Sound in a Thriller Analysis: The Departed Elevator Scene

The thriller scene I have chosen to analyse is from the film ‘The Departed’. I’ve chosen the elevator scene because this is one of my favourite scenes in any thriller, it’s very action packed and the sound used in it really adds to the atmosphere and brings the whole piece together. 

The scene begins with non-diegetic music featuring flowing orchestral sounds, which compliments the slow panoramic pan shots of the city. This music is used by the director in order to give a feeling

 of tension as well as a feeling of relaxation. These feelings do contrast each other and I think this is why the director chose this specific music. It’s a confu

sing time in the film with 4 characters coming together and clashing in blood and violence. The non-diegetic orchestral music is abruptly stopped when Leonardo Di Caprio , who plays Billy Costigan, slams the door to the roof of the building, possibly meant to shock the audience, as this is a direct contrast to the flowing music that was playing before, it is unexpected by the audience and the loud noise is mean to keep the audience on the edge of their seat. This diegetic slam brings a sense of urgency to the scene. The sound also lets the audience know that Matt Damon, who plays Colin Sullivan, is trapped on the roof of the building with nowhere else to go. This causes the audience to start panicking for the characters, a sign of a good thriller movie. The orchestral music from the start is then replaced with loud and frantic diegetic sounds of shouting from Damon and Di Caprio. The use of vulgar dialogue goes towards creating a hostile and tense environment in which the characters are situated. The shouting contrasts the music from the beginning. The diegetic sounds of birds (possibly seagulls) suggests that the actors are high up, this gives the audience a sense of isolation and therefore more tension for the audience. We also hear diegetic sounds of punching connoting a fight happening and also adding a sense of violence, these sounds were purposely put in by the director to make the audience flinch and worry for the character of Matt Damon, as well as keeping them interested in the scene. The diegetic sound of the cocking of the gun adds yet more tension to the scene as it means the audience is expecting a gun shot. The shouting dialogue between the actors connotes panic and anger in the scene. On the roof there are a few times in which silence is used by the director tactically in order to create a hostile and tense atmosphere. This is difficult to do correctly as sometimes it can just seem wrong, but in this it does work.

Once inside the building, the director uses echoes of the footsteps and doors slamming connote a large empty space in this case a building, again emphasising the isolation of the characters. Long periods of silence are used once again to build tension foreshadowing that something is going to happen in the plot. The long silence in the elevator almost brings a sense of awkwardness to the scene. The long silences toward the end of the scene lead up to the loud diegetic sound of the gun shot. This loud noise echoes around the building which again shows the emptiness of the building, also suggesting that the men are not meant to be there in the first place, reinforcing their ‘bad’ characters. This gun shot contrasts the silence in the building and cuts it sharply. The echoes resonate for quite a long time before the second and third gun shots. I think the silence is used by the director in order to emphasise the importance of the gunshots and to make them stand out more and therefore resonate with the audience for longer, this scene is meant to shock and upset the audience, and I think the sound really goes a long way towards achieving this. The diegetic sounds of panting from Matt Damon’s character suggests relief that the ordeal is over and also shock, as this is a common reaction to someone in shock (hyperventilating) however, this may also connote physical exertion as he has just been in a long struggle with Di Caprio’s character. The long silence at the end most likely signifies that what has happened is significant and shocking as well as brutal, leaving the audience almost speechless. The diegetic sounds of Damon’s character cleaning his fingerprints off the gun and leaving it on the ground break the painful silence. 

All in all the director uses a lot of silence, shouting and very little music in this scene in order to show anger, violence, tension and hostility. It is a very well directed film and I like the unconventional way that sound is used as it makes it far more interesting to the viewer.