Princess Mononoke was a notable piece in Hayao Miyazaki's directing career. It was his first film to win a Japanese Academy Award, earning the title Picture of the Year. Today we watched it in class, and I was amazed at the effort and quality put into its audio and visual effects.
Most notable to me was the use of audio. Sound is used in film to put emphasis on certain sequences, set the mood, and provide background to scenes to make the movie memorable. The most surprising use was that of absolute silence.
When moving, the Great Forest Spirit creates no noise, notably over water. When most scenes have the sounds of crunching or splashing to emphasize movement over certain terrain, with the Deer God there is nothing. No splashes, even with visual ripples made by his feet. It gives him an ethereal, majestic quality, unreal in nature. If there were splash noises, it would draw us back into reality and we see nothing more than a deer with a funny face. But when you remove one key quality of physical interaction, sound, from movement, you are left feeling awestruck in the presence of something more than a physical form.
The second key sound cue I noticed was the effect of Ashitaka's arrows once cursed.
Visually, they were given supernatural qualities by the deadly effect hitting a human target had, but they also had a special sound: a sudden, metallic screech. The arrow also visibly moved faster with a speed up ground, metallic flash upon release, and
wild oscillation when flying. When the samurai swordsman was hit by the arrow, you could tell there was more to that arrow than his normal strength and training. Without this sound and the animation to match, the arrows would seem ordinary. But with the special effects given to its animation and the exaggerated, unusual sound cues, you can tell without any explanation the arrows were powered up by Ashitaka's curse.
Something I would like to discuss would be the use of sound in the film. What did you think of the sound usage? What visual themes did you think stuck out with tied-in alterations to sound? What are some other examples of audio/visual modification to create a supernatural feeling to an action?
Discuss in comments or your own posts!
Dear Ethan
ReplyDeleteI found your observations on sound, truly eloquent. Your description of the arrow is right on target (pun intended). Wind is a constant in Miyasaki's mythology. It plays a major aspect, as you might recall, in Totoro.
Jose