"The Birds" (1963) is a very good psychological thriller, with no murders, no closed structures, and not even the "clear ending" that Hitchcock always appreciated. It can be said that the benevolent sees the wise and sees the wisdom, psychologists see Freud, environmentalists emphasize the symbiotic relationship between birds and humans, and people who are sensitive to politics can hear the film's fear of the world crisis in the 1960s. The pessimistic people bemoan the end of the world, and the optimistic people see the light of the sky in the distance at the end. And the achievement of all these meanings, in addition to the story connotation and narrative means, the extremely wonderful audio-visual language is indispensable. As far as sound is concerned, the film has no music, and is good at using ambient sounds, especially the sounds of birds, to render a terrifying and disturbing atmosphere, which makes this film especially the author's film.
The sound processing of the opening title of "The Birds" can be described as "earning the first": when the opening subtitles came out, the birds flew out and entered in the picture, making a shrill cry, and the flapping sound of the wings flapping, there was a sound effect similar to machine gun shooting, giving People feel strange and uneasy. Every line of the cast and crew that appeared with the shrill whistling of the birds was smashed to pieces by the birds that suddenly flew across the screen, and the names of all the cast members (including the director's) were not spared from the crowd. Bird's flapping. This beginning gives the audience an omen that "the people who come are not good, and those who are good will not come." The short tens of seconds of the opening set the tone for the horror that is about to unfold.
At the beginning of the film, the heroine walks through the busy city, the street bike horns, human voices, etc. are also noisy and harsh, there are flocks of birds flying in the sky, the shrill and shrill bird calls sound from time to time, and the noise of the flock of birds is also continuous, but the audience feels This does not seem to be in a big city, but in a forest or seaside where flocks of birds live. The film has no theme music, only the roar of birds chirping instead of the theme music renders the disturbing and disturbing atmosphere of the film. The heroine talks to the shop owner and the audience understands that these seagulls never existed, so what happens next? The film creates suspense for the audience through sound.
By the second half of the film, when the flock of birds attacked humans, the terrifying chirping of birds was deafening and became the dominant sound, not so much ambient sound as Melanie, Mitch and their mother. Psychologically, there is a kind of fear that has been amplified. This sound not only sounds harsh, but also looks hideous. And when countless birds occupied the outside of the house and stopped attacking, Mitch, who was covered in scars, carefully got out of the car, passed through the flock of birds, and entered the house. At this time, the sound of birds around is occasional and short-lived. This kind of silence also makes the audience feel as uneasy as the protagonist, because everyone knows that this kind of silence is temporary. , Mitch was attacked again. At this time, the sound settings have reached the "silent is better than the sound" effect.
Overall, as a film without music, "The Birds" subtly creates the audio-visual effect of a psychological thriller with bird calls, which is amazing.
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