Discussion Topic:
Sound Design obviously plays a large role in "The Conversation". In the opening sequence we see the couple walking through the courtyard, talking, while the "team", tries to record what they say.How is the sound in this scene changed around? What effect does the sound design in this scene have on the audience, and how does the sound designer use sound in this scene to effect the story?
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The sound is changed around in the scene by going back and forth between the couple walking through the courtyard, the men walking around them trying to record their conversation and the men in the van. The affect the sound design in the scene has on the audience is a sense of confusion. The audience has an idea that the couple is being watched, but not really followed at first. The couple's conversation is not clear and it gives off a feeling of uncertainty and confusion because the audience can not really understand what the couple walking in the courtyard is saying. The sound effects externalize nervousness on the faces of the couple in the courtyard and the team recording them. The sound designer used sound in the scene to effect the story by using static, voices that came in and out of hearing range and the band playing in the courtyard. The men who were following the couple were trying to communicate with each other and they were having trouble hearing each other clearly, which set the emotion of the scene by portraying a feeling of apprehension of being caught taping the conversation between the couple, a feeling of stress because the men were worried that they were not clearly recording the conversation between the couple walking in the courtyard, due to the static and the band playing and feeling of desperation, for fear that the men taping the couple would not have another chance to follow them and record their conversation.
The sound in first scene of the conversation creates a confusion in the audience in makes them unsure on what they are hearing the two people talk about. This draws the audience because they start trying to figure out what they are saying. It is not until Gene Hackman’s character goes into the van that we start tom understand that he has a team of people trying to record the conversation they are having. Then later when Hackman’s character fits together the recording we here the distorted sounds and we see him fix the recording to be a perfect record of what the conversation was. Then once we find out what the conversation was truly about we start to worry and want Hackman to save them from their possible death.
Sound is a device in this movie that is used to move the audience with the story. Creating suspense, happiness, or action, the simple manipulation of sound can change the audience’s viewpoint of the storyline. When the couple at the beginning of the movie was being recorded this process really stands out. The choppiness of the recording gave it a eavesdropping and stalking feel, when they went out of range and silence came you had a sense of failure and suspense. All of these little contortions to sound can create lack of information, too much irrelevant information, or even give the wrong information by not hearing the whole story. Without these audio cues one would be lost or not as involved with the film making this a very important and successful too in The Conversation.
I accidentally submitted my comment on last weeks post.
Just from the opening scene of this movie alone, one knows that sound will be playing a very important role throughout. There are many conversations going on at once and the audience only hears portions of each. We hear the two people talking in the park along with background noises from the park. Mixed in there is background music, a recording of people talking and a very agitating noise recording.
This scene is not meant to make sense all at once. Instead it takes the entire movie for the audience to put together the various conversations that make up this movie.
"The Conversation" uses sound design very well to attract the audience and to effect the storyline of the film. In the opening sequence of the film, the audience is treated like "The Team" whereas the audience can only hear what "The Team" is hearing. For example, as the couple walks through the park, the audience and "team" can hear interference from the couple's surroundings including street performers and pedestrians. Also, the technology used to listen to the conversation was not as reliable as the technology used today so there was alot of interference and noise pollution which made the audience and "team" fustrated as they cannot interpret the entire conversation. With that in mind, the audience and "team" had reasonable doubt that the couple was a threat. However, in the end, the audience and "team" are wrong when they realize the couple was contemplating a plot to murder the woman's husband in a hotel room. The ending of the film proves that people should not only rely on technology as a source of information because it may not always be accurate.
The sound in the opening scene of "The Conversation" is distorted. The audience is hearing it in sporatic bits from different recorder's points of view. This really shows how words can be interpreted differently from various people.
In the next scene, Gene Hackman's character puts together the various parts of the conversation heard from various points of view. This then brings to light what is actually said.
The sound editing and direction in these first two scenes gives the audience the point of view of the main character. The audience knows and hears exactly what he does. It also foreshadows the action and mystery of the film as well as emphasizes the fact that words can be construed differently from different points of view.
The sound in the opening scene of this movie concentrates on the conversation between two characters. It causes the audience to become confused yet curious as to what this conversation is about. Then we hear their conversation played again concentrating on certain parts of the conversation which again sets the audience up and makes them even more curious. This effect is, for the most part, foreshadowing what the end of the movie is all about. I also think that in this segment there is alot of confusion and other things going even though its concentrated on the conversation of the two characters. I think this resembles the rest of the story in this movie such that Gene Hackman is so obsessed with what this conversation is about and is also all caught up in the confusion on the outside that he fails to see what is actually happening. Gene Hackman believes that the person he is making the tape for will harm one of the persons, if not both, that are involved in this conversation. In the end he miss reads the situation and the people from the conversation actually harm the guy for whom he made the recording.
