The Use of Sound in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a film filled with a lot of different technical uses to tell a story in a film. The film involves a wide variety of storytelling techniques to convey messages like no other. Filmmakers can manipulate films with different techniques to help tell the story. One of the techniques used to tell a story is lighting and the ways we can manipulate it to convey a story. Yes, lighting is critical to make the actors show up good and be realistic in films, but lighting can also be used to tell a story. Think about all the scary movies we have seen. Most, if not all scary movies are dark and shadowy, and tend to have high-pitched music mixed in. This helps build suspense until your finally scared. Building suspense is important. You know something is bound to happen and you want to cover your eyes before you see it.

Suspenseful scenes in films are hardly ever set on the beach while the sun is shining, with birds chirping in the background. You can find this in movies like action or scary movies. Lighting can play a big part on suspense because it is what you can’t see that gets you on the edge of your seat. Take a scary movie with a person walking through a dark room. You know there is someone in the room but you nor the actors cannot see them until the camera gets right up on them. Usually when this happens it sudden and makes you jump.

Another thing that goes hand in hand with lighting is sound. In films, the sounds we hear are just as important as the visuals for telling a story. Sound is a powerful tool that filmmakers use for storytelling that gives the film affect. Having sound in movies is great but it needs to be appropriate at the right time. It’s good to have soundtrack in detail to what is shown on the screen at the time but sometimes that is not always the case. Sounds have the power to keep the viewer in suspense. Imagine a boy alone in his home with the camera positioned on him. Then suddenly out of nowhere we here a door slam. There is now suspense in the viewer because of what the viewer heard. Now think just how important that makes sound in movies. Without hearing the door slam, how would we have known what to feel?

Soundtracks can involve a wide variety of different elements that make the movie more enjoyable. Films today can include natural sounds or unnatural sounds to tell a story. An example of natural sounds used in films is wind blowing, this is usually used in a quiet scene when the camera is focused on someone or something. Another natural sound is waves in the ocean hitting the sandy beach. This usually conveys a vacation in a movie or a calm setting.

Most filmmakers use sound that we know has been edited into the film. A good example of this is music. Music helps with telling the story by setting what the emotion of the scene is. You can also use it to establish the mood, or even change the mood. For example, if the movie is about a love story, you may here a soft romantic song or the piano playing. If the movie is an action movie you would hear fast-passed music to convey a sort of rush in you. Fast music can add excitement to an action scene which enlightens the viewer and makes it feel real. If the movie is a scary movie you might hear the over dramatic organ playing a spooky song. Deep, sinister tones like the ones often used in scary films tell us that something scary is about to happen, or that a character who seems friendly is actually dangerous. Without sound to convey the emotion the story could get lost. Have you ever watched a movie without sound? If you watch a movie without sound and then watch it again with sound, I guarantee you will pick up on key points you missed.

In the film An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge it starts off with sound in the beginning this sound is an eerie sound that many will remember. In the beginning the drums are playing which draws attention to it. Then we hear a prominent sound mixed in with what sounds like birds chirping. Hearing these sounds at the beginning of the film set the tone of what the film may be about. Then the film cuts to him dreaming with the piano playing with a clock noise in the background. Ask your self why would we hear clock noises? This is a way to convey to the viewers that he may be dreaming and what is shown on the screen is not what is happening. while running through the woods we hear a fast beat of the drums but when he stops running it suddenly pauses and goes silent and he looks around.

Silence is a powerful thing that can be used at the right time in films. A sudden change in sound from hectic loud sounds to silence can be shocking, and a couple seconds of silence in a dialogue scene can build up anticipation to what may be happening. Silence can also cause suspense and tension in films.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is a grate film that brings out both the sound and music that can be used to tell a story in a film. Owl Creek uses not only any sound to help tell the story, but it uses sounds that goes hand in hand with what is shown of the screen. In conclusion, lighting, sound, and music have the power to tell a story like no other form of storytelling. Lighting can be used to leave the audience in suspense in a dark low-lit room. Sound can be used to set the mood and theme. Music can be used to set the emotion of what the film is about whether it be fast music or slow music. All these things combined together will bring the audience into the scene and make it seem more realistic.