Blow Out

In Thursday’s class (2/25 /10), we watched this movie called Blow Out. I have never seen or heard of this movie before, but I love John Travolta and he was in the movie! So it was a pretty good movie.

So like all of the other movies we watched in class, this movie was about movies. It focused on some key point such as sound in movies. It did overlays of sound, sort of like Singing in the Rain. They had actors/actresses create sound vocally for an already production. The difference is, there was more to work with and it wasn’t that difficult to get the actresses into a booth and just put their voice to the action on the screen. Also, during this time period, there is more vulgarity and sex in the movies.

In the movie, John Travolta goes out and gets some “real” sound to make the movie sound more real. Sad enough, it’s someone who is actually going through a horrible situation in which was recorded for her protection. This movie also highlights the selfishness and corruption in America. It’s as if everything is being covered up. A great scene that illustrates the corruption is when the young lady dies during the parade. The parade is so big and loud, the fireworks are going off, and she dies in front of everyone but sad enough no one sees it or hears it. This movie had great features such as split shots, owl shots, split screen, and narrow depth of field. By having these different shots, it brings attention to what is not visible or key points to remember throughout the movie for later reasons. For instance, the scene when the camera focuses on the very thin string that he uses to kill people, is very interesting because it’s such a small method he uses but it is given this time to let the audience see what it is and how it’s being used. Also, timing is very important in this movie. Where the characters are at any point and where the sound is in any action. for example, when the car when off into the water, everyone thought the tire blew out and that the driver was just drunk and had a terrible accident, but actually because of the heard gunshot and the spark of light, it was clear that a gunshot was fired and the tire which cause the car to go into the water.

Ending question: Do you think they ever really use sound form someone who was really going through a situation that was recorded other than in documentaries?