#the music changing to a louder and more adventurous sound when hes with the poets

[literallyandrewminyard]

In my nth time rewatching dps and I just realized the music during the poets first time going to the cave and neils death is the same??? (Had to put it all in one vid)

[theeightbts]

The Eight, Chapter 30

Seven Korean Warriors and their Queen.

Always together. Finding each other in every lifetime. Their souls destined for each other for eternity. Sometimes as friends. Sometimes as lovers. Sometimes as spouses. Always together. Until around two hundred years ago, when the Queen vanished. The Warriors: Poet, Misdirection, Ferocious, Watcher, Mischief, Adventure and Passion, continued to find each other, always accomplishing great things in their lives. In their current lives, they’ve found each other and created the biggest boy band in the world.  When their Queen is found, and The Eight souls are re-united, they have to figure out how to live, and love, together again.

Chapter 30

     The Chicago shows were just as chaotic and extraordinary as they had been in Pasadena. Again, The Muse was put in a little space under the stage to watch on tv. Although she didn’t want to be a burden, she really did want to see what it was like from the crowd. Maybe she could sneak out when everyone was busy and see for herself? With everyone busy doing their respective jobs, no one but her personal bodyguard Steve was paying any attention to her, and he was pretty good about following along without much fuss as long as she wasn’t in danger. She got up and peeked out of her little curtained space, catching Steve’s attention, “Do you need something, your Highness?”

“Seriously. Enough with the Highness crap. I want to see the stage. I don’t think I will be in anyone’s way if we go to the south entrance. I want to see all of the Army Bombs flashing and feel the excitement up close.” Big crowds like this are exhausting to The Muse. She can feel the emotions of thousands of people all at once. But, it also comes with the exhilaration and energy of the crowd. It was an interesting mix. Min-Ho had been slowly schooling her on how to separate herself from all of the emotions of other people. Especially big crowds, as that could be terribly overwhelming.

   Steve nodded and followed without a word, because he had learned in their time together that she was more likely to ask forgiveness rather than permission, and wouldn’t listen anyway.

   With most of the crew busy at the north entrance of the stage with the band, the Muse was able to sneak over by the backup dancers waiting for their cue to run on. They were focused on the stage, so none of them even glanced at her. Once they went on for their performance, she had a clear view. It was incredible! The lights from the bombs were flashing all of the colors of the rainbow in sync with the music. The noise of the fans was almost louder than the music, which in itself was so loud she felt like she had another heart beating in her chest. The rain made the dancing more dangerous, but it gave the lights and bombs a more ethereal look. It was beautiful!

    She stood completely entranced with the sights and sounds, lost in the whole Bangtan stage experience, when Steve stepped in front of her, motioning that she needed to move back. She moved, annoyed at the loss of the moment. After he got her back in her little cubby, Steve said “You were seen. Several fans were photographing you. It is safer for you to stay here.”

She cocked her head to the side and gave him a droll stare “So? They’ve all seen me before. In fact, I’m wearing a lot more clothes now. What’s wrong with them catching me watching my Warriors?”

“It’s a security issue, Highness.” He said with a straight face. He knew how much calling her “Highness” irritated her. She was sure he did it to distract her from other things. But, damn if it didn’t work.

She opened her mouth to argue with him some more when she saw Hobi run past, undressing as he went. Next came Taehyung, doing the same. One after another they

All ran past, getting their wardrobe changes done. It was time for their solo sets. Looking back up at Steve, she decided to stay quiet and pretend to be a good girl. She had no clue how they got dressed and back up on stage so fast, but as the first one up started their solo, The Muse hatched a little plan to get back over to see the rest. She knew the refreshments were near the north entrance, So she asked Steve for something to eat and drink. Nodding, he headed that direction. The Muse took off her shoes and in a flash was running the other direction, passing the other Warriors on her way. Giggling, because she knew she’d be caught, she made it to the south entrance and watched the end of Hobi’s “Just Dance” performance. It was so energetic and amazing! She was still clapping when Jungkook popped up for “Euphoria”. Watching him dance and fly across the stadium was an experience in itself. He looked so happy up there. All of them are such incredible performers. She was in awe.

   As Euphoria ended, Steve made himself known. The Muse just gave him a big smile as he motioned for her to get back to her cubby. Making a mental note to try for the rest of the solos tomorrow, she went willingly.  One day he will know that’s a sign she was planning something, but for now she let him enjoy his ignorance.

   She stayed with Yoongi again that night. He did get a little work done before letting Ferocious loose on her. He really was a beast when he got going. And she loved every second of it.

     On the second night in Chicago, The Muse spent the first half plotting her run to see the others perform their solo stages. The second half of the concert was spent moping because Steve had brought friends, and her cubby was surrounded with security. Legs and arms crossed, she scowled as she watched the rest of the show on the TV. Again.

    She was to stay with Taehyung that night. He found her fit of temper entertaining, and promised to perform Singularity in the hotel room for her the next day. After they had dinner, they talked for hours. Again, with his english being minimal, and her korean being even worse, it took a while to tell their stories. But they did it. She was quite relieved he was willing to talk with her. He did give a long look to her sleepwear, but was determined to be a gentleman as they slept.

He wrapped his arms around her like a pillow, and pulled her close. Murmuring goodnight before they both fell into a blissful sleep.

Next

Master List

[samahrium]

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - The sound of a vacation

This post was originally an assignment for my Sound Design class. I found it to fit my blog,so I decided to post it publicly)

Vacation movies do well because they do more than weaving in good plot and characters- they let the viewer take a trip with them. Films like Eat, Pray Love , When In Rome or Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants have us drooling at their exotic location. Zoya Akhter’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) uses the vacation vibe. An escape, an adventure.

