Opening Sequence - Melancholia

Chapter Seven:

 

"Except, you cannot outrun insanity, anymore than you can outrun your own shadow."

‘Melancholia’ Sequence

The beginning scene from ‘Melancholia’ uses diegetic and non-diegetic sound to give the viewer an insight into what the story may foreshadow. The film is directed by Lars von Trier who is known for his dark, artistic film types. The opening suggests the film is a dark and tragic thriller. Firstly you can hear the footsteps of the newlyweds while they walk towards the camera. The footsteps are diegetic and parallel sounds as they can be seen and heard by the characters in the film, these can be better described as diegetic sound effects. Later in the scene these become ambient sound. There is also some diegetic speech in the opening scene and we know this because they characters are reacting to the sounds. We hear the bride and groom kiss a family member on the cheek and this signifies a close relationship between the characters involved. There is synchronous sound of the papers being shuffled by a woman and this gives us the feeling she is impatient and stressed. As the bride looks into the sky she asks a question about a star and everything goes silent except the footsteps, although we don't see her face we know it’s her because she looks into the sky in the shot before. We are aware of the characters still in the scene because their footsteps are still heard over the silence, even though the shot doesn't show anyone. This happens twice and can be described as Asynchronous. This signifies an important moment in the film as the silence is supposed to help s focus on the visual.

 For the first time in the scene we can here the diegetic sounds of birds in the background as ambient sound- this is also an example of Asynchronous sound.

As the scene crosses over into a ball room diegetic music can be heard from a piano. We do not see the piano yet we assume the characters can. As they enter the room the guests clap creating a parallel sound to their actions. This is reacted to and is diegetic. Over the brides dialogue with the young boy we can here ambient sound coming from the rest of the guests in the room, this includes distant chatter, cutlery clashing and laughing. This displays a happy atmosphere and connotes all is going well. Due to our knowledge of films in this genre, we are leaded to believe something will go wrong in the near future. 

After the bride’s and groom’s speeches we encounter our first bit of non-diegetic sound which is also a sound bridge between two scenes. The bride has walked outside and the ambient sounds of  nature can be heard along with her footsteps when slowly a piece of classical music begins playing. The sound effects and ambient sounds can still be hurt under this non diegetic sound. The music is a very sad piece of music yet it has moments of brightness within it- this music is important as it fits perfectly with the title of the film ‘Melancholia’ as the music has a melancholy element. This variation of the film theme tune foreshadows that something to do with main element of the film is about to become present. The low hum of chords adds to the feeling of loneliness in this scene. Next all diegetic sound is cut out and the only thing heard is the character theme. We see a golf cart being driven across a field yet we cannot see who is driving it. We know it is the bride though because her character theme is played to represent her presence.

In the next shot the diegetic ambient is returned and we hear the humming of nature in the nigh time. We also see and hear the golf cart approaching, this is synchronous sound. The music changes quite suddenly in dynamic when the close up of the star appears. This signifies an important role in the storyline of the film. The music fades as the scene crossing over into another. Diegetic sounds are heard over the non-diegetic as it fades out.

The sounds in the sequence help establish the genre and plot of the film. The idea of using a character theme in a film of this type is clever because a lot of the time characters aren’t in the foreground of the shot or even in it at all. The parallel sounds created by actions in the sequence give off strong dynamics and help express how the character is feeling. for example if the bride is to move a chair and the sound created by this is loud it signifies her feeling angry. A lot of emotion in film is expressed through dynamics and sound.