The use of Diegetic sound is used to foreshadow Bonnie and Clyde’s death in the ending of the movie. Amidst the rapid cuts between Clyde, Bonnie and Malcolm, the sound of birds flying away in fear can be heard by both characters and spectator. This acts as the ‘calm before the storm’ a sign of danger that is pending.

The use of the non–diegetic banjo underscoring is used in the scene where the gang flee from police following their bank robbery, the spectator can hear an upbeat, jolly score of banjo – signifying how Bonnie and Clyde find their criminal life fun and amusing, and how they enjoy the chase and thrill that comes with their life above the law.

Dialogue

‘When i get my hands on those kids, Velma, I’m gonna tear them apart!’

‘What if they have guns Eugene?’

‘Listen we better get the police and let them handle this’

The use of Dialogue in this scene is used to create a comedic moment surrounding the victims of Bonnie and Clyde’s antics. By adding in this moment between Eugene and Velma, the spectator is encouraged to forget the seriousness of the crimes they commit, and instead share their joy and unbothered attitude in regard to their life of crime.

Sound Motif

The use of gunfire as a sound motif in the movie is effective, in the sense that the audience is led to connote gunfire with the fun and antics of Bonnie and Clyde. The spectator is desensitised to the sound of gunfire, as the use of it in the movie and beyond excessive and with a rarely bad result for Bonnie and Clyde.

The reoccurring sound of gunfire is also used to connect the movie all together, and reinforce the films overarching theme of violence. In the ending of the movie, the only sound that can be heard is gunfire, this prefaces how the ambush of Bonnie and Clyde was excessively violent and unexpected. The audience now redefines the connotation of gunfire from the success of Bonnie and Clyde to the downfall of the two.

Sound Mixing (atmos/foley)

Examples of foley sound in Bonnie and Clyde include and external sound from outside during dialogue, for example the scene that Bonnie and Clyde share on the field. In addition any gunfire that takes place behind dialogue.

Immediately in the film Bonnie and Clyde, director Arthur Penn uses editing to let the viewer know that the film will be moving at a rapid tempo.

As photographs quickly flash across the introduction, it lets the viewer know that the action will be fast paced. Throughout Bonnie and Clyde the use of editing does indeed romanticise the criminal activity of the Barrow gang, and is also used to recruit the viewer to the Barrow’s side.

Example of editing sequence in Bonnie and Clyde

A scene that stood out was the one where they had just robbed a bank and fled to Oklahoma, this scene stood out because narrative sequencing was used to depict a few results and opinions that resulted from the bank robbery all while they
were escaping from the police.

Narrative sequencing is used “to suggest the
simultaneity of events happening in different settings” (Pramaggiore 201).

While Bonnie, Clyde and the rest of their group were outrunning the police, a few shots of what was happening back at
the bank were entered into the sequence. these shots featured a policeman who was taking in the glory of having escaped the crimes of Bonnie and Clyde.

This was done to help the audience realize just how notorious Bonnie and Clyde had become. There is also a shot of an old man who thought what Bonnie and Clyde did was right by him.

A reason why this shot might have been added was so that the audience could sympathize with Bonnie and Clyde and not think of them as all that bad. 

Ultimately, Bonnie and Clyde were thieves and murderers but what Penn did with editing was to make the audience sympathize with them. He used tempo, timing, along with joining shots to enhance the film. 

Sound –

Diegetic – Used in scenes such as Glass breaks, a gun fires or a car speeds away, diegetic noise is used to set a dramatic mood within the film.

Non-Diegetic – Used in scenes of chases, examples include banjo music to set a mood of location of being out in west of the US.

Dialogue –

When being told off by Clyde for not keeping the car in the same location because he was distracted, Clyde describes him as “Boy” this shows that he is young and naïve and treated as so by the gang.

Underscoring –

During the scene where Bonnie runs away due to missing her mother, emotional underscoring is used to establish her sadness and longing to see her again.

Sound Motif –

throughout the course of the film, a recognisable sound motif of a banjo is played whenever the gang are in a highspeed chase. This use of a sound motif makes what is going on in the scene recognisable.

Sound mixing (Atmos/Foley) –

Due to the dangers of real ammunition on film sets, weapons fired blanks to replicate the visual appearance of gun fire, due to the sound being damped due to the blanks, Foley sound of gun fire was recorded and used for shutouts.

What global events had just taken place and were taking place at the time of the films production? Explain how these events may have impacted on the style and content of the film itself:

Made in 1967, Bonnie and Clyde was made nearing the end of the decade. Throughout the 60’s a plethora of events occurred involving the US that can possibly be shown to make an influence on the production of Bonnie and Clyde. From the 1st of November 1955 to 30th April 1975, the Vietnam war saw an large influence on political and social events. Due to the wars futility in making progress and the amount of American lives lost to fight a war for political ideology, growing unpopularity of the conflict grew in America, examples of this can seen with peace protests and the infamous peace symbol brandished by hippies, who rejected established institutions and “fought against the machine” (E.g. the Government), This can be said to make an influence on Bonnie and Clyde as their storyline follows a similar premise of revolting against the government for its unfairness and corruption, such as the banks in the 1930s and the military and government during the Vietnam war.

In addition to this the Cold War had reached it peak. In 1961, The CIA had orchestrated the soon to be failed bay of pigs invasion in Communist Cuba. Involving trained capitalist Cuban soldiers, who attempted to invade the bay of pigs their attempt was found out and stopped by Communist Cuban military. This relates to Bonnie and Clyde as it can be said the US is represented by the authority figures and the Cubans as the gang evading them and preventing suppression of democratic expansionism.