This is then played agian and tampered with many times over throughout the movie and we learn more and more about what the people are discussing. While we still don't know all the circumstances of the conversation, we become increasingly intrigued as the movie reveals that there are lives at stake due to what they are talking about. The movie is primarily about sound design itself, by following private spies who can record anything with their devices.
In "The Conversation" the audience is only exposed to bits and pieces of the conversation between the couple in the courtyard. Only allowing us to hear parts of the conversation helps to build suspense throughout the movie because the audience is kept in the dark wondering what is actually going on. It is not until the end when we find out that the couple's lives are in danger which adds to the climax of the movie.
In the movie “The Conversation”, the sound in the scene is changed around with the shuffling static sound and the couple having a discussion. The static in the scene is the background noise and your attention is immediately grabbed with the sound of people talking.
The muffled static and the conversation throughout the scene was to keep the viewers focus. The fact that the scene did not give away the whole conversation, it had the viewer want to know what the rest of it was about and you are trailed along with the “team” to determine what was said and what it meant.
The film basically set up its entire plot with just the first scene. You could determine the era of time and setting of the mood with the street performers, the area or type of setting, as well as the central premise of the story with just the first few minutes and scenes of the movie.
The sound in the opening scene is used for confusion, to get you off your seat and listen to the words around you over all the sounds. In the beginning we hear only what we are expected to hear, bits and parts of a conversation in a park atmosphere. Not only are the sounds around loud, but they also get in the way of the conversation being told throughout the story. This makes our mind give reason to connect w/ the main character as he also wants to decode the conversation. The sound from the opening scene to the following ones would ever so slightly change bit by bit making the original conversation come to life before our ears. Slowly each piece would be analyzed from the three different points of view that we were given. By the middle to end of the movie the conversation had been completely decoded and gave off a completely different message than originally. It went from two lovers being followed to killing someone behind their back for a scam he was being put into by the very thing he was trying to find out. From the very beginning the audience is captured on wanting to know more about the conversation; no matter the story around or within it everyone wants to know more about what it is they are talking about and what it will lead up to. This conversation, and its sound properties, set the story for the rest of the film. Later the story would be effected by the sound giving it it’s high and low points. When we think we have figured out a moment we run into a high point, but when confusion of the conversation erupts the whole story seems to slide downhill. Overall the sound of the conversation runs the film over the actual actions and even play by play feats of the characters running their lives around conversations. Our mood, climax, and whole point of sight is set off the conversation, you could say the conversation runs the story for the storyline.
-David W. Aniello
The sound in the opening scene is changed around by mixing it with other sounds. Since the couple is walking through a busy place, their conversation is hard to completely understand. Background noices, such as other people talking and music playing, interrupt their conversation frequently. Also, a reoccuring cyber sound interferes with their talking. This sound design effects the audience by making them listen more intently and thus making them more interested in the conversation. The entire movie revolves around this one conversation. As the film goes on, the bits and pieces of the conversation are slowly put together. The audience learns that that the couples life depends on the recording of their one conversation.
The sound design in "The Conversation" plays a huge role in the movie. The opening scene starts with two people walking around a crowded area. Everything that makes sound in the area can be heard when viewing the movie. The conversation between the two people is obviously heard, and noise from the area is added which keeps the viewer from hearing the entire conversation. As we find out, the parts we cannot hear were very important and caused a twist in the plot.
Sound design is almost as powerful as film editing. You can use sound design to manipulate the audience's perception of what is happening onscreen in front of their eyes. The sound is changed around by either picking up sounds directly in front of the microphone, technical difficulties (static) with the "team's" equipment, and/or by not showing us what was visually happening between the two characters at the time that audio was recorded.
Using all these sound design techniques and echoes, pitch, and volume of the 2 characters' voices, really forces the audience to feel confused, involved, nervous, and pensive all at the same time. It pulls the audience in while they make their own assumptions from these puzzle-like clues.
By breaking up the conversation between the 2 characters, and never giving more than just a hint of information, it effects the story in the sense that an entire new plot can be taken from these "sound clues," and lead the story to the ending which at this scene seems most obvious, when in fact it's the wrong one.
In the opening seen of the Conversation the audience is watching a couple while they are walking through union square. The conversation between the two is being recorded and the audience only hears bits and pieces of the couple's conversation. The sound designer deliberately did this so the audience wouldn't hear every word of the conversation. They wanted was to keep watching and eventually throughout the movie we found out the whole story.
