1. Soundtrack Analysis

2. Extract
This extract is take from thriller movie ‘the Dark Knight’. It features a range of
selective sounds such as diegetic, non diegetic, parallel and synchronous
sounds.

3. Diegetic Sounds
• The voice of the Joker, Batman and the police
officer.
• The objects such as the motorbike, the car
crashing and the weapons.
Non Diegetic Sounds
• Background music

4. Parallel Sound
(Denotation)
The parallel sound we hear in the extract is the
background music. The background music doesn’t start
immediately, but it slowly grows as the action
progresses. For example, it starts slowly and quietly,
then progressively ranges to a more higher pitched and
louder sound the closer Batman gets to the Joker.

5. Parallel Sounds
(connotations)
It is parallel to the scene as the music ranges
from low to high pitched and builds tension
throughout, which matches the scene as it is a
climax of action and tension builds for the
viewer.

6. Parallel Sound
(Representations)
It represents this scene of the film to be tense
and dark, and significant as the soundtrack is an
important part of this scene. The music is also
non-diegetic as the characters can’t hear it,
which therefore represents that it is specifically
presented to the viewer only.

7. Selective Sound
(Denotations)
The selective sounds in the extract are the
objects used like the gun, the knife and the
electric shock from Batman’s suit. 50 seconds
into the clip, you can hear the Joker play with his
knife very clearly, which you wouldn’t usually
hear as loudly in reality. The gun noises have
also been exaggerated and the sound of the
electric shock would not be as loud in a setting
such as the one featured.

8. Selective Sounds
(Connotations)
The exaggerated sound of the knife and the gun
have been made louder in the scene to show the
significance of the objects.

9. Selective Sounds
(Representations)
The fact that the significance of these objects
have been presented to the viewer foreshadows
that they will be used later on in the scene or in
the movie.

10. Synchronous Sounds
The motorbike and the car match what we see
in the extract. For example when we see the car
crashing, we then hear the screeches and crash
noises. The viewer also sees this on batman’s
motorbike. As he driver closer to the Joker, the
sounds coming from the bike get louder to
match the speed of it.

11. Dialogue
We hear dialogue mainly from the Joker as he is the
main focus of the extract. The fact that he talks
even though no one can hear him is a way of
expressing his thoughts to the viewer. He also
laughs and grunts when he is in pain at the start of
the clip, again, to express his opinions and feelings.
The only dialogue we hear from batman is when he
shouts as he is about to hit the joker on the bike.
The police officer also talks to the Joker towards the
end of the scene, saying “we got ya” which explains
and reiterates what’s happened, almost a summary
of the scene.