The opening scene of Get Out (2017) begins with a young African American man, Logan, who is walking by himself in a white suburban neighborhood. While searching for an address on Edgewood Lane, he is also on the phone with his friend. He complains to his friend by saying how he sticks out like a “sore thumb” in this predominantly white neighborhood and how creepy it is. He then notices that a car is following him to which he reacted by picking up his pace and muttering “not today, not me”. Then the man from the car chokes him from the back until he loses consciousness and puts him in the hood of his car. This movie is about a young African American man who uncovers the disturbing secret about his white girlfriend’s family. The opening scene of this film gives us an idea of the direction that the movie is taking.
In this opening scene, some examples of diegetic sounds that are used is crickets chirping in the night, Logan’s voice, his footsteps, the barking dog, the sound of the car, the music playing in the mans car, the sound of the man attacking Logan, and the sound of his unconscious body being dragged to the car. An example of a nondiegetic sound in this scene is the music from the mans car towards the end of the scene. As Logan was being dragged into the car, the other diegetic sounds start to fade and the music from the mans car starts to become nondiegetic.
The music that is used in this scene is Run Rabbit Run by Flanagan and Allen. When I watched this scene with the sound off, it just looked like a young man walking down a neighborhood and then he gets abducted. However with the sound on, the music gives us that thrill we get from watching a horror movie. Since the song Run Rabbit Run has a cheery tone, it gives this scene an eerie feeling. The conjunct melody in this song also adds to the chilling effect of the scene. The music really gives the scene its intensity. Furthermore, the lyrics of this song ” Run rabbit – run rabbit – Run! Run! Run! Don’t give the farmer his fun! Fun! Fun! ” also suggest that in the movie they will probably try to run away from their abductors and escape. This insight into the movie from the music also keeps us in suspense because it makes us wondering how it will end.
I can totally agree with how such a cheerful song can create such an uncomfortable atmosphere in this scene. It’s almost as if the cheerful song is saying “there’s nothing going on here” and basically covers up the abduction in front of the audience while we already know the following events are only going to get far worse.