QUESTION 7

The editing is used very carefully to assemble the shots of both the men in the scene. Despite it being a conversation, the shots are held on either subject for a long time, to allow for suspense to build, as well as cater for the rhythm and unsettling mood of the scene. The audio in this scene has a lot of folly and ambient sound over the entire clip. The sound’s volume is turned up to heighten the intensity and noir setting. It does this by pricking up the ears of the audience to the clicking of the crickets, the steps of the Hitman’s boots on the wooden floor, and the dumping of the fish and lighter on the table. This is the breaking of the disturbing silence (besides the crickets) which is unsettling for an audience, because we anticipate the loud ‘bang’ or climax to break this silence. Any kind of loud sounds would create an uneasiness to the scene, to which the Coen brother’s have done excellently in their debut film ‘Blood Simple’. The saw that can be heard at random times in the backround is a part of the narrative. However, it also serves to reinforce this uneasienss in a macarbe way. As the two talk about a murder which ‘had been commited’ as a part of this deal taking place, the sound of the saw would run parallel in the minds of audiences’ as to the disposal of the bodies, dismemberment, or violence in general. This psychological manipulation or ‘play’ as I like to call it, is a Coen Brother’s trade mark, as seen in later work such as ‘Fargo’, ‘The Big Lebowski’, ‘Barton Fink’ etc. While all sounds throughout the film are diagetic, they serve to create the mood better than any score or soundtrack could for this sombre scene.