Research: Non-Diegetic Case Study (Once Upon a Time in the West)

The clip I analysed in class was the final duel towards the end of the film. Just before we have the sound of incidental, dramatic music, there is a more uplifting tune. Through switching from the 'cheerful' track to the foreboding sound of the incidental music we immediately infer that something important will happen in the plot. Just as we have a shallow focus long shot when the protagonist steps into shot, the music intensifies. The sound of the harmonica is salient because as it raises volume, it signifies the scene is getting more and more tense, both for the characters and the audience. The way the harmonica is also played along with several instruments, to create a very stereotypically 'Western' sound. The score therefore gives the audience the reading that this is a western movie, which means we can immediately assume that the two men will be in a fight to the death-with guns (considering they are typical iconography of a western film). The harmonica is also important because we find out at the end that the protagonist's brother was hung and that the guy who tried to support him, had a harmonica pressed into his mouth. 

As a majority of extra long shots and close up shots are used along with eye-line-match/ shot-reverse-shot, the music becomes slightly glorious and it swells with pride. This does eventually become slightly sad. This suggests that something to do with this scene must relate to the death/ loss of another protagonist/ good man. 

Although it's not related to non-diegetic sound, halfway through the stand-off the music dissipates and we are left to listen to the diegetic sound of the wind. The camera cuts to a close up shot of the protagonist, which zooms into an extreme close up. The music cuts back in within the flashback. The non-diegetic music here is a lot more mysterious, tense, and ultimately haunting. This music is then used to prepare us for what we're about to see and that's the protagonist's brother being killed. As it becomes clear the brother will die the music dramatically changes to something very sad, which makes the scene even more intense. Just when the man falls to the floor, there is the sound of bells, symbolising death, as a church does at a funeral. Crucially this has been used to impact the audience.

Therefore from looking at this film, I can see that non-diegetic sounds are important not just for making an audience feel how you want them to feel but because it can help form a reading of the narrative and thus non-diegetic sound introduces characters and lead the narrative. This goes the same for diegetic sound which, as said in my previous posts, can build characterisation (such as through the exchange of dialogue) and can impact people (e.g. the sound of the footsteps and the wind when there is no music in this clip makes the scene more dramatic and tense, causing audiences to feel on-edge when watching the film).