Director: Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Starring: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, & Lauren Holly
Genre: Comedy
Sound is crucial to todays moviegoer's experience. It is hard to believe that not too long ago, sound was considered unimportant to the audiences watching a film. Technology has directors utilizing state of the art Dolby Surround Sound (DSS) enhancing their pictures. There are three basic categories of sound filmmakers incorporate to their motion pictures: dialogue, music, and sound effects. Dialogue is the conversation held between characters or narration and is classified as diegetic (meaning it is a part of the film's story). Music, also known as a score, is put in post-production and is heard only by the audience, making it classified as a non-diegtic (an outside part of the film's story). Sound effects are created by the characters in the film; the main purpose of sound effects is to enhance the action and interest of the audience (Goodykoonts & Jacobs, 2014).
Sound is used to thrill the audience and enhance the storyline. An example of dialogue in Dumb 'n' Dumber that really gauges the comedic impact of this film would be the scene when Lloyd (Carrey) comes home to Harry (Daniels) discovering his pet parakeet's head fell off. Lloyd takes this moment to persuade Harry to go on s road trip to deliver a lost suitcase to a beautiful woman he met the day before.
Dumb 'n' Dumber's background music has comedic timing. The music is just as goofy as the characters in the movie. In this scene, Lloyd made the wrong turn into Colorado instead of Aspen. On a tight budget, they realize they don't have enough money to fill ip their tank to reroute them in the right direction. A very frustrated Harry walks away from a remorseful Lloyd. A silly tune plays in the background. The music lightens the mood to keep the film from being too dramatic. It is a comedy after all.
Sound effects enhance the scene. In this particular scene in Dumb 'n' Dumber, Lloyd and Harry finally track down the beautiful woman Floyd fell in love with, Mary Swanson, at a fundraiser for Snow Owls. Harry tells Lloyd a lie about Mary wanting to meet him for a date the next day. In a fit of excitement, Lloyd pops a champagne bottle to celebrate his victory. The cork pops, the champagne fizzes, and an owl is shot down from it's cage. Without the victim of the cork shooting making a timely "hoo" before death or the pop of the cork from the bottle, the scene would not have been so funny.
Resources:
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
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