Mise en scene - playing with the sound

Sparking the wanderlust with Spain’s beautiful long-winded roads among sunlit hills, the sound should sing with the visuals. To me, that is what ZNMD does. What is Spain without Spanish interludes? The most pleasant parts of the movies, Kabir’s Pethras (pranks), are covered by a signature interlude that captures the mischievousness of the characters and the liveliness of the location. 

The vacation is the broader context of the film that ties it together. But the reason the trip is important to each character- Kabir, Arjun and Imraan- reveals their emotional conflicts.  Each part of it has a pocket of emotion that is accentuated by the background music. In some places, the music does get dramatic. This is the case with the flashbacks of Arjun and his ex-girlfriend. After all, we Bollywood goers are suckers for the emotion, and the background score gives us just that.

Defining spaces with sound

ZNMD isn’t one of those movies that is confined to two or three spaces. Throughout the movie, the trio is on the road, in hotel rooms, at different restaurants or at their adventure sport sites.

The hotel rooms have very little ambience sound. There is little space for any kind of extra sound in these scenes anyway as they have enough foley and cut-to-cut dialogs like Imraan’s quips, Kabir’s peace-making and Arjun’s incessant need to be on the phone. Scenes in cafes have clinking of cups and chatter.  Exterior locations are more vibrant with the soft chirping of birds. Since the three are mostly driving around, the low hum of the car also adds to their conversation. When the three meet in the hotel for the first time, there is a soft background music running through the scene. That kind of music is what anyone who has ever been to a hotel reception would have heard. Here, it is deftly used not just as an ambience but also as background music for the scene. This is the reason I felt that the sound keeps up and assists the pacing of the film.

As discussed before, emotions are brought using sound. When Imraan and Kabir are walking around the streets, there is a Spanish instrumental playing. This gives feeling of exploration. The feeling of exploration through music also happens in many Hollywood vacation flicks.  However, when Imraan reaches his father’s shop, the mood and background music changes completely. This is a personal moment for Imraan and the audience is privy to it through his facial expression and the background music. Sounds also help the characters reminisce. Arjun’s phone ringing might be an irritant to his friends, but to Arjun, it brings memories of how his ex-girlfriend left him because he couldn’t make time for her. Similarly, clinking of glasses is about celebration but also the first thing Kabir thinks of when he remembers how he accidentally proposed to Natasha.

There is also the cultural context of the space that needs to be considered. On the one hand, the sounds of Spain has a cultural relevance. A festival in Spain would sound very different from a festival in India. The Tomatina festival has a cheering crowd, and the squishy splatter of tomatoes throwing around. But since we have never had something like this in India, we find it to be believable yet unfamiliar. On the other hand, Imraan’s home in Mumbai has the ambience of vehicles and birds that one might hear in a Mumbai morning. It is more familiar to an Indian audience.

Use of elements in sound

In my opinion, each adventure sport stood for an element- Deep water diving was water, sky diving was air and bull racing was earth. The completion of each adventure led to catharsis of one of the characters.The sound too dwells in the personal moments of the character with relevance to the story.

The first adventure, i.e deep water diving, was a time of reflection for Arjun. Before he is about to going, all the other noise tunes out and all we can hear are heartbeats. Since the audience knows that this task is the hardest for Arjun, the heart beats are associated to him. I personally feel that as a Bollywood film, the heartbeat works well. It is subtle but leaves goosebumps for the listener as they take the dive with Arjun. When he comes out of the water, there is complete silence except for the rising and falling of the waves and his breathing. In this moment, the three of them don’t speak. They are all looking at the water and there is complete silence. This goes with the theme that water denotes reflection. I wouldn’t have liked it if there was loud emotional music or adrenaline pumping music playing in the background. Arjun got over a fear that he thought he would have in his life forever. He realised that things can change in life and there is no need to be rigid all the time.

The second adventure sport was sky diving. As it denotes the element of air, there is emphasis on wind, like a falling object would hear it. As the scene starts, we can hear the hum of the aircraft. The hum is louder from outside and lesser heard inside. Imraan finds himself to be the last one to jump off the plane, needing a push at the very end. Again, we hear his heart racing, showing  that this is his greatest fear. We are engulfed by the sound of Imraan screaming against the rush of the wind. Once he settles into his parachute, the wind sounds more serene. It isn’t as scary as he thought it would be. The skydiving adventure shows bonding. Imraan and Arjun finally put their differences aside, as each has overcome their greatest fear.  This is not a moment for silence but for celebration. When Imraan hits the ground, his two friends hug him and cheer for completing the adventure of  lifetime.

Finally, there is bull racing as element of earth, This is different from the previous scene where the trio were onlookers to bull racing. Now, they are at the center of the mayhem. We start with the ambience of a pumped up crowd. We already know that something big is about to happen and the crowd adds to the excitement. The rockets flying serve as cues for when the bulls are let out.  As the bulls are set free, we hear them charging towards our characters at full speed. The crowd grows louder. Fast paced background music takes over. Our heroes shout and run as fast as they can.  As you may have noticed, sound has a lot to do with getting the energy up for this scene. As it shoulders the responsibility of being the emd to the whole saga, the sound also is climatic, ending the movie on a high note

Poetry as narration

Along with background music and great dialogs, the use of poetry in this film is like no other in recent times. The context of having a poetic narration is established since Imraan is a poet and the narration is in his voice. However, this is such an integral part of the movie that even the end scene has him reciting a poem, wrapping up the joy ride vacation with words of wisdom about life.