In Gravity, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is the sole survivor of a tragic accident when her team’s space
shuttle is destroyed by debris. For two hours, we watch her floating in the void of outer space, desperately
trying to reach the shelter of an abandoned Chinese space station. She boards the station’s space capsule and
plummets to Earth in a ball of fire. In this final scene, she has just crash-landed in a lake in the Gulf Coast. For
this activity, you will analyze the sound design of the clip using the ideas and terminology we discussed in
class.
- Is the music part of a soundtrack or a score?
- Identify three diegetic sounds in the clip.
- Identify two non-diegetic sounds in the clip.
- Give one example of how the sound effects caused a noticeable shift in your response to the action on the
screen. - Describe how the music affects your understanding of the action on the screen and your understanding of
Ryan Stone. - Identify two aspects of the film that showed you something you hadn’t seen before, caused you to think in a
new way, or helped you understand something more thoroughly than before. - Name one way the filmmaker tried to convince you of the position that the film supports. For example, did
she/he use appeals to logic or emotion? Give specific examples. - Was there something you didn’t understand about the film? Is so, what?
- Describe one cinematic technique used in presenting particular scenes, images, or sounds that were
designed to appeal to the viewer’s emotions and to encourage the viewer to agree with the position advocated
by the film, without reliance upon fact or logical argument
Sample Solution
