ENG225 Sound Effects The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring By: Dusty Blossom

by whitetigerzunni

This clip is titled The Breaking of the Fellowship and it is from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I chose this clip because it has a strong representative of each of the 3 main kinds of sound. The dialogue is the talking that the characters do (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). At the beginning of the clip you hear Frodo talking with Gandalf from a previous scene, this is a voice over until the scene shifts and you then see Gandalf in the clip as he talks to Frodo. Then there is more dialogue between Frodo and Sam as Sam tries to follow Frodo out into the water. Sound effects are also used in this scene. Sound effects are the sounds made and created to go along with the action in the scene (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). The sound effects in this scene include wind blowing, gravel crunching, water rushing, and water being disturbed. Then finally is the use of the music that is playing during the clip. The music playing in the background of the scene while the rest takes place is called the score (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). Behind the dialogue, there is a familiar melody playing that the audience hears often in the film. The music plays behind all the other sounds including the sound effects. When other sounds are not as important the music becomes louder, more noticeable, and builds to help create a stirring scene. The music helps the audience connect emotionally to the scene, and creates a sense of drama, and foreboding. This is only one scene from the movie; in the movie there are many other types of sounds that create different kinds of scenes. For example in an intense action scene there may be less dialogue, more intense music and different sound effects including those needed for a fight scene. The film overall has many different types of sounds used to set up and help the scene to portray the effects that the director wanted the audience to feel. The sound effects used in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring help infer the fantasy genre. The sounds of clashing swords, flying arrows, hissing orcs, screeching wraiths, and the eerie black speech that the ring itself uses help create a sense of fantasy in the film. There are realistic sounds as well like the sounds of wind, water, walking, and other sounds along with the sounds of orcs, wraiths, and evil that is heard at different times of the film. In this clip if you were to remove a type of sound the scene would fall apart. The dialogue helps move the audience and helps us to understand why certain things are happening. The sound effects create a sense of a natural feel and calm that pulls in the audience. The music is also a big part of this scene. I watched the clip with the sound off, and it did not have the meaning that it does when you can hear all the elements of sound.

Bibliography
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film:From Watching to Seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc.

Osborne, B. M., Jackson, P. (Producers), & Jackson, P. (Director). (2001). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [Motion Picture].

Clip retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCY_Hjv7vKc