Sound

The Sounds in the opening of WALL-E



    The scene has a song from the 60s musical 'Hello Dolly' running throughout it. This connects the post apocalyptic genre to the post war period of the musical. The 60s were also a time of great nuclear paranoia and over saw the 'space race' too. This links to the post apocalyptic wasteland view of earth we get and the spaceships we see later in the film. The 60s theme could also represent how earth has failed and become worse (like a step back to the sixties from modern day).
    Though at first the song is non diagetic, it eventually fades away into an echo and it becomes clear the song is playing from an inbuilt radio inside of WALL-E. When it fades away at 01 minute 10 seconds, it represents the gradual departure of humans from earth and envokes a melancholic atmosphere. Therefore, the song choice sets the scene and helps create the enigma.

    At 30 seconds we hear the digetic noise of the camera moving through the thick layer of satelights around earth and the earth's atmosphere. Later we hear the digetic sounds of WALL-E moving around and making his minecraft cubes. This adds a sense of realism to the film and show how quiet and abandoned earth is, as well as playing on WALL-E's loneliness to make the scene more sad.

The Sounds in the opening of Monsters

(this video is the whole film but I'm only analysing the first 3 minutes)


   At the begining we can hear some non diagetic music played on violins (I think). This creates a very sad and depressing atmosphere which gives viewers an idea of what is going on. In the background there are diagetic sounds like sirens on ambulances etc. which also sets the scene.
   After the opening prologue at the begining, all the other sounds are diagetic. This gives a good sense of realism as the opening shots are all from point of view night vision cameras on helmets, and one camera on a missile. This adds to the idea that these are real life events and that the film is almost a documentary.