Directed by Gene Kelly, the film Singin’ in the Rain, has made extensive use of sound to portray emotions. This could be explained by the fact that this film is a musical, where actors sing and dance during the movie, but still, the presence and use of Non-Diegetic sound might perplex someone who is a novice to the world of film. Non-Diegetic sound is when the sound arises from a source that is not in the world of the film, in a way the source of the sound is unknown.
At many instances of the movie, we find extensive use of non-diegetic sound. One such example of this sound is in the beginning of the movie when Lockwood addresses his fans with his story.
https://youtu.be/o2lWTorIAQw?si=paXRMqqAJn40-uwn
When we see this video, we realize the sound in the background, which is non-diegetic, is not constant. It varies from moment to moment. When Lockwood is reminiscing about his past, soft violins play i the background; when he is sitting in the airplane, we hear triumphant music and when the airplane crashes, we hear bagpipes out of sync. I believe that the non-diegetic music is used as an instument to portray the emotion and situation of the scene onto the audience. People have a unique tendency to react to music, sometimes unconsciously our mood depends on the music we are listening to. Such tendencies have been used here to make the audience feel more in sync with the film and make them feel the film than just watching it.
https://youtu.be/wHkRiwPJt48?si=JIcv7p39DHdKK6yH
Here is an example of how background sounds can affect what emotions are portrayed onto the audiences. This is what I think to be the primary purpose of director Gene Kelly with the excessive use of non-diegetic sound. I think along with the amazing mis-en-scene and cinematography, the amazing use of sound, both biegetic and non-diegetic should be highly appreciated in this movie.
Singin’ in the Rain is rightly considered a cinematic masterpiece, which to this date keeps inspiring filmmakers and audiences.
I can’t begin to imagine what the film would be like without the non-diegetic noise involved. It would feel so empty and would probably take away from much of the emotional impact as you said. I think it is because it is the use of these sounds that make the world of “Singin’ in The Rain” what it is. The movie is built upon music; characters sing and dance together and alone, seemingly non-choreographed yet in sync. Yet, the music is not only played during times of singing and dancing but also as non-diegetic elements to manipulate the mood, rhythm, and suspense for narrative purposes. Those elements are what make us feel “in sync” with the film, both metaphorically and physically (in terms of music). I enjoyed watching your clips Aditya!
That video that you have linked with the Jurassic Park scene is great. I understood and agreed with what you were saying, but that video was a great example solidified the ideas you had previously brought up. Movie scores are often so different than regular music. I suppose that because the music in films has less of a melody the frequencies and rhythms are the parts of sound and music that manipulate these emotions.
Since we began talking about non-diegetic and diegetic sound a few weeks ago I have been noticing their use more and more in films. The points you make here about how non-diegetic sound impacts the audience uniquely in this film resonated with me, and they also made me think of how diegetic sound plays into the soundscape of “Singin’ in the Rain”. I completely agree that “Singin’ in the Rain” uses non-diegetic sound extensively, and often exceptionally, but I also feel that its use of diegetic sound was different than other films I had seen. The diegetic sounds that the audience hears are often manipulated in “Singin’ in the Rain”. The most memorable example of this, for me, was the frequent use of tap dancing and how the sound of the dancers shoes would become amplified when they began a sequence of tap. The instance where I first made note of this was during their “Moses Supposes” song, linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPBKYwJo3nQ.
As we talked about in class, diegetic sound is almost always manipulated in films; Whether it is the footsteps of an actor being amplified by a foley artist, or an actor re-recording their lines in post, filmmakers go to extreme lengths to make sure diegetic sound is captured and portrayed a very specific way on screen, something which your blog post made me recall!