MAKING MEANING IN FILM: SOUND

Today we have three film screenings and study how the soundtrack makes meanings.
(Your PREP follows at the bottom of the lesson.)
Ours first two film openings are set in Heathrow Airport, London, but create very different meanings.

First, we look at the opening of Love Actually (dir. Richard Curtis, 2003) and we notice how the voice over anchors the meaning of the romantic comedy, that people look for love and that they find it. London Heathrow is constructed as a place of reunion, intimacy, universal warmth and fulfillment. Other film language also contributes to the message; for example, the  warm colours, the use of slowmo and the CUs on united family groups. The casting of Hugh Grant also contributes to the romantic comedy genre; he was one of Working Title's staple male romantic leads at the time.

Next, a contrasting text: Dirty Pretty Things (dir. Stephen Frears, 2002). From taxi-drivers to chambermaids, the capital now depends on illegal migrant workers. The plot of Dirty Pretty Things is sustained by the desperation of people who have no legal protection from the rules of the underworld. Okwe works double shifts, first as a taxi driver who picks up people at the airport: "I look after people who have been let down by the system." Apart from the use of dialogue, the ambient sounds at the airport along with the harsh lighting and dark colours construct this world as hostile. The immigrants' world is suggested by the Caribbean music. 

The taxi ride into London along underpasses, through dirty streets and evening light confirm this world as an unwelcoming place. We then noticed how the hotel has two faces: red, gold, hushed and lush for the clients, but grey, cold and harsh behind the scene for the migrant workers. We view the film up to the point where Okwe finds a human heart disposed of, when we know that we are in the thriller genre. Okwe emerges as first an anti hero then slowly emerges as the hero.

Finally, we watch Ae Fond Kiss (dir. Ken Loach, 2004) in which the title song foreshadows the failure of romance. The film opens with a school debate speech by Tahara, a second generation immigrant Muslim Glaswegian girl who protests that it is wrong to stereotype all Muslims; she herself is 'a dazzling mixture' and proud of it. The film explores BrAsian hybrid identities and Tahara's family is a site of conflict as her brother beaks off his arranged marriage and Tahara defies her father by planning to go to Edinburgh University.

Ae fond kiss and then we sever;  
Ae fareweel, and then for ever! 
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,  
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

PREP Over half term, take the photographs that you need to make your second fragrance advertisement. You do not need to complete the advert (unless you want to) but you will need the raw material to do so for after half term Ensure that this photo captures a more casual, sporty or relaxed quality.