SSC Film Studies

Boogie nights - sound analysis

When the scene starts there isn’t much sound but the rabble of the three men sat in the car. It is here we first see the gun been taken out by one of the men, Dirk Diggler, and concealed. The men then proceed towards the house to get in; it is here we notice the loud diegetic music in the background. Another man then greets the men and we start hearing a starling sound, which is constant through the scene, the sound seems to be a firecracker. The way we saw the gun at the start and the very loud cracks suggests that maybe someone is going to get shot and shows it’s a very dangerous environment, or at least the men feel that way.

            The room is very hazy and you can’t see clearly through it all. This creates the feeling of uncertainty in the scene along with the sense of chaos due to the dialogue, music and firecracker all being extremely loud. The dialogue is often intelligible, as this adds to the sense of chaos. At the end of the scene, Todd takes a loaded gun out and aims it at himself and as he’s joking about pulling the trigger, the camera falls back onto the three men. At this exact moment there is another firecracker that is set off imitating the sound of a gun being fired, which strikes us as an audience by surprise.