Aviator Scene Analysis

The film Aviator is a historical film about breaking an old flying record. During this scene sound and editing were used to great effect to help add suspense and drama. The Aviator is a good example of an historical film because it is based on a true story and most of the elements remain true to factual information which this genre represents.

The sound and editing in this film were used to convey the feelings and emotions of this particular scene and they really added a good deal of suspense. In the beginning it was calm and quiet, there was only a small amount of light music in the background, which conveyed a sense of normality, nothing was happening yet.The shots were just medium length and the dialogue was the loudest sound, which helped make you focus on what they were saying. Then he got in the plane and it showed the switches being flicked, and the loud sound effects to go with them which added to their importance. Then the plane started up and the engines noise was loud but no music added yet, nothing was building up or happening. The shots were continuously of his face, to show the emotions running through him, and of the plane to let you know how important it was, and the dependence this scene had on it. Then the plane is seen further away and it’s quieter now, his face is shown close-up and he seems to get tenser, suddenly the music starts, and it’s soft but building up. Now you know that something is about to happen. As he takes off the music suddenly escalates, exclamations come from the watching crowd as their hats are blown off, it shows surprise, and that makes it a bit more suspenseful in the sense of, is something else unexpected going to happen? Then the engine becomes a bit louder and the plane is brought close up again and rattling sounds are brought in coming from the plane. The music and engine and workings of the plane are the main sounds now, it makes it seem that it’s really hard for this plane to try to go so fast and that with this technology breaking the speed record will really be a great step. As he comes in for the first run he whoops, showing excitement in the atmosphere, but he doesn’t break the record and his time is said unexcitedly to show a bit of disappointment. The clock is ticking loudly, to add dependence on it and importance. As he misses it again a bit of tension builds up because only one more try is left and that’s all he can get. Then he breaks the record and everybody jumps and yells with excitement and relief. But the music is still going tensely, so you know something else is going to happen. He runs out of fuel and the engine dies down and sputters out, leaving the plane falling silently through the air. When it crashes, to show that it was on light there are no great bangs just a rushing sound as the plane scrapes on through the farm. It isn’t shown stopping but instead the cars are parking and that adds a tiny bit more suspense before seeing him casually leaning against the plane, ending the scene with an air of triumph but also the idea that it isn’t over yet.

This explanation shows that the elements of sound and editing were used with good timing in this film, escalating at the right times and showing the things that were most important in order to give you a perfect impression of what was going on and what you needed to understand. It is a perfect example of a film from the history genre.