Sound Task

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The clip I have chosen is from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in this specific scene a dementor intercepts the train Harry is on. The scene opens with non-diegetic sound in the form of what sounds like violins. The use of the eerie high pitch violins connotes a feeling of fear within the viewer. Later on in the clip Ron places his hand on the trains window, it then starts freezing. The sound effect of the glass freezing is diegetic, this is made clear by the fact Ron looks at the window before the visual effect is within his peripheral vision. Next the train jerks and non-diegetic sound plays to break the silence for a few seconds. It then almost immediately comes to stop and what seems to be diegetic wind blows as the dementor emerges from around the corner. Similarly to the violins it is very eerie and creepy. When the dementor begins to open the train compartment, non-diegetic music starts playing and as the door to the compartment opens further the volume starts to escalate. The sound of the dementors hand on the door of the train compartment may also cause the viewer to feel anxious as the dementor has a bony hand which is similar to how most people view "the grim reaper", so the sound connotes fear based on this.

The fear of the characters in this scene is conveyed to the viewer in several ways, one being sound. When the dementor enters the train compartment Hermione takes a gasp, then her cat hisses at the dementor and then finally Rons rat squeaks at the dementor. As Harry passes out the sound of a train whistle is heard. There is one short whistle which is followed by a long whistle. The one short, one long whistle pattern has a code which means inspect the train. However to most viewers who do not know the code for train whistles their initial thought would be a journey has come to a end, which also leaves them anxious. Finally near the end of the clip a sound bridge is used. While the screen is still black from Harry passing out Hermione calls out his name before he regains consciousnesses.