Sound is very important in this film the sound int he begginning changes from being kind of muzzled to very clear. The sound also creates mystery for the audience because we as the audience want to know why these two people are being bugged, and they are speaking in some kind of code. The sound designer probably had to lesser the quality of his tools to make the converstion seem muzzled.
In “The Conversation”, sound is a crucial element in the entire film. In the opening scene, the sound is altered to convey that the conversations are being recorded. All of the sounds that the audience hears are pieced together, jumbled and unclear. In addition, the sound design in the scene draws in the audience and captures their attention, by forcing them to ask the question, “Why don’t all of the voices sound normal and fluid?” The sound designer uses the sound in this scene to build the plot, capture the audience, and set the tone for the entire film.
In the opening sequence of "The Conversation" we see the couple walking through the courtyard, talking, while the team, tries to record what they say. The sound is changed around in multiple ways, and pulls the audience into the movie. The audience becomes more attentive because they only hear parts of the conversation and are unaware of what they are truly discussing. We hear background noises, that in return block out the conversation of the couple. This is changing the sound. This sound design effects the audience in a such a way that they are more curious of what the couple is conversating about and it becomes obvious that this scene and aspect of the film is important to the rest of the film. The sound designers lack of sound in this scene leaves the audience questioning and attracts their attention to the rest of the film.
The sound in this scene changes constantly to show how the team is recording the conversation, and when the recording is not very good. For example, when the recording isn't perfect, we hear the background noises more than what the young couple is saying, or we hear "ttchhhhhhhhhhttttt". The way the couple takes advantage of the noisy areas, shows the audience that they suspect that they are being tapped and that they probably are in great danger. In this scene, the sound effects used sets the suspense mood for the rest of the story. It lays the ground for it; almost everything afterwards is connected/related/ (occured because of) to the conversation.
From the get go you can tell that sound is everything in this movie. For instance they use multiple sound techniques in the opening scene. I believe that this was to intrigue the audience. They use different sounds to go along with other character and even distort the audio at some points. Also we are left wondering what was said over those bits and pieces expecting that this gap will be filled later in the story.
In this particular scene, sound is very important. At first you can clearly hear the couple talking and then it turns to muffles. Then, you can't make out a word they are saying to each other. Finally it comes back into clarity. For the audience, this makes it a little hard to follow what is going on. As a viewer, you are listening intently to see if the couple is saying anything important. It makes you pay attention to the surroundings. The sound designer uses the sound in this scene to affects the story in a couple of ways. First, the way the "team" is following them around and the way the couple is whispering makes you think that that they are very important people or that they are in really big trouble. The audience might also think that something very bad is going to happen either to the couple or someone else. Without the sound, you would think that they were just two people walking around in circles on their lunch breaks. However, the sound aspects reveal that they are very important to the plot and story of the movie.
In the film they mainly focus on sound as oppose to visual. The purpose of the courtyard scene served to draw the viewer in with sound rather than visual, which is why the altering of the sounds that were static at once later began to become clearer and clearer. The fim put more stress on audio than anything else making it quite significant and different from most other films. The storyline also helped the film focus on the audio as well. They used very effective techniques that forced viewers into listening ratehr than simply watching. These techniques proved vital and quite positive in terms of overall effect.
Sound is obviously a main element that is used in "The Conversation" to achieve a desired reaction from the audience. As we follow the couple through the scene and then later hear it played back, the sound it changed around. Ultimately what is happening is that one microphone is dulled down while other is intensified so that the entire conversation is heard. Seeing this gives the audience the feel that they are a part of the project and know something important. The use of sound also adds drama, suspense, and intrigue to the film.
In the opening sequence, when we see the couple walking through the courtyard taking, while the team tries to record what they say, the sound in this scene changes around to portray different perspectives.
The sound is very clear when we hear the conversation from the couple one to one, however, once we hear it from the perspective of the guy listening through his ear piece, the quality of the sound changes, making it obvious that it is a recording.
The effect of the sound design in this scene exposes the audience to see both perspectives of the scene, the one to one, intimate conversation between the couple and also the way it sounds when someone else listens to what they're saying through a recording.
The sound designer used sound in this scene to affect the story by taking advantage of the transitions of the conversation and exposing them through different points of view, in this case, it was either through the sound of the recording or through the sound of the conversation in the actual courtyard.
The sound in the opening sequence is constantly being distorted and it almost seems as if they're trying to keep the audience focused in on the movie. The music that the used throughout the entire movie was specific to each scene. It was always simple and it seemed like it was there to heighten the suspense of the scene.
