The Effects Of Sound In John Milius's Conan The Barbarian

The Effects of Sound in John Milius’s Conan the Barbarian

Directed by John Milius, Conan the Barbarian released in 1982 starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the main character, Conan. The movie is set in a fictional time, in a land separated into many kingdoms. Gods play a vital role in the daily lives of the common people, influencing what clothes the people wear, and the paths they travel. In Conan the Barbarian, there is a plethora of different sounds from music to metal clashing. Milius uses dialogue, music and sound effects in Conan the Barbarian to add to the emotion of the movie, to add realism to the visuals on-screen and to set the tone of the scene.

The sounds of the opening scenes set the tone and put the plot in motion by immersing

the audience into Conan’s life. The movie begins with a black screen and a narrator telling the audience the setting of the movie, and who the main character is.

It fades to a fire where a man and woman are forging a steel sword, from start to finish with the sounds associated with forging a sword. The music that accompanies this scene is a mix of percussion instruments such as cymbals and drums, and brass instruments, both medium and low-pitched. The music adds to the importance of this scene, as the sword being forged plays an important role in the next few scenes of the movie. The instruments are not seen on screen, and are non-diegetic. The use of music during the montage acts as a tool to speed up time. The next scene contains the first of the dialogue in the movie, a short bit of conversation from Conan’s father to Conan, about the gods they worship with some light music in the background. Conan’s father says “But Crom is your god…” an important line from their conversation, showing that there are multiple gods in this world, and that the god they choose to worship is an important choice to make, as it helps shape the way they live their lives. The dialogue provides more background to the main character and reveals

why the previous scene displays the creation of a steel sword and it also creates the atmosphere of the movie, by forcing this on Conan, it sets him up to become the man his destiny foretold he would become, because he’ll put his trust more in steel than people. The next scene begins with the sounds of horses galloping and metal clanking together, which lets us know an army is charging through the wilderness and coming towards Conan’s village. The use of sound effects during this time adds emotion to the battle that ensues and it helps immerse the audience into Conan’s life while watches his entire village and his parents get slaughtered for an unknown reason. These few scenes provide examples of how much of an impact sound can have on adding a feeling of tension to the movie, it also sets up a plot line.
The visual effects such as the fights, and rituals, are enhanced by sound effects. After Conan is caught sneaking into the temple of Thusla Doom, he is set to be crucified and is subsequently rescued, but dies before he can get food and water. This leads the Wizard of the Mountains to perform a ritual to revive him. The wind picks up and thunder can be heard, and the audience is left to hear the struggles of Conan’s companions as they fight to keep the spirits from taking his body. As the ritual ends, the howls of the wind stop. Another scene in which sound effects enhance the visual effects is during the scene where Conan and his companions sneak into Thulsa Doom’s lair where they fight and kill guards so they can get the princess back. The audience can hear metal clank as weapons land on the ground as Conan and his companions slay their enemies; the screams of the women as they run and hide can also be heard. The grunts of the Doom’s men attacking Conan and his companions can also be heard. The sound effects add a lot to the fights, as sound is a huge part of movies. The effects make the combat seem more realistic by using sounds that belong in a fight scene such as the clank of two metal swords meeting.
The use of sound helps to show the strong emotions that can be felt during scenes in the movie, with music playing the major role.

As Conan and company are rescuing the princess from Thusla Doom’s temple, he meets the men who slaughtered his village and family. The music in this scene starts out low-pitched, then changes to a higher pitched music. After the fight is over the music stops. In this scene, the music was used to enhance Conan’s lust for revenge; if there had not been any music during this scene the tension between Conan and the men he is trying to get revenge on would not have been as prevalent. Shortly after Conan and his companions rescue the princess from Thusla Doom, Valeria dies. The scene starts out mostly silent, with quiet music playing in the background, that gradually becomes louder and helps to create sadness in the scene, because of Conan’s love for Valeria. The music used strongly enhances this scene by conveying the emotion felt by Conan and his friend. In movies, the sounds they choose to use during certain scenes is intended to enhance many elements of the

movie.
While not the only element in films, sound plays a large role, whether it is dialogue between characters or sound effects used to make scenes feel more realistic. John Milius uses sound in Conan the Barbarian not only to enhance the emotion in certain scenes, but also to aid the visuals on-screen, and to set the tone for the scene. Dialogue, music, and sound effects are the main sounds heard throughout this movie, with music having the largest role. These different sounds can all be used to make the audience feel more synchronized with the movie, without them realizing it is even playing, because the music fits in well with the scenes they used it in, such as Valeria’s death scene, and the many fight scenes that take place.