Ben L

24 Sep. 2014
Journal Three: Sound and Blue
Sound can add meaning to a film by enhancing the visuals while also adding meaning to
them. A great director can fuze the story, the visuals, and the sound to form one coherent piece
of art. Krzysztof Kielowski did an astounding job of doing just that in one of the films in his
Three Colors trilogy, Blue.
In Blue, the music that we are hearing is generally diegetic. This idea is supported by two
main scenes. The first one was when Julie ran her fingers across her husbands (or possibly her)
sheet music. The music played seemed to be controlled by her finger; as she slowed down her
drag across the page, the music slowed as well. This, along with the scene where Julie slams on
the piano to make the music stop, implies that we are hearing what she is hearing. This use of
diegetic sound haunts the film in a way, only coming in when necessary to the plot.
One of the most masterful uses of sound in Blue was the car crash at the beginning of the
film. Kielowski decided not to directly show the car crash, but to imply it using sound. We
only ever hear the crash. Since this was a major plot point in the movie, only using sound causes
the viewer to want more explanation. This deprivation of the crash itself also made the crash
somewhat mysterious. This technique of implying that events occurred off screen is called sound
off.
Another example of sound off was when Marie was introduced. As we follow Julie
through her house we start to hear someone crying hysterically off camera. Using this sound off

technique, Kielowski focuses on Julies reaction to the crying visually rather than focusing on
the cryer herself. Using this sound off also builds up the reveal of Marie because we hear her
sobbing and are actively trying to figure out who is crying and why. This scene is a great
example of how sound off can make the viewer curious about what is to come visually to match
the sound.
Non-sync sound is when sound has to be added to a film after it was shot in postpoduction. In Blue, my favorite usage of non-sync sound was when Julie shattered the glass at
the hospital. It is a great example of how movie-goers expect loud, sharp sounds, when in
reality, the sound is actually somewhat dull or unimpressive. Kielowski chose to add the classic
shattering sound not only because it would probably be hard to capture the sound of the glass,
but also because the audience comes into the film with a firm understanding of what a glass
shattering should sound like. If he were to use the actual sound, he could actually end up
drawing more attention to the scene, and even, by using real sound effects, make the scene seem
unrealistic to the average viewer.
Sync sound, on the other hand, is when the sound in the film is recorded on sight, live. In
Blue, this is used on the multiple occasions that Julie is in the pool. I believe this is sync sound
because it would be extremely difficult to reenact the intricate sounds of the dripping water and
Julies splashes (although I do think that there is some non-sync sound added to the pool scenes
as well). Using sync sound like this adds meaning to the film because it gives the viewer a great
understanding of what is going on because it actually is happened.
When the boy brought Julie her necklace from the wreckage, the music started when he
offered it to her. This is one of many examples of how the music, which is symbolic for her past
life with her husband, is coming back to torture her. Kielowskis choice to blair the music when

her past is brought up makes the viewer realize that Julie, no matter how hard she tries, cannot
escape her past. She cannot stop hearing the music.
This haunting music theme is continued throughout the film. When Julie gets locked out
of her apartment she sits down on the stairs and suddenly music creeps in. Although she
consistently tries to leave her old life (she leaves her house, throws out the sheet music), she
keeps getting put in situations where she has nothing else to do but think about her past. This
scene is the epitome of that theme. She is just stuck there, being assaulted by her dead husbands
legacy (in the form of his, or maybe Julies, music).
The way that Julie can hear the music makes it diegetic sound, although there is a clause.
In this specific case, the symphony is subjective diegetic sound, meaning that from the other
characters of films perspective the sound is non-diegetic (they cannot hear the music within
Julies head). In the film, the only sound that characters besides Julie can hear is the realistic
sound in the films world (dialogue, footsteps, other various realistic sounds).
Just as collision montage can tie two concrete ideas to form one abstract idea, Simmons
Theory states that concrete music and a concrete idea can form an abstract idea. An example of
this in Blue was when, right after learning that there was a car crash, we see Julie's sad face and
also hear trumpets playing. The addition of the music to Julies face makes the viewer realize
that this must be at a funeral of a loved one. One can imagine just how different this scene
would be if there were to be jazz or some other genre of music playing. The trumpets do an
amazing job of adding meaning to the scene and transforming the concrete idea of Julies face
into the abstract idea of the death of her family.

It is not any of these specific examples that make the sound in Blue particularly well
done, but a combination and the overall sense of expertise that the film has. It does not hesitate
to use loud music to blatantly add meaning to a seemingly mundane scene (as seen many times
throughout the film regarding her husbands music). The film also generally never uses sound
without purpose. Kielowskis Blue truly ties sound and visuals to create a beautiful film.