Men in Black 750 essay .

The music in the toilet scene in ‘Men and Black 2’ is intense to make the audience feel engaged and create an ambient emotion. In addition to this the tempo is ironically fast to make us feel suspense and want to keep watching the scene.

In the same context the instrumentation uses  contrapuntal sound which contradicts the mood and emotion of the scene.  The instrumentation that is used contains violins and treble bass, this contributes to the score, and this is where music is composed arranged specifically for the scene. The purpose of this is to make us feel connected as an audience and to capture our attention as we are waiting for something to happen This is done by using empathetic sound which matches the mood or emotion of on screen events. For example this is used when  the two men are being flushed down the toilet.

There is a use of dialogue in this scene which refers to the characters speaking in the film. The dialogue is high pitched,  this has an effect on the ambience  indicating that the scene has changed; to put this  into context , the toilet scene  was quiet in the beginning. However as the scene progressed  and the background music started the tone becomes harsher and therefore the audience's mood becomes more intrigued.  

Rhythm is a very important part in the use of  the film as it can make the audience feel connected with whats going on. In other words, in the scene in Men and black as the water is running into the toilet bowl, the rhythm and the beat is steadily  becoming faster, making us feel the experience of being in the film.

Natural sound effects are used frequently throughout this film. Some examples are: Toilet flushing , water, car horns and street sounds. A natural sound is  unadorned  production sound. This makes  the audience feel connected  and helps to convince them of reality  To do this sometimes sounds might have to be enhanced using various techniques, which therefore enters the category of hyper real sound.  An example of this has  been used when the toilet is flushing and the sounds are louder than they would be in reality. In this type of film everything has to be exaggerated to make the audience believe in its reality.

Accelerando is used in this scene as the music is gradually getting faster as the two men are being flushed round the toilet system.  The reason why this is done to ironically  make  the audience feel intense  about what is going on in the film. It is also synchronised with the fast motion of the two men as they are twisted and turned in the toilet bowl. It creates a sense of movement and this creates suspense and makes the viewer wonder what will happen next.

The film I want to write about in comparison is the work place comedy ‘Office Space,’ which has a storyline based in a reality most people could relate to. The scene I have chosen to analyse is the Milton Cake Scene. There is similiar use of instrumentation in this film as the violins at the end emphasise his emotion about being ignored and passed by, because he ends up with no cake after being told to pass the plates of cake along to his colleagues. As he is waiting for his piece of cake, the only sound we hear is his anxious stuttering and his pathetic tone of voice makes us laugh. The music is ironically used at the end to emphasise the empty cake plate and his sorrow and disappointment at receiving no cake. The pace and rhythm of the music perfectly synchronises with his emotion and disbelief at being passed over. This is called Empathetic Sound because it makes the audience feel sympathy for Milton and also it makes them feel his disappointment. This is sound that matches the mood or the emotion of on screen events.

There is a reason why the music is not consistent throughout the scene . This is because the sound of music would interfere with the comedy produced by Milton’s stuttering and anxiously watching the cake disappear. The introduction of the music at the end, when the cake plate is empty, is perfect, and timing of sound in a comedy is key to creating laughs and interest. We also feel very sorry for Milton and possibly most people would relate to the scene because most people would have experienced a similar incident at work.