The opening scene of "The Conversation" is the entire premise of the movie, and how Harry manipulates the audio to make it hearable. I like how the sound designer used this sound to effect the story because as Harry slowly uncovers each part of the audio track, we also find out as the audience, on how this is going to affect the couple on the other end.
In the opening sequence of The Conversation sound clips are thrown at the audience from different points of view. The clear, deciferable sound of the couples conversation from their point of view, crossed with the multiple sound bites heard from the surveillance teams point of view helps set the tone for the movie.
The intricate and curious atmosphere created by this scene remains throughout the film. The audience is also drawn closer to the movie from this scene because they feel as though they too are trying to decode and piece together the conversation.
The fact that it is hard to hear both for them as for the audience makes it a very interesting scene. The flat voices of the hearing team and the noices at the park creates a very mysterious air for the scene. After she says that she feels horrible doing what she is doing assures the audience that they are up to something evil. The sounds are somewhat hard to tell apart except for those of the actual team.
The sound in the scene is changed around by sometimes being able to hear the conversation between the couple. For a few seconds we can clearly hear what they are saying. At other times we hear the music from the street or another unidentified sound, like the sound of his equipment working. The sound design in the film makes the audience listen more attentively to catch every word. The sound designer uses sound in the scene to affect the story by having it constantly change from words to music to the unidentified noise.
As the couple walks around the park, they move, unknowingly, closer and farther away form the 'team' which causes the sound of their conversation to fade and blur. This effect causes a great deal of question and anticipation in the audience because the audience cannot figure out what they are saying and doesn't know if they ever will know what the couple was talking about. it adds suspence and wonder that makes someone want to keep watching the movie just to figure out what the couple was talking about.
Sound is what can make or break a movie. Without sound, the audience has no way of knowing what is going on and the director has no way of channeling their emotions. In “The Conversation,” the idea of sound is no different. In the opening scene sound is key. First, we hear the couple’s conversation as their walking around, we hear the street performers, conversations of others, and their thoughts, but as the detective’s devices range out we start to hear the grabble of their voices. This is what leads the audience to curiosity and what sets the detective to work. With those sound changes the audience is left with questions of “what did they say?” or “what does that mean?” These questions, emotions, and changes of scene are all created because of sound. With this sound playing, it sets the whole beginning set up of the story to lead the audience to follow the detective along his path to finding out why this seemingly meaningless conversation in so important and how he will put all of the pieces together.
The whole plot of "The Conversation" revolves around sound. The sound designer uses sound to trick the audience into thinking that the boss wants to kill his wife and lover when really it was the lover and wife that planned out the boss's murder. Even though the audience heard the conversation repeatedly, we didn't understand the true meaning behind it until the end of the film.
The sound in the scene adds a common appraoch to the conversation between the couple. With the movie being titled the conversation sound plays a vital roll in the movie for every movie has a literal meaning. The sound designer uses this distinct sound process to effect the story and set a modd for the audience to expect what is going to further happen in the movie.
Sound is used very dynamically in the opening scene to keep the viewers paying attention. It is obvious that sound is everything in this movie. The conversation in this scene is constantly being distorted with the switching back and forth of the two people talking and then the surrounding noises. And the music of the film was very specific to the scene. Just with the title it allows you to see that it is the movie is going to concentrate mainly on dialog or the lack there of.
The sound designer uses these effects to create suspense and to develop the plot.
The opening scene shows to people walking and talking down the street with other noises like the street performers coming in and inturupting there conversation. Because we have not seen the whole film yet I can't exactley say what the outcome will be. However the sound director uses these techniques to create suspense.
By fading in and out of the convo he left the audience in suspense not letting them understand the full conversation. Trying to figure out what theyre saying makes the audience stay in tune with the movie.
The sound in the opening scene of “The Conversation” is changed throughout the scene while listening to the couple walking and talking through the courtyard. The change in sound causes the audience to focus on and pay more attention to the couple. The sound design distinguishes regular conversation from conversation being overheard. The sound designer uses sound in the scene to create a more dramatic and intense effect to the story. When the sound is changed from ordinary conversation to the couple being spied on, it makes the audience a little hesitant on what will happen next. The sound design creates more drama and keeps the audiences attention throughout each scene.
What really makes this movie is the excellent usage of sound. The audio in the opening sequence is switched back and forth between the couple and the team listening to the conversation. Every time the shot cuts from the couple to the team, the audio changes as well. This creates a subliminal effect on the audience. This trains the audience to know when some one is listening in on the conversation. By creating this effect, the audience then knows that some thing more is happening then what is being shown on the screen. This allows for the film to have suspenseful scenes when they normally wouldn’t be. It is this effect that makes to film all the more suspenseful and entertaining to watch.
