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How sound influences James Bond films: Sound effects, sound editing, music as sound effect
What are your observations regarding the use of sound in Bond films?
I am thinking of
- special accoustic effects,
- the music when it doesn´t sound like music but more like, well, a sound effect, or
- the way the whole sound comes together in a scene.
I´ll show you what I mean:
- Dr. No: Bond crawls through metal tunnels on Crab Key. During that sequence a metallic twanging sound appears several times. At first, one doesn´t know if it is something Bond hears or a sound merely for the audience to get a more eerie feeling in those tubes. The twanging is a beautiful enhancement of the atmosphere in that sequence.
- Tunderball: Although much of the music score has some kind of an under-water-y vibe to it, especially those scenes that are indeed under water are brilliantly enhanced by the music, which by itself sounds as if recorded under water. The most noticable scene is when Largo´s crew salvage the nuclear heads from the sunk bomber.
- The Man with the Golden Gun: That whistle. No need to say more ;-) . Except maybe that it´s so bad it´s already fun again to watch it nowadays.
- Casino Royale: I like the whole crane chase bit with the music being as it is, but I cannot stop myself from imagining such an opening of a film with less music but more sound effects. The steps of the runners on different grounds. They run over grass, over sand, over concrete. We could not just see the chased or the chaser, but we could identify each one by the sound of their steps before they come chased around a corner. Then, after two thirds of the chase, start some dramatic music.
As often during the David Arnold era, the music in the CR crane chase sequence is edited too shyly. It wavers out and in, thus making the already complicated music track hard to follow in the film. The PTS in DAD and TND suffered from the same problem. If Arnold writes too many notes for the scene, have him write less, but don´t mutilate the score in the film editing.
- Quantum of Solace: The music in the PTS is used much much better than in the films before. Although I am no friend of the film music starting already while some film company logo is still being seen, the way the music menacingly builds up during the opening seconds, just to be brutally cut off by screaming car engines, is masterful. The ears and emotions of the viewer have room to breathe.
I am thinking of
- special accoustic effects,
- the music when it doesn´t sound like music but more like, well, a sound effect, or
- the way the whole sound comes together in a scene.
I´ll show you what I mean:
- Dr. No: Bond crawls through metal tunnels on Crab Key. During that sequence a metallic twanging sound appears several times. At first, one doesn´t know if it is something Bond hears or a sound merely for the audience to get a more eerie feeling in those tubes. The twanging is a beautiful enhancement of the atmosphere in that sequence.
- Tunderball: Although much of the music score has some kind of an under-water-y vibe to it, especially those scenes that are indeed under water are brilliantly enhanced by the music, which by itself sounds as if recorded under water. The most noticable scene is when Largo´s crew salvage the nuclear heads from the sunk bomber.
- The Man with the Golden Gun: That whistle. No need to say more ;-) . Except maybe that it´s so bad it´s already fun again to watch it nowadays.
- Casino Royale: I like the whole crane chase bit with the music being as it is, but I cannot stop myself from imagining such an opening of a film with less music but more sound effects. The steps of the runners on different grounds. They run over grass, over sand, over concrete. We could not just see the chased or the chaser, but we could identify each one by the sound of their steps before they come chased around a corner. Then, after two thirds of the chase, start some dramatic music.
As often during the David Arnold era, the music in the CR crane chase sequence is edited too shyly. It wavers out and in, thus making the already complicated music track hard to follow in the film. The PTS in DAD and TND suffered from the same problem. If Arnold writes too many notes for the scene, have him write less, but don´t mutilate the score in the film editing.
- Quantum of Solace: The music in the PTS is used much much better than in the films before. Although I am no friend of the film music starting already while some film company logo is still being seen, the way the music menacingly builds up during the opening seconds, just to be brutally cut off by screaming car engines, is masterful. The ears and emotions of the viewer have room to breathe.
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Comments
Another moment for me would be the exit down the gunbarrel in Goldeneye title sequence. As the music ends and immediately we hear the throaty roar of the Aston. Thrilling.
In TSHLM, the combination of narrator´s voice, intermittent short music cues, and dialogue enhance very much the special vibe of the scenes at the Pyramids.