No Country for Old Men (Ethan and Joel Coen, 2007)
Must be rented or streamed (from Netflix, Amazon, YouTube Movies, etc.)
Directions:
After reading the textbook chapter and two articles related to sound design, watch No Country for Old Men, paying particularly close attention to the use of sound and silence throughout the film. Then choose one scene in the film* and, in a discussion of at least 250 words, describe its “sonic spectrum.” Your discussion must
1) identify the beginning and ending times of your scene,
2) describe the sounds in order of their occurrence within the scene, and
3) address all of the following elements: sound effects, from the most obvious to the barely perceptible; music; dialogue; and silence (true silence, or can you hear an added sound?).
After describing the use of these elements, briefly answer the following questions:
If you had to sum up the overall sound design of your chosen scene in one sentence, what would it be?
Why is this design concept appropriate for the scene?
How does this scene move the film’s plot forward?
*Do NOT choose the hotel scene discussed on the last page of Lim’s article. You are free to choose any other scene in the movie.
The Beautiful Lies of Sound Design