In the opening scene of "The Conversation", you have a man and a woman talking in a court yard. THroughout their conversation, the sudience hears street performancers and distorted noises. The conversation between the two people fades in and out with the noises in the background and other computer generated noises. The director most likely chose to do this so that the audience would be drawn into what was happening and would be curious on what we were missing out on hearing.
In the beginning of the movie the reason they are in the middle of the park talking is because they are talking about things that are private and they feel like if there in a place with alot of people they wouldnt be heard or noticed...they even kind of wisper just so people around them cant hear. After the teams picks up teh conversation they are able to rearange the words to make it sound like a different converstaion.
Sound plays an important part in movies. In the opening scene, the sound of the conversation of the two people in the couryard, changes the audiences focus. Like the characters trying to tape them, the audience is focused more on what they are saying and why it is so important to be recorded. It adds mystery to the plot of the film.
The scene where the recorders trail the couple stimulates interest in the movie by throwing the audience into the scene. The viewer must participate in the conversation by straining to understand the couple's conversation admist the recorders' conversation and the peripheral noises. Here, the sound design adds a sense of authenticity and excitement to the movie.
The opening scene of the conversation was interesting and a little confusing (I believe it was supposed to be confusing). I liked the way the sound designer did not block out the ambient noise, and at some times thats all we could hear. This forces the audience to almost become part of the "team" to try and understand what the conversation is about. Throughout the movie as more and more of the conversation becomes clear, the audience begins to understand the story.
The sound of a film sets a tone and feeling when it comes to movies. You have suspenseful music when an event is about to happen but you aren't sure what it is. But when the people are following the two having the conversation, you hear both the real sound of the conversation and the sound through the deciphers and microphones. You can hear the background sounds of other people as well as the performances on the street. At points the conversation is out of range and you hear noses as if the TV went out and some times the conversation is clear as day. The conversation is only in bits and pieces until it is deciphered more later through out the movie which makes us want to watch the full movie to figure out the whole story behind the conversation.
The sound is an absolute mess in the opening scene. At some times you can hear the conversation between Ann and Mark clearly, but most of the time it is covered by music, sounds of the crowd, and other noises. The viewer never gets to hear exactly what they are talking about as the conversation cuts in and out, and the parts that we can hear are garbled due to changes in pitch.
The inability of the audience to follow what exactly is going on sets the scene for the rest of the film. It is supposed to be a bit of a psychological thriller, so the viewer is given very little and forced to think about what will happen next. By opening with such a whirlwind of noise the sound designer has effectively confused the audience, unsettled them, and ensured that they stick around to try and figure it all out alongside Harry. You never know what the conversation was truly about until The Director is murdered.
During the opening scene of “The Conversation” we watch Gene Hackman and his undercover team record the conversation of a man and a woman as they walk through a loud courtyard. During the first run through, the sounds in the courtyard make it difficult to understand their conversation fully and the couple, although somewhat odd in their emotions, is relatively uninteresting and bland in their conversation. Throughout the movie, however, we hear the recording multiple times and with time, a little more about the conversation is revealed as Gene Hackman’s character manipulates the tape by adding or taking away sounds for clarity. It was interesting to watch in the movie how he uses large machines and odd looking pieces of equipment to manipulate a small part of the recording and how the little pieces he uncovers drastically change the whole story. The film really conveys what an impact sound has in a film whether it be background sound that you don’t really notice or the way some sounds affect the impact of other sounds.
At first, before Hackman comes into the van, it is hard to understand what the people are talking about, therefore making it more mysterious on what they are saying. Once he enters the van and the conversation is understandable, the mood switches from mystery to a worrying state for the two people.
In the first scene, the sound of the conversation creates confusion in the audience which makes them focus harder to understand whats going on. As the film goes on, the bits and pieces of the conversation are slowly put together through the other scenes. Since the conversations were distorted a wrong impression was made since it was unclear what was really going on. In the end, its shocking to learn it was a plot to kill her husband and reveals that sound is an important role in what we hear and precieve.
Sound design as a profound impact on the scene in The Conversation. The couple's conversation is muffled, making the audience think that someone is eavesdropping on them. However, it is not clear yet that the couple is being followed. The sound effects make the audience more curious as to what is going on and what the couple is talking about. The action of the scene is thus intensified by the sound design. When Gene Hackman later fixes the recording of the conversation and reveals what it is about, we then become concerned for the couple's lives. The use of sound design creates suspense and heightens emotions in The Conversation.
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