In the film Clown Train how does sound contribute to the atmosphere of this film? Describe what you heard? Can you make reference to another genre film and how they utilise sound to create tension and a unique filmic space?

The faint, haunting echoes heard throughout Clown Train help to not only establish the scene’s dank, underground surrounds but also creates an eerie and unsettling mood for the film.  The brief zaps of the flickering lights, the rattle of the air-conditioner and the disconcerting wind effects outside the train add to this effect.  The timpani, which sounds along with abrupt shots of the clown, creates a disturbing unease towards the character, but on the whole I feel that all of these effects could have been applied more heavily and appropriately throughout times in the film to create even more tension and add to an even stronger atmosphere.  For me, there are too many moments of ‘ambient silence’ throughout the film, and although at times, this creates positive effects, it is employed too often and makes the audio work seem slightly disjointed.

I drew an obvious, immediate connection between Clown Train and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) via the ‘Clown’ and Heath Ledger’s Joker performances with their dark undertones and black humour.  Despite lacking world renowned actors and a budget of around $185 million, Clown Train attempted to create similar tension throughout the short film, however could have potentially benefited from drawing further inspiration from Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack for The Dark Knight, with tension gradually building throughout entire scenes with a crescendo of strings, rather than beginning to build, before decaying repeatedly to next-to-nothing, which causes Clown Train to lose this building tension.