How are different groups represented In Bonnie and Clyde and what ideological standpoints may these representations reveal about these groups?

Women –

Women in Bonnie and Clyde are represented as accessories to the men, shown in scenes with the characters: Bonnie, Blanche and the undertakers girlfriend, their male counterparts are almost always being at their side. This is a stereotypical representation of women still common in the patriarchal society of the 1960s which was the decade this film was made in. However, Faye Dunaway’s character, Bonnie, differs from the stereotype as she is more so a Femme Fatale, shown by the director as playing a more independent role and being the dominant one in the relationship between her and Clyde.

Men –

Men such as Clyde and his brother, Buck are represented as being almost boisterous when around each other, this shows an aspect of immaturity as it mainly their actions that get them into trouble such as antagonizing the Texas Ranger, this includes other men such as C.W. Moss and the undertaker being youthful with their personalities such as liking cars. Men like the Evicted home owner and the Texas Ranger, Frank Hamer, are shown to stern, emotionless and stone-faced, this can be seen as a typical masculine representation from the time.

Authority Figures –

Authority figures in Bonnie and Clyde are represented as persistent and determined in the arrest of the main protagonists, with the character of the Frank Hamer, being a Texas Ranger brought out of retirement to capture them, it represents authority figures like this further, it also can be seen with him interrogating Blanche after a shootout to find out more about his targets. They can also be seen to be easily outwitted and manoeuvred by the gang such as within police chases, shootouts. Their persistence is thoroughly shown with the use of an armoured car brought to deal with them. From an ideological viewpoint this could represent the film makers use of French New wave as the protagonists and the authority as the government and previous film styles that were more traditional.

People of Colour –

People of colour in Bonnie and Clyde are represented as being equal to white people, although during the time, America was still racially divided, this representation could go to show the developed youth of the era showing their acceptance of racial equality such as with the worker of the evicted home owner shaking hands and being treated fairly by the protagonists. With also being able to shoot at the bank owned building this could go be a visual metaphor for the civil rights moment.

Working Class Americans –

Represented as down to earth and humble, the working class Americans are shown to be caring travellers, sharing little of what they had. living out their carts and trucks they are shown as deeply poor. Since the film is set in the 1930s, this is an accurate representation of people of the working class as many lost their jobs due to Great depression.

Realism –

Verisimilitude is what I have chosen as the aesthetic for realism as Bonnie and Clyde is based on the real stories from the people of the past, this can exampled through information on the 2 people at the start of the film almost as just a refresher to who they were.

Tone –

Throughout Bonnie and Clyde, a mixture of Tones are used. The tones suspense and comedy are used frequently with occasional scenes of pathos for characters such as the farmer who had his home taken by the bank, the people who cared for Bonnie and Clyde when they where injured and Bucks wife when she was being integrated by the Texas ranger.

Visual style –

During the films release in the 60s, many young film makers implemented the visual style of the “French New Wave”. This consisted of techniques such as jump cuts, hand held camera work, use of natural lighting.

Another example of this new visual style was the use of more violence, compared to other films, this was unconventional in American films at the time.

Mise En Scene –

Locations –

Filmed in Texas, in the home state of the real Bonnie and Clyde, This use of historically accurate location adds to the mise en scene as it creates an immersive setting to film. With use of old timey buildings it intentionally recreates the appearance of a town in the 1930s.

Sets (Interiors) –

Set interiors are used within the mise en scene to often capture the dramatic elements of the films story line. This can be shown with a couple of scenes showing Clyde’s inability to make love to bonnie. It also is shown during the bank robberies and police home invasions.

Costumes –

Costumes in Bonnie and Clyde create a mise en scene as the actors are dressed up in clothing of the time. This can be shown with the first image showing some of the fashion styles for men and women within the 30’s. The second image is a recreation of a real photo of Bonnie, this creates a good mise en scene as it makes the costume fairly accurate to the time.

Props –

Props used for the mise en scene include the notorious weapons of the gangsters and mobsters alike from the 1920s, these include the tommy gun, nicknamed the “typewriter” for the sound it made when firing, pistols and revolvers as well such as smith and Wesson’s and colt M1911’s as seen in the second image.

Inside Bonnie and Clyde, the editing style used is continuity, this is because scenes take place after another, however within some occasional scenes, the film contains discontinuity as jump cuts are used. An example of this can seen with Clyde being injured after a fight with a shop owner, in the next scene however his wounds have cleared.

This has been intentionally done to create the effect of time passing between the scenes, providing through visual context why Clyde’s wounds have healed.

Diegetic Sound

In Casablanca, the use of diegetic sound is seen in the restaurant where the woman is performing the guitar and singing and the male is playing the piano for Ilsa. This sound that the actors can hear adds more depth to the film as it can represent the characters and remind us (the audience) of what we connect the song with to the characters.

Non-Diegetic Sound

In Casablanca, non-diegetic sound is used throughout the play with the Classical Casablanca song that is played a few times. It shows the development of the narrative but also the characters as its played in different scenes and each time its played the scene and plot and characters have changed.

What style of editing is used in Casablanca?

The style of edit for Casablanca is continuity editing which produces a straightforward narrative, which emphasises the Hollywood film style.

Give an example of how a specific shot sequence has been constructed and explain the intended effect on the spectator.

This shot here is taken from above to show the amount of people in the scene and to emphasise the importance of who and what is arriving.

This shot shows his point of view of the bar and it is used to emphasise his importance in the overall narrative. It also foregrounds the ending as he seems distant to his bar.

This close up image is used to show the emotions of Ilsa and to showcase her true feelings towards Rick which changes the whole narrative.