Sound design in film, described as “sound editing viewed artistically or aesthetically in terms of the shaping of the sound track in a film” (Buhler 2009, 430), is by definition a creative process demanding from its producers a great deal of inventiveness and aural imagination. Surprisingly, if one assumes that creativity is the key to successful sound design, it seems that very few contemporary soundtracks can be called successful at all. The goal of this paper is to examine the art of sound production in Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby (2013) in terms of its creative use of sound. The analysis will focus on scenes from the movie in which sound does more to the overall impression and interpretation of the film than merely confirm the story that is told. Meanings of sound sequences in The Great Gatsby will be examined by in juxtaposition with selected plot elements. The sound in Luhrmann’s production is creative mostly because it serves unique and unexpected functions that make it different from what seems to be the usual cinematic practice. It correlates with images in an innovative way, plays with diegetic vs. non-diegetic distinction (which is applied in the score analysis), and creates certain sonic spaces through skillful editing. All these “subtle-but-meaningful cinemusical details” (Holbrook 2011, 252) allow for interpreting the film in contemporary contexts.
As a subculture created by black and Latino men and women in the late 1970s in the United States, hip-hop from the very beginning was closely related to urban environment. Undoubtedly, space has various functions in hip-hop music, among which its potential to express the group identity seems to be of the utmost importance. The goal of this paper is to examine selected rap lyrics which are rooted in the urban landscape: “N.Y. State of Mind” by Nas, “H.O.O.D” by Masta Ace, and “Street Struck,” in order to elaborate on the significance of space in hip-hop music. Interestingly, spaces such as the city as a whole, a neighborhood, and a particular street or even block which are referred to in the rap lyrics mentioned above express one and the same broader category of urban environment, thus, words connected to urban spaces are often employed interchangeably.
The article aims to analyze the vision of post-apocalypse in the music video for Vince Staples’ Señorita directed by Ian Pons Jewell. The music video utilizes the post-apocalyptic aesthetics to reflect upon tense racial relations in the contemporary United States. In Señorita the apocalypse has already happened – social, political, economic, and ecological – but the world after the catastrophe does not look much different from the one known in the first decades of the 21st century. In this paper I will focus on the visual side of the music video as well as its ending, which emphasizes the pessimistic overtone of the video. It turns out that the life in the futuristic ghetto is watched in a quasi-museum by an upper-class White American family. The ending stresses the attitude of the richest towards the people who are less educated or in a worse economic situation. Depending on the interpretation of the music video, Whites will either exterminate those regarded as less valuable and now watch their life in a minimalistic museum or will consider watching their life in real time as a reality TV type of entertainment. The vision of the future, according to the director and Vince Staples, is very post-apocalyptic in nature not only thanks to the specific type of aesthetics but also due to the Señorita’s pessimistic ending. Owing to the use of post-apocalyptic iconography portraying the life in the ghetto, the viewers may draw a conclusion that those from less privileged social groups have their “post-apocalypse” now.
PL
W artykule dokonano analizy wideoklipu do utworu Vince’a Staplesa Señorita, wyreżyserowanego przez Iana Pons Jewella. Napięte relacje międzyrasowe w Stanach Zjednoczonych przedstawione zostały za pomocą formuły postapokaliptycznej. W Señoricie apokalipsa jest już faktem – społeczna, polityczna, ekonomiczna oraz ekologiczna – jednak świat nie wydaje się znacząco różny od rzeczywistości znanej z pierwszych dekad XXI wieku. Szczególną uwagę poświęcono warstwie wizualnej teledysku oraz jego zakończeniu, które akcentuje pesymizm przekazu. Okazuje się bowiem, że rzeczywistość przedstawionego w obrazie futurystycznego getta oglądana jest w niby– muzeum przez amerykańską białą rodzinę z wyższej klasy. Wskazuje to na stosunek ludzi bogatych do tych nisko sytuowanych i gorzej wykształconych. W zależności od interpretacji wideoklipu zamożniejsi albo całkowicie pozbyli się ludzi uważanych za mniej wartościowych społecznie i teraz oglądają ich świat w minimalistycznym muzeum, albo traktują obserwowanie ich życia w czasie rzeczywistym jako rozrywkę typu reality TV. Wizja przyszłości według reżysera klipu i autora utworu jest na wskroś postapokaliptyczna. Użycie ikonografii postapokaliptycznej obrazującej życie w getcie pozwala wysnuć wniosek, że dla osób z mniej uprzywilejowanych grup społecznych, parafrazując tytuł klasycznego filmu Coppoli, „czas postapokalipsy” właśnie trwa.
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