Silence CAN Be Golden
In 1971 William Friedkin directed the Academy Award winner
for Best Picture, The French Connection.
This groundbreaking film starred Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider as NYC cops hot
on the trail of a French heroin smuggler. American jazz composer/trumpeter Don
Ellis wrote the score providing an interesting blend of modern jazz with
traditional film underscore elements.
But what really grabs your ears in this film is…nothing.
Just the ambient New York City street sounds. And surprisingly, this use of
background only, sans music, was used in some of the most intense action
scenes. For example, the extended foot chase sequence where “Popeye” Doyle
(Hackman) pursues one of the bad guys along the subway line definitely has you
on the edge of your seat. And all that you hear is ambience and the sound of
running feet; and it IS pulse pounding!
Do you suppose Don Ellis was begging William Friedkin to let
him score this scene? Or perhaps he saw/heard the results as inspired genius?
Either way, this technique of editing the chase with only the actual sounds can
really perk up your ears!
How would you apply this in a reality television show? Here’s
an idea: your show has a situation where something has been forgotten and time
is of the essence to resolve the situation—maybe someone forgot a particular
item or something breaks that must be immediately repaired.
You don’t want to eat up precious screen time dragging out
the scene but at the same time, the crucial nature deserves highlighting. By using
quick cuts between 1) The people waiting for the forgotten/broken item, 2) The
person racing to pick it up and 3) The party who holds the solution, a French Connection mood can be modeled.
Sure, we here at CSS Music are sort of shooting ourselves in
the foot (ouch!) suggesting this technique, but we know you’ll want to incorporate many of our fine tracks for other
scenes. Plus, you just might find our MAX-EFX library comes in handy as a B
roll source. Our goal at CSS Music is to make your productions as creative and
imaginative as we can, even it means suggesting the “silence is golden” rule.
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