The Searchers: A Classic Film Soundtrack - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Searchers is an American film produced in 1956 and was based on a novel written in 1954 by Alan May. This particular film was directed by John Ford during the Indian wars in Texas with John Wayne as the starring. There are three main categories in film sounds, sound effects, dialogue, and music. The Searchers is no different, and it is known for its fine exemplar in its genre and one of the best movies of all time. Dialogue is important in the film because it develops the plot of the story, enhances characterizations, and also plays a major role in the establishment of information that the audience needs to know so that it can understand the film. The film is a theatrical adventure drama liked by many, and it remains a masterpiece of film making in America enhanced through the incorporation of effective sound effects. The Searchers film is a cinematic classic that achieved the best, most influential, and most admired film during those days. The film consists of majestic scenery that is enhanced through the use of sound effects, which are the most remarkable director's cinematic aspect that make the film beautiful. Sound effects are important in the understanding of the film as it helps to enhance the sounds that the audiences hear when a certain action happens.

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Sound effects also play the role of keeping the audience involved in the film. Music is used in the film as it enhances the mood of the viewers as they anticipate the next move that the characters are going to take. The choice of music is important because it helps to create suspense and helps the audience to feel the rise and fall of emotions. For instance, the sound is used to help the audience understand themes in a play more effectively (Ellis, 2017). The Searchers is considered as the most influential film in American history since it constructs several meanings by involving the audience in music used in the film. Sound effects help the audience to understand the major themes of film such as American identity, family unit, the opposition between civilization and the untamed contrast between the civilized and wilderness.

The film adopts all the aspects of sound, especially because, as an old-time western film, shootouts, battles between men and hard terrains are evident. The sound aspect used in the movie helps to set the mood that the audience is expected to have at various points in the film. The music used in the film mostly encompasses musical instruments like drums and the sounds of ricocheting gunfire. The sounds make the viewers have a feeling of something terrible about to happen. The Searchers film constructs the meaning through the incorporation of sound effects that bring out the character of various actors and actresses like Ethan Edwards (Ellis, 2017). The sound effects meaning is also achieved through ensuring that the starring characters are shrouded with mystery with a lot of questions posed towards them based on their previous dealings, whereabouts, and relationships. The director has also incorporated sound effects making the film to be considered as a masterpiece that meets issues of discrimination and revenge in the director's western model perspective.

The film also uses sound effects such as Native American chanting and birds being spooked in the background. Such sound effects are expected in Western genres. The dialogue in the film is harsh as the characters relay the emotions they faced during the hard times. Such sound effects created help the audience to clearly understand that the film was made for the American Western audience. Hence it is known to be the best Hollywood film of all-time (Ellis, 2017). The director of this particular film has used the saddest emotions that are accompanied by effective sound effects to capture the audience's attention and bring the meaning of the themes within the film. The sound effects bring out grief, terror, lost love, and defiance that have been used in order to capture the audience's attention.

The choice of the sound in various scenes of the film are realistic, and the expected effects are felt by the audience. For instance, the sound effects are used to achieve the historical significance of the captivity by capturing the imagination of the public. The Searchers film uses different settings with different sound effects to show how captivity was practiced in the 17th century. Most people who practiced captivity was in 1800 were invading America in the 17th century. The sound effects in certain scenes in this particular film helps to explore how people were captured and taken to the wilderness resulting in difficult issues. The sound effects full of terror and grief are used to show the aspect of psychological and personal tension that was involved.

The sound effects in The Searchers film help the audience to justify the conquest of the west through the creation of tension. The film displays how the native is capable of stealing and women from their land, and they have the right to conquer them and tame them to prevent any type of captivity. The sound effects in the film, for instance, help to explore American history through the focusing of psychosexual and psychological tensions as well. For instance, it shows how women who were captured were sexually abused. The emotions are strongly felt based on what these women went through, especially the sound effects that leave the audience fully terrified. Generally, the film captures the captivity themes in a great way through the incorporation of effective sounds.

The film's social, cultural context is based on Western history that reflects movements and social events that are reflected in the effective sound effects used. The music used in the film mostly encompasses musical instruments like drums and the sounds of ricocheting gunfire that shows the old Western culture. The social, cultural issues are incorporated by Ford in a way that they coincide with the film sound production. The Searchers film displays these sounds that greatly explore social issues such as racism, kingship, and miscegenation. The film gives a simplistic and oblique way in the exploitation of social culture in the west, which is easily understood through the incorporation of specific sound that reflects the West American culture.

The film storyline is constructed and directed with effective sounds that reflect a true story from a novel. The story is told through the use of sound and visual poetry, making it one of the best films. Ford has incorporated effective sounds and deep emotions to tell the story. The sound gives a true definition of how the story revolves around the family life and domestic interiors intimacy to the terrible beauty of sandstone cathedrals in monument valley. The film is organized by a plot with different sound effects that give the audience an opportunity to understand the storyline (Ellis, 2017). The plot of The Searchers film is quite complex, as illustrated by Ford through the incorporation of vivid- subplots, but the sound makes it easier for the audience to understand. Ford has achieved a complex plot through the use of sound that is verbal since they are the primarily theatrical methods such as music, symbolism, and cinematic devices. The director's use of sounds is mainly meant to pose questions to the audience within the opening scenes based on the traditional idea of an American hero, which distinguishes the film from other western films.

Sound effects are used to display arguments that are used as some of the principles in structuring the story in this particular film. Ford uses sound effects to show the racial mixtures of different cultures within the film in western cultures. The nature of audience engagement with the story is quite interesting since the director has incorporated theatrical aspects such as sounds that make the story more interesting. The issues and characters are represented in a simpler way through the incorporation of sounds, which makes the audience understand the story easily. The issues and characters are presented through visual motion pictures and background music based on the cinematic aspect of the film. This style affects the performance of the film and acting as well. The director has also incorporated a special sound aspect that enables the audience to understand the scenes clearly. The sound aspect also brings out the mood of the film (Duncan 2018). The sound and music incorporated in this film connect scenes and created mood within the storyline. The set design and location show the actual storyline as per the novel written by Alan. The technical elements of production in films are well incorporated, making the film beautiful.

References

Ellis, R. (2017). 'I've seen him take his knife...': The Searchers (1956). Film Moments: Criticism, History, Theory, 98.