Clown Train

The film “Clown Train” uses sound as one of it’s main factors in creating an atmosphere of  fear and chilling suspense. It is this atmosphere that lends the film to it’s more horror-centric genre, generating an idea of a constant, growing buildup of suspense until the climax at the end. The underlying soundscape is filled with a constant buzz, like a fluorescent light fixture makes, as well as the various creeks and groans of the train setting. Along with these constant noises, there is also other sounds that are in dispersed throughout the film. These sounds include the feint sound of a train on the tracks, the sound of objects moving around, a feint, piano based musical accompaniment. All these sounds are enhanced by an increase in volume compared to the dialogue. All together, a tension is created not just by the sounds that are heard along with the dialogue, but the long, seemingly empty spaces between. A space that gives an ominous feeling that something, like a jump scare or revelation, is coming up. This tension, like with most horror films, is brought in in the first second of the film. The film opens without visuals, only sounds, leaving the boarders that we see as objects more opening, with the audiences individual imaginations having to feel in the gaps.

Readings

I found a real interest in the week 2 reading “Slogans for the Screenwriter’s wall”, in which a list of ideas and “rules” are established for a screenwriter. I mainly gravitated towards this reading because of my love of writing, as well as it’s simple and direct ideas and beliefs, something that isn’t as common in a lot of media based readings. The first idea that stood out to me was the idea of showing before telling, that a film should be 60% comprehensible in a foreign language. I like this idea because lends to the action portions of a script or screenplay, rather then being dialogue heavy and falling back on the cliches of dialogue, like monologuing exposition. The other idea that stood out to me was the idea that in order to write for comedy, you need to be able to write drama first. It’s a simple idea that opens up a wide range of possibilities and further ideas that can arise. It got me thinking about how some of the most emotional and dramatic moments in films and TV can be from comedies. Also, the idea of comedy being dramas with happy endings, or dramas from another perspective.

Rolling

In my belief, “Rolling” was a very thought out and creative idea, with an interesting script and strong attention to detail, but it was let down by some of it’s production and post production, which is understandable in a student film. The script of the film, mainly the dialogue, seemed to be well thought out with a lot of little other details that added to the comedic tone of the film. These details were not just in the dialogue. There was detail in the setting, including the post-it notes and toilet paper in the apartment. It was these details, along with the over-arching ideas and themes. On the downside, things like editing and sound were a little lacklustre, consistently reminding me that I was watching a film. It seemed a bit choppy and the sound could have been mixed a little better, as there seemed to be some disparages with volume.