The clip I chose is from one of my favorite films, Back to the Future, which was released in the year 1985. The movie surrounds Marty McFly a teenager who meets a doctor (the Doc) by the name Emmett Brown. The Doc shows Marty his time machine and as he does he accidently sets it to the year 1955, which is about 30 years prior to the present day. The Doc is then killed, and Marty escapes by travelling to the past. As he arrives in the past he changes some things, but ultimately has to fix them back. The main goal for Marty is to get his parents back together, as that was one of the events he disrupted, and then return back home.
The clip “1.21 Gigawatts” opens up with Marty in the past and he has found the Doc. In the scene Marty shows the Doc a recording of himself in which he explains the time machine, during this scene the sound is diegetic, as both of the characters are able to hear the recording. The scene then progresses as the Doc and Marty discuss the importance of gigawatts and plutonium. The Doc begins to lose hope as he realizes that in 1955, he won’t be able to sustain the 1.21 gigawatts that they need. Suddenly, Marty tells the Doc that he has an idea, which is where the music begins. The music playing is nondiegetic sound, as the characters can’t hear it.
The nondiegetic sound begins with a dissonant harmony, but once the Doc realizes that Marty might have come up with an idea the sound changes to more of a consonant harmony. The nondiegetic sound in the second half of the clip is used to build a sense of suspense to the movie. The sound establishes a sense of curiosity, as the viewer wants to know more about their plan and as the sound’s tempo quickens, it also establishes the emotion of relief/happiness for Marty, as he might be able to return home.
I agreed with your opinion that the music in this clip is really showing the curiosity. Under that curiosity atmosphere our audiences seemed like to stay longer with Marty and Doc to share the rest of the story. In the beginning of the music just a single music line come out, i think we can call it as a melody not harmony.
I like how you explained what the movie is about at first before going into the details. And then you went on to explain the scene was very well explained and I watched the clip and totally agree on your respond. The nondiegetic sound does begin with a dissonant but with a melody. But I agree with the respond about the second half of the movie.
I never even considered the fact that the music in the clip was made up of dissonant harmony. I knew there was both an anxious and hopeful feel to that scene, but I could never put my finger on it. However, I think the dissonant harmony lasts throughout Doc’s explanation, while the consonant harmony only comes in at the very end.