Analysis of sound in Vertigo and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

We analysed the sound in the opening sequence of the 1958 psychological thriller, Vertigo. At the beginning of the opening sequence, we can see close up shots of a character’s facial features such as lips and eyes. The music is quiet at the beginning and gradually gets louder and when the first title ‘James Stewart’ comes up at 0:08, we can hear a loud brass instrument. After this, whenever a title comes up, brass and violin sounds can be heard. A xylophone and harp can also be heard being played in the background lightly, throughout the close ups of the character. The sound in the first part of the opening sequence matches the camerawork as close up shots are used on the persons face. We would think that the close ups were a bit strange if there was no music but with the music included, the close ups make the audience feel as if something isn’t right.

At 0:44, we can see a spiral in the characters eye and as the spiral gets nearer, the non diegetic sound gets louder. In this part of the opening sequence, the sounds are more continuous as instruments such as a violin aren’t just played for a short amount of time, like they were in the first part of the sequence. The diegetic sound in this part of the opening sequence is parallel to what is happening on the screen because there are spirals on the screen which are quite strange and hypnotic and the diegetic music being played sounds strange and weird and not like music that you would usually hear. Throughout the majority of this part of the opening sequence, a violin can be heard but after about 35 seconds, we can hear the xylophone and the brass instrument come back in. Towards the end of this opening sequence, the violin gradually comes back in and all of the instruments used to create these sounds are heard at the end of the sequence, when we can see the characters eye once again. The last sound we hear is a brass instrument, possibly a trombone, as it sounds very low and deep.

 

The instruments used in this opening sequence fitted well with the opening sequence as the sound of the violin and the brass instrument created a dangerous feeling. The xylophone and the harp sounds created a calm feeling so when all of these instruments were used together, the 2 different feelings created an mysterious atmosphere and confused the audience as they were unsure of what was going to happen.

 

 

 

We also analysed the sound during the opening sequence of the 2011 crime thriller, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The track that can be heard in the opening sequence is a cover of the 1970 hit ‘Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin. Throughout the opening sequence, the main sound we can hear is a drum beat.

When the opening sequence starts, we can hear a build up of music, before hearing drum beats which start at 0:05. The drum beats are very fast and have a repetitive rhythm so they catch the audience’s attention. The drum beats are parallel to the opening sequence because they give the sequence a sense of action and in the opening sequence short shot duration was used. This makes the opening sequence parallel to the sound because usually in action scenes, short shot duration is used to make the scenes snappy.

The drum beats are the only sounds we can hear, until 0:13, when we can hear another sound, possibly an electric guitar. This sound sounds like an alarm which relates to the theme of the film because in crime thrillers, there are usually bad things that happen. At 0:21, we can hear a voice which sounds like a woman’s voice. This suggests that there could be a main female character in the film and this is also suggested in the title.

After 0:21, the person’s voice can be heard regularly, as the song ‘Immigrant Song’ has passed its introduction. This song is a rock song and we can tell this from the instruments that are used such as drums and possibly an electric guitar and also by the way that the singer is singing. The rock song is parallel to the theme as thrillers are meant to be scary and the way that the person is singing sounds like they’re shouting so it fits with the thriller theme. Towards the end of the opening sequence, at around 2:11, the sounds and the singing start to get louder as it reaches its climax. At 2:24 the singing comes to an abrupt end and we can hear the electric guitar playing out quietly as both the song and opening sequence come to an end.

The music in this opening sequence worked well with the sequence itself because during the sequence, the visuals were quite strange and scary such as a person’s face being tied up towards the end of the sequence. Because the song was rock, it has a scary vibe to it so fitted with the sequence whereas if the music was peaceful or was a different genre such as pop, then it wouldn’t have fitted.

Both of these opening sequences have similarities. Both of these openings have a sound that can be heard suddenly. In Vertigo, the sudden sound is the brass sound and in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the sudden sound is the singer shouting. Parts of the melody in Vertigo are repetitive as are some parts of the melody in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. However, these opening sequences have differences as well. The sound in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is completely different to the sound in Vertigo as the genre of the music is rock whereas the genre of the sound in Vertigo is classical. The music in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is modern whereas in the opening of Vertigo, the music is quite traditional. Also, there are only instruments being played in Vertigo whereas there’s music and singing can be heard in the opening of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.