the belief that the time has come for Bierce’s demise. Additionally, as stated before the tone of the sequence changes, and when Bierce emerges from the water, and the images that represent new life simultaneously appear as the song plays in the background. The lyrics continuously repeat the words “a living man” which eludes to the viewers Bierce is going to receive a second chance, but this is just part of the illusion that Enrico is creating in the short film. Furthermore, the scene when Bierce washes up on the embankment after surviving from his descend from the falls an explosive sound goes off. This is when Bierce comes back to the realization he is still running for his life from the military. All of these scenes are examples of how the settle amount of sounds effects are affective in distinguishing between illusion and
Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, which is a short story released in 1890, gained much popularity over the years. It is most famous for it’s manipulation of time. Though the events in the book only take seconds, the story is over eight pages long. Time seems to slow for the man in the noose and at the same time speed up for the reader. In this way, Bierce presents his manipulation of time in the story.
"An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge." Classic Reader. 2009. BlackDog Media, Web. 2 Dec 2009. .
While telling the story the storyteller used very specific details to produce an effective presentation. He paused several times for dramatic effect, indicating that something important was going to happen. Also, he told the story confidently, rarely stuttering in a short of words. The storyteller appeared to be extremely knowledgeable on the subject because the incident happened to his older brother and due to the bridge's close proximity to his home. While listening to the story I noticed several details that seemed to be exaggerated for effect, such as the three male bodies hanging from the rafters. When reaching the climax of the story the teller did a great job in portraying the frightened expressions of the driver and passengers.
Out of all the stories I have read in class so far, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, has touched me most. When I first began reading the story I felt as though I was not interested, because my assumptions of what the story was going to be about were completely different than the stories actual content. As I set aside my judgment and let myself try to enjoy the story, I found myself anxiously reading to the bitter end. This story was not only interesting and unique, but also had an added twist at the end, which surprised most readers. Depending on how observant the reader is with picking up on foreshadowing and symbolic meaning, one may realize before the final sentences that Peyton Farquar was not actually escaping home but in fact hallucinating while desperately trying to escape the hangmen.
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is a perfect example of the power of the will to live. It
OWLCREEK BRIDGE" ." ABP Journal. 1.1 (2005): n. page. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Bierce, Ambrose “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. The Norton Introduction to
to the film early on but makes the viewer want to make sense of what
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is a story of illusion, decision, and fate. It presents one with a very powerful scenario - one that questions the protagonist 's ultimate destiny, and the concept of good vs. evil. It defines the grey area of deeds by which most humans live, and uses powerful thematic concepts and devices to convey the author 's own value while leaving some space for the reader to make their own choice. Furthermore, this story discusses the life of a man who ended up on the wrong side of history, humanizing yet criminalizing him for his beliefs. This can all be attributed to a wide array of symbols and interactions- all which support the theme of illusion vs. reality. The complex thematic value of this piece stems from multiple aspects – the most important of which are the bridge through both its literal and symbolic meaning, the colour grey in all its depth and broad variations, the essence of time in all of its distortion, and the story 's style of writing.
Initially the audience is witness to how particular sound techniques shape this film. For instance, one of the main details that the audience hears is the song that the murderer whistles. Due to the marvel of sound the audience can pick out that the whistling is related to the murderer. Along with the blind man who figured this mystery out, the audience could only put these two together with this sound technique. The director shows the audience how such a simple part of every day sound can be so important to solving such a terrible crime.
...ony, and narration. Without these exceptional parts the theme would not have as much meaning and depth in its perception to the reader. The symbols show to the reader that there is a hidden message to what is going to happen in the end and hints to the theme of the story but is purposely ignored. Irony brings attention to the conscious or thoughts during the story and the unlikelihood of actually dying at the end shows how strong our minds are. Narration is brought to show the theme of his expected death and a diversion from the reality of the readers thoughts. The story is saturated with literary elements that help prove the theme of “An Occurrence of Owl Creek Bridge”.
The film is about change and every element of sound functions to reinforce that theme. The opening sequence uses an audio recording of a prisoner’s interrogation to transcend space and time. The scene bridges sound from the actual interrogation, where the sound is synchronized with the prisoner speaking the words, to a training session for future interrogators, where the sound is now simultaneous with a recording from the interrogation. The actuality of this recording is used to instruct the students in the art of extracting information and confessions from enemies of the state. The theme of change is asserted when on...
Sitting in the theater, watching this movie for the first time, I heard static break in to interrupt the beginning credits. A newscaster, sounding serious, came on the screen in a special report. I sat up to pay attention. She was reporting a tragedy that had recently happened in some place called Verona. I was pulled in thinking it to be a true special report. Ah-hah!! It was a trick. A trick to get people to do just what I did. Trained are we to listen to newscasts, our life-line in present day society, where we receive a lot of our information. A trick, and I fell for it--so did everyone else--how clever. Then the sound of crying, chorusing angels screaming angry chants echoed around the theater (great surround sound effect). Images (clips from the movie) flashed sporadically on the screen. A dark, sinister voice retold Shakespeare's prologue given in the telecast moments before. The angels were still screaming, and then, silence. A big truck flashed on the screen and gave a hearty engine growl. The truck sped loudly down the road. Stringy electric guitars and booming drums thump a loud vengeful beat. The Montague bo...
The short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, keeps you at the edge of your seat with its interesting story plot. Bierce uses symbolism, a form of literary technique, to bring deeper meaning to the short story, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Bierce also uses allusion, another form of literary technique, in the short story to keep the reader interested. The gray eyes mentioned in the story are a very important element included to symbolize the gray line within Farquhar’s mind because he has become lost. Ambrose Bierce uses literary techniques and foreshadowing to ultimately shock you with a tragic ending.
We see an unknown man in what appears to be 1930’s Los Angeles. He leaves a letter for Hall with a barman, before returning home to his wife. The same man (Fuller) awakens in (for the time) modern day Los Angeles, revealing the previous world to be a simulation, and attempts to contact Hall in the real world, but is murdered by an unknown person before he can. As well as an example of good visual storytelling in order to allow the audience to see events which will be described in dialogue later to our protagonist, consequently meaning that for the most part we do not learn more than he knows, it also adds further to the discourse in various ways. There is no indication given that the opening setting is a simulation, so the audience begins the film with no reason to believe that this is not the “real” world. This is intended to create shock when the man goes to sleep, suddenly wakening in the “real” world. The contrast between the two becomes more apparent moving directly from one scene to the other with the aid of digital editing. Filters have been placed over the scenes of the 1930’s simulation that slightly mute the colours. As this is a common convention of film’s set in an earlier time period this would not be particularly jarring, or even overly noticeable, to the audience, until the move to the 1990’s. This both enforces the idea that this is now the “real” world, the audience
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is the short story that I was most familiar with. It had been a long time since I had read the short story. Upon reading it a second time, I was left feeling confused and heartbroken. After my second reading of the short story, I discovered the theme of realism displayed in the story. The main character is set to be hanged and the audience believes everything taking place in the story is true. The end of the story reveals a huge plot twist. For the last third of the story, the man character escapes from being hanged. The audience then realizes at the very end that his escape was all in the main character’s imagination in the final few seconds before his death. After reading this part of the story, I was left heartbroken because I wanted the main character to escape. I was left confused because the language used describing the man’s escape felt real. Once I learned that it was not real, my mind was boggled. I am left wondering how in my life I confuse reality with my imagination like the man did before his