Masking / Commutation Test

This assignment will require you to rip/download a clip from a movie so that you can remove the original audio and replace it in a DAW (e.g., Reaper). Refer to a reaper tutorial on video editing(this one, for instance). Links to an external site.

To complete this assignment you must upload to Canvas:

1) the original version of the scene,

2) your edited (commutated) version of the scene,

3) an  analysis in 450-700 words as outlined below.

Masking (part 1) [350 - 500 words]

Choose a short (<5 min.) scene from a movie that has an interesting relationship between the sounds and the images.

Analyze either the clip's visuals without referring to the audio OR the audio without referring to the video.

If you are analyzing the visual track, pay attention to camera placement, mise-en-scène, shot duration, rhythmic counterpoint between shots and onscreen motion, etc. How do these techniques function to convey meaning and expression? Does the scene convey tension, humor, suspense? If so, how?

If you are analyzing the audio track, pay attention to the interplay of music, sound design/effects, and dialogue. Is the distinction between these things ambiguous? Are they kept distinct? How does this contribute to the quality of the scene. What sorts of emotional undertones seem to be suggested by the soundtrack? Which sounds seem to be (non)diegetic, which are onscreen, which are offscreen? Is there (an)empathetic use of music at play?

Next, analyze the scene with the video and audio together. What seems to change? Are the video and audio in counterpoint, in tension, in unity? Are there any significant/strange choices made by the filmmakers?

Refer to the description of this activity from the textbook Hearing the Movies as a guide:

Commutation Test (part 2) [125-200 words]

Use a DAW to replace the audio track with sounds/music of your choosing.

Answer these questions in regard to your new version of the scene.

How does the synchronization of the music and images influence your experience of the clip?

Is the music empathetic, anempathetic, neutral, etc.? Some mixture of all three?

What are the psychological and narrative effects of of the music?

Refer to Hearing the Movies Download Hearing the Movies