I was particularly taken by the articles about how sound had such an emmense effect on video during the emergence of talkies. Particularly in the Murch article, he describes how the sound box was so import to creating the talkie. In the movie, Singing in the Rain, Don Lockwood stars in the movie The Dancing Cavalier, which is converted from a silent to a talkie film. Singing in the Rain illustrates some of the many issues with early talkies, where actors had difficulty talking into the microphone, and the sound director would come running out of the box yelling “CUT!!” Singing in the Rain also has Lina Lamont, who has a shrill voice and would not be suitable for singing in a talkie.
Wingstedt talks about how Music has an effect on the mood and power of film. However, he focuses on good synchronization with mood and theme. Yet in a few instances of Singing in the Rain, poor synchronization of the soundtrack with the film causes quite a different effect on the viewer. In Singing in the Rain, in the screening of The Dancing Cavalier, The soundtrack goes out of sync, so instead of Don saying “Yes Yes Yes” and Lina saying “No, no, no” they appear to swap so the characters are voicing each other’s lines. This results in laughter from the screening audience and the event is quite funny to the viewer.
