Short Film (Reference for Score)

 

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Sound Notes:

Textual Analysis:

The final confrontation between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, this scene from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, directed by Richard Marquand and composed by John Williams, displays not only the climactic battle between the protagonist and antagonist of the film, but also the clash of its core conflicts: love versus hate, composure versus rage, and, ultimately, good versus evil. Not only does our hero need to win the internal fight for his own morality, but also win the external fight of toppling an empire in order to restore peace in a galaxy far, far away. 

These themes are conveyed not only by the score of the scene, but also, in my opinion, far more poignantly when the score is almost entirely absent. At the start of the second half of the scene, the texture of the instrumentation is incredibly thin, mostly silent except for a low, menacing woodwind melody. However, because of the withdrawal of the score in this moment, Vader’s ambient breathing is emphasised, becoming the focus of the soundscape of the scene alongside the hum of his lightsaber. This laboured breathing sound effect connotes pain and hardship, reminding the audience of Vader’s constant vulnerability; the dying man, trapped beneath the sinister mask and layers of cybernetics. This, paired with the unnerving score, creates a juxtaposition that epitomises the duality of Vader’s character: the suffering father, and the violent weapon that Palpatine has moulded him into. 

Perhaps this is the reason why Vader’s leitmotif is never heard during the entire sequence. Luke senses conflict in Vader, implying that his father is actively trying to separate these two parts of himself in order to eradicate his evil side, so one can assume that, since Vader’s ‘Imperial March’ is intrinsically linked with the Empire and the domination of billions, this is the idea of that move away from the dark side being demonstrated musically. With this context, it then makes sense that it is Emperor Palpatine’s leitmotif that is introduced after a dramatic swell of brass when we see Luke’s face in shock as he realises that he has just given in to not only his unbridled rage, but to the dark side, after furiously beating down Vader and dismembering his hand. It implies that, like his father before him, he is being manipulated by Palpatine, and, if he doesn’t change his ways and break the cycle of violence, he will also fall to the dark side as a result of the Emperor’s grand, evil scheme. 

 

In our class, we were assigned our fifth mini-task to complete over the following week: a sound editing task with the creative intention of recording Foley sound for a short sequence in order to create a soundscape that adds a sinister and scary atmosphere. To complete the task, we split into groups and and held spotting sessions, recorded sounds, and then edited our sounds to the set video. Like our other tasks, we had to edit a video, and then reflect on the process on a slideshow page, both of which are attached below.

Foley Task:

Inquiry, Action & Reflection Page (Including Bibliography):