MOMI Trip

 This class trip was my first time visiting MOMI. I never even knew it existed before we were told about it in class. I always like to take any opportunity to learn about film and television so I was pleasantly surprised to find out the class was going to this museum. Going to MOMI was a great way for us to learn about film and television in a fun and interactive way. The demos that we participated in correlated to everything that we are learning in lecture in regards to sound effects and music; but going to MOMI took our lessons a step further and allowed the class to see how sound effects are used up close.

In my group we first went to see the demo where the tour guide showed us a clip from the movie Vertigo. I am not familiar with this movie but the clip came from a scene were a woman is looking at a painting and a man is standing a few feet behind her staring at her intensely. We watched the clip a few times and each time a different song played in the background and the tour guide had the group guess which song matched the scene the best. It was really interesting to see how each song evoked a different feeling in the scene and it shows how important music is in a film; the wrong song can throw off an entire scene.

The next demo my group went to was really fun. In this demo the guide showed us a clip from the classic cartoon the Simpsons to show us how sound effects work and how to properly use them. This clip is from a scene where Lisa is nervously taking a test and all the characters in the classroom is silent and we can only hear the sounds of the environment around her. This demo was somewhat of a game in that our group had to go through a list of sound effects and pick the best sounds to match the environment around Lisa like the sound of her furiously erasing an answer, her heart beating, the lights flickering, the clock ticking, a boy outside jumping on a pogo stick, and Milhouse flirtatiously raising his eye brows at Lisa- this one always got a big laugh. Some of the sounds that were used were a baby crying to make the sound of the pogo sick and the roar of a cheetah to make the sound of the eraser. These seem like odd choices for the object they were used for but it actually matched perfectly with the object.

In the last demo my group visited at MOMI we learned about foley and editing. Like the other demos our guide showed us a clip, the clip in this demo was from the movie Titanic. This clip was of the famous sinking of the Titanic ship. The tour guide shared with us the many different sounds that were use to make the ship sinking sound realistic. Like in the Simpsons demo many unlikely sounds were used but it worked in the scene. For example, the sound of a rifle was used when the ships ropes snapped, a lions roar played backward was used in sync with a sink draining to create the sound of water being sucked into the ship, and the sound of an elephant was used the create the sound of a tower falling. It was so fascinating to find this out since I watched Titanic many times and never knew that foley was used to make these sounds. Also, a fun fact that the tour guide shared with the group is that the actors voices were edited into the sinking scene after the scene was shot because there was too much going on for the camera to pick up the actors voices.

I learned a lot of useful tid bits about film, television, sound effects, music, and foley. I'm really glad I got to find out about MOMI and had the experience to learn all that I learned. I enjoyed MOMI so much that I went back the next day with a friend to visit the Mad Men exhibit that recently opened up; and I'm sure I'll be taking a lot more trips back to MOMI in the near future.

Relationships Between Shots

Scene Clip

The scene that I will be examining is a scene from my all time favorite movie – Mrs. Doubtfire. The scene that I examined is the part of the film where Robin Williams character gets transformed into a woman; this scene is hilarious! I believe the editing techniques that the film makers used helped to make this scene funny for audiences. This scene is broken up into different shots; each shot shows the progression of Robins transformation into a woman. The first few shots are close ups of Robin's face where we can see the different looks he tries out. Using close ups through out the process is great because the audience gets to see the transformation clearly.

Also, there isn't a whole lot of sound effects and Foley used in this scene so the background music that was used helped to create a different mood in each of Robin's transformation looks. Each look matched the music being played. For example, in Robins first look he plays a spicy Latin woman so the there is lively calypso music being played in that shot. In Robin's next look he plays an old Jewish looking woman, during this shot the audience can hear old Yiddish music playing. Next, in one of Robins last looks he plays a woman who looks strikingly similar to Barbra Streisand so in this shot we hear music that can be heard in a Broadway orchestra which matches perfectly with the Streisand song Robin breaks out and sings while he is in this look. In the last shots Robin transforms into his final look; while this transformation is being made we hear the Frank Sinatra song Luck be a Lady, adding this song in the scene is perfect because Robin is being transformed into a “Lady” as the song is being played. It's also important to point out that at the start of each shot where Robin is being transformed the camera pans up to a close up of Robins face or Robin turns to the camera to reveal his look. Making a reveal like this adds some suspense to what crazy look Robin is going to appear in next and adds to the shock and entertainment value that this scene gives to the audience.

Mrs. Doubtfire is one of the funniest movies of all time and this scene is indicative of how funny the rest of the movie is; and it's all thanks to the editing.

Inteview

https://soundcloud.com/myrslo76-1/media-160-interview