Hanna

How is sound used to reveal narrative and character information?

What do we hear and what does it mean?


We looked at a clip from Hanna to awnser this question.
There are two different types of sound, digetic and non-digetic. Digetic sound is sound that the actors can hear on the set, and non-digetic sound is sound which is added in after while editing, for example background music.

Examples of digetic sound in the clip of Hanna that we watched are footsteps, talking, doors closing, crying, gunshots, and glass smashing. Some sounds such as the heavy breathing are amplified to create a greater sense of distress and possible danger. Also the digetic sound of  the flashing sirens which go off when they are looking for her signify the panic when they are looking for her. The digetic sound of her scraping on the walls shows her sense on desperation not to get caught. Also another digetic sound which is amplified is the neck breaking, which is done on purpose to show that Hanna is not such an innocent character as we thought before when she was crying, therefore it makes a shift in us seeing her as a little girl.

Non-digetic sound is also present in the clip we saw, the first non digetic sounds which we hear is the sound of the well moving and opening which turns into the beat of music, this music changes from the heartbeat music when she is being chased, to a slower song which creates a calmer mood and signifies that she isn't in as much of a panic to get away. The non-digetic background music also changes when she looks at the papers which tell he something about herself she didn't know before, which shows a character shift and shock. Finally all music, digetic and non-digetic, music stops when she breaks free, signifying escape.