Apocalypse Now - Sound Analysis Notes
Film Studies
Segment
1a In the Hotel Room
Complex, expressionistic sound mix
music - Jim Morrison, The EndӔ (itself a complex mix)
sound - helicopters
words - words to Morrisons song
music fades to give way to fade-in realistic helicopter sound
1b Temporary realistic mix
sound - Saigon street sounds, radio, eventually jungle
narrative - VO WillardҒs narrative
music - electronic fading into end of The EndӔ
1c music - The EndӔ at its climax, most frantic
words - Words in the song replaced by noise
2 Call to Mission
Realistic mix
soldiers accents
Sound Bridge - from WillardҒs yell in shower to sound of helicopter
3 The Briefing
Realistic mix
narrative - includes flash forward (Willard lets us know what will come later)
music - diegetic; hear local radio, Asian, barely audible, returns loud at the end to set up the sound bridge
words - silence, accents; info provided, intro to Kurtz--like newsreel inCitizen Kane
sounds - silence, realistic but selective; from Willards tense pov
oddity: the tape recording; realistic, but surreal in its content
The tape ғput the hook in me--will work like Rosebud, an enigma
Sound Bridge - from tinkly music on soundtrack to loud, complex, soaring score that will match helicopter flight opening next scene
4 On the PBR
Realistic mix, with VO narrative
music - some electronic musictrack; some diegetic (radio), kept low until weԒre meant to notice it
narrative - exposition (info provided on Kurtz, a narrative short-cut)
sound - boat noises are muted
words - characters introduced
sound cues will anticipate edits
5 The First Battle
Complex realistic mix becomes increasingly expressionistic
quiet focus of narration gives way to cacophany of noise
words - characters yelling at each other - louder than the mix would demand, becomes ever louder; overlapping dialogue
sounds - loudspeakers, translaters, women, children, sirens, bombs, priest giving mass, lamb bleating
Sound bridge: sound of choir provides bridge to cookout singing
6 The Cookout
Realistic sound mix - laughing, singing, talking, etc.
Accents, Kilgores blustery voice
Sound bridge: sound of helicopter foreshadows transition to next morning, when we see the helicopters and their sound is magnified
7 The Second Battle
Complex realistic mix
the sound volume proportion between helicopter noise and Wagner music is carefully controlled
music - WagnerҒs Ride of the ValkyrieӔ both diegetic and non-diegetic, realistic and expressionistic (amplitude and resonance non-realistic);
the soprano becomes nightmarish as battle commences
sound - sounds of garbled radio, gunfire, yells, screams, explosions, mixed with music
sudden shift from cacophany to the quiet (peaceful sounds) courtyard in the Vietcong village just before the attack--emphasizes the sense of order, peace, community, which will be shattered with the battle
music - ceases during the very realistic scene in the courtyard where the wounded are being cared for, remainder of scene will have no music; more realistic
Scene ends with a fade, both visual and aural
8 The Tiger
Combination of styles, starts expressionist, then realist
music - drumming, eerie electronic
narrative - Willards ғSomeday this wars gonna endҔ
sounds - jungle sounds, silence as they confront tiger, then explosion of noise, with Chef screaming, gunfire, yelling
words - dialogue: longest interpersonal scene, between Chef & Willard
9 Monologue on PBR
Expressionistic, with VO and eerie mood music
narration - Willard vo monologue, speaking about Kurtz reveals something about himself; Never Get Out of the Goddamn Boat--unless
you were going all the wayӔ; Operation Archangel
music - eerie throughout; some diegetic towards end: Clean singing to himself, then beginning sounds of party music in distance
words - Chef reading aloud letter hes writing to Eva
10 With the Playboy Bunnies
Realist mix becoming expressionistic at the end
music҈ - the show, very loud, rhythmic, sexual strains of Suzy QӔ eventually give way to electronic noises that pick up Suzy QӔ melody, but very distorted
sounds - realistic cacophany leading up to concert
Sound Bridge - final electronic music leads to music track in next scene
11 Another Monologue on the PBR
Moody Expressionistic mix
narration - Kurtzs letter to son, ғCharlie dont get no USO.Ҕ
music - expressionistic music becomes higher volume, more dramatic
words - crew is getting on one anothers nerves, yelling at each other
12 Encounter with the Sampan
Realistic mix
words - accents, lack of English, increased yelling
sounds - crescendo of noise, with climactic explosion of shooting, screams; then silence, with faint jungle sounds
contrast between frantic voices of PBR men and WillardҒs dead calm
13 Da Long Bridge
Extremely complex expressionistic mix
narration - Willards ғThose boys wont look at me the same way again, but I felt IҒd learned one or two things about Kurtz that werent in the dossier.Ҕ Serves as bridge linking previous scene to this scene
music - nightmarish, strains of psychedelic songs
sounds - shooting, screaming, explosions, sounds of unknown origin
words - accents, frantic soldiers vs. drugged-out soldiers, soul brothersӔ
Da Long Bridge is the gateway to the nightmare, to death, to Kurtz
From this point on, nearly every scene will use a soundtrack that is dense, expressionistic, and frequently nightmarish, until the return of Jim Morrisons ғThe End in the last scene. This return to the opening song underscores the parallel between Willard in the hotel room (longing for a mission) and Willard killing Kurtz (his mission completed). The final electronic strains of the song also serve to end the film.
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