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The Use of Sound in A Passage to India

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"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way." As we hear this cheery song, we are instantly transported to the wonderful month of December, imagining everything that it brings. The snow falling, the decorating of the Christmas tree, hot chocolate and time spent as a family. All these memories and feelings of joy were brought up by a simple verse of a well known song. It is the power of sound and music that can instantly transport us to different places, situations and times, whether fantasy or real. Movie directors use this same power to their advantage. The noises, sounds and music used in films have all been carefully selected to create particular feelings and subconscious thoughts in the viewers mind. Yet, how is this achieved? What goes into the making of each sound and musical note in a film? To what point does sound enhance a movie and have an impact on its audience? The purpose of this research paper will be to analyze the effects of sound in the movie A Passage to India and learn the process that goes into creating the score for such a film. The first movie with sound was The Jazz Singer in 1927. At the time, many critics felt that this would ruin movies altogether. However, movies were never actually "silent." All movies have always had music in order to create further understanding of the overall plot. In Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, an energetic and lively song was used during the fight scene, yet a romantic and gentle song is played whenever he sees the blind woman selling flowers. In both cases, music helped define the events. Despite the film being silent, music was an important component. Critics who believed movies would suffer from adding sound were proved wrong. Now, sound is one of the richest sources of meaning in a film. Sound is divided into three primary sections. The human voice or dialogue, sound effects and music. Each division of sound has its own influence throughout the movie. The purpose of the dialogue is to tell a story. The dialogue will express the feelings and intentions of the characters. The actors playing a role need to portray feelings and emotions through their tone of voice and conversation. It is their job to make their body movements and intonation seem natural, not forced. When this is done correctly, the actor creates a true persona rather than an "actor playing a role." The speed at which the actors read the script is also influential and essentially considered for each character. When a character has a slow, soft and stuttering voice, the audience will immediately see the personage as weak or as the underdog. When the person speaks incredibly fast and is very opinionated, the viewers will likely see the person as annoying or perhaps even humorous. In the movie, "A Passage to India, Dr. Aziz' had a voice filled with energy, happiness and e

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