C.) Sounds

Tim Burton mainly uses diegetic sounds in the opening title sequence of Sweeney Todd. Diegetic sounds are those that exist in the world of the film and non-diegetic are ones that are added to create mood and feeling appropriate for the intended meaning of the scene. The diegetic sounds are those of a gust of wind; rain pattering on the rooftops; the globules of blood landing as they drip down the chair and splat on the window; thunder; the cogs of the chair clanking and the slam of the oven door.

We hear the cogs of the barber’s chair clanking as the camera pans downwards beneath the chair. This is an effective use of sound and I think it suggests more than one idea.

Firstly it hints at some hidden machinery associated with the chair that is not known to those sitting in it. We do not expect a barber’s chair to have that sort of machinery, so we begin to wonder if there is a hidden purpose to the chair. It adds to the sense of uncertainty and growing fear we are made to feel during the title sequence.

 Secondly the cogs suggest Todd’s thought processes, his mind turning over the ideas for revenge. Then when he comes up with the idea for murdering his victims it is like an automated machine that moves on its own and cannot be stopped. It brings up images in my mind of typical film images of victims tied down to a conveyer belt heading towards a fiery furnace or knives etc. – something that will kill them, and not being able to escape. For example, a Disney program such as Tom and Jerry.

The sharp slam of the oven door gives us a sense of finality, of the end of whatever horror we are to witness. We have seen the meat grinder spewing out meat of some sort and the finished pies coming out oozing blood. We feel horror and disgust and then try to make a connection back to the barber’s chair. The slam is sudden and gives us a fright, we realise that there is no going back after this point. Immediately following are the images of the sewers and “waste products”. The sudden sharp noise is typical of the horror film genre and a technique used to make the audience “jump out of its skin”.  In combination with the gory images it is a very effective technique.

The one non-diegetic sound I indentified (apart from the orchestral music) was a “Fssshhh” sound tied over the camera shots cutting to inside the barber’s shop. It suggests a ghostly unworldly sound and adds to the eeriness and uncertainty. At this point we don’t know if there are going to be ghosts in the film and it adds to our fear of the unknown. In combination with the images of blood it gives the sense that the “after-life” might come back to haunt us.