Project 1 from Daniella Fuentes on Vimeo.

Trip to MOMI

The Museum of Moving Image is an incredibly interesting place to walk around in. One could spend hours there, especially in the arcade section. My group focused on an interactive soundtrack demo for the Hitchcock film Vertigo. The demonstration showed us a silent version of the famous museum scene where James Stewart’s character notices similarities between Kim Novak’s character and the painting she is staring at. Without watching the entire film, the importance of this scene is still apparent through the camera work, specifically the close ups and zooms of the similarities. Our tour guide showed us four options of underscoring. Each one imposed a different mood or tone to the scene. The first few options were wrong for the scene for different reasons, for example, being too romantic or too theatrical. The importance of the soundtrack was obvious because this was a dramatic scene and the wrong music made it seem almost comical. The last option was the correct one, and we were told it was especially composed for the film by Bernard Herrmann. The sound perfectly matched what we saw. It emphasized every close up with a subtle ring, and the tone was dramatic enough for the subtle acting of James Stewart. Connections were made for the viewer that contributed to the narrative while setting the appropriate mood for the pivotal moment. The demo really underlined the importance of sound, and the effect it has on the audience.