by Ethan
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is a racial commentary about a black man meeting his girlfriend’s white family for the first time. As he spends more and more time with them, he grows paranoid of their motives. His initial worries of the family simply being prejudice is fleshed out into complete paranoia, spiralling him deeper and deeper into a disturbing and eccentric web of horror. In this film, Peele uses stylized sound mixing to envelop us into Chris’s uneasy psyche.
There are three moments I am going to focus on. The first one is the hypnotizing scene. As Chris talks with the mother, their conversation grows more intense, and ambient noise slowly fades into nothing. Soon, it is Chris’s voice, the mother’s voice, and the spoon lulling against the cup. As our attention is drawn to the conversation, the drone of the spoon becomes another voice. We become hypnotized. We feel the same undercurrent of unease that Chris does, subconsciously aware of the stark silence surrounding us.
Later in the film, a party of aging white auctioneers come to the house to bet on Chris’s body. Someone watching the film for the first time won’t fully grasp the motives of the “family members”, but we are given a very clear impression that something is wrong. When Chris navigates the packed rooms, the audio is mixed so his breathing is loud- as if in our own heads- and the rest of the crowd is uttering sharp, conspiratory whispers. There’s an instant sense of unease, a voyeuristic tension radiating from the white onlookers.
One of the most important examples comes towards the end of this scene. Chris, with some relief, meets another black party-goer. However, upon introducing himself to the man, finds his mannerisms to be unnatural and off-putting. As more layers of the story unfolds, he decides to take a photo of the man to send to another character. He steps out, holding his phone low at his waist, and snaps a photo. The flash is on without his knowledge, and we are given the pneumonic snap of the camera, and then complete silence. We listen to the flash quietly unwind as the crowd turns to Chris. It almost triggers a fight or flight response - completely exposed, vulnerable, un prepared.
Get Out is a film that thrives on giving the audience access to its protagonist. Chris is a naturally quiet character. In other films, he would usually go undeveloped, but Peele decides to throw us into him in more subconscious ways. The sound design helps us sympathise with Chris and feel the fear he is feeling, constant tension rising in the audience as alleviation from the quiet, silent, ambience never arrives.
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is a racial commentary about a black man meeting his girlfriend’s white family for the first time. As he spends more and more time with them, he grows paranoid of their motives. His initial worries of the family simply being prejudice is fleshed out into complete paranoia, spiralling him deeper and deeper into a disturbing and eccentric web of horror. In this film, Peele uses stylized sound mixing to envelop us into Chris’s uneasy psyche.
There are three moments I am going to focus on. The first one is the hypnotizing scene. As Chris talks with the mother, their conversation grows more intense, and ambient noise slowly fades into nothing. Soon, it is Chris’s voice, the mother’s voice, and the spoon lulling against the cup. As our attention is drawn to the conversation, the drone of the spoon becomes another voice. We become hypnotized. We feel the same undercurrent of unease that Chris does, subconsciously aware of the stark silence surrounding us.
Later in the film, a party of aging white auctioneers come to the house to bet on Chris’s body. Someone watching the film for the first time won’t fully grasp the motives of the “family members”, but we are given a very clear impression that something is wrong. When Chris navigates the packed rooms, the audio is mixed so his breathing is loud- as if in our own heads- and the rest of the crowd is uttering sharp, conspiratory whispers. There’s an instant sense of unease, a voyeuristic tension radiating from the white onlookers.
One of the most important examples comes towards the end of this scene. Chris, with some relief, meets another black party-goer. However, upon introducing himself to the man, finds his mannerisms to be unnatural and off-putting. As more layers of the story unfolds, he decides to take a photo of the man to send to another character. He steps out, holding his phone low at his waist, and snaps a photo. The flash is on without his knowledge, and we are given the pneumonic snap of the camera, and then complete silence. We listen to the flash quietly unwind as the crowd turns to Chris. It almost triggers a fight or flight response - completely exposed, vulnerable, un prepared.
Get Out is a film that thrives on giving the audience access to its protagonist. Chris is a naturally quiet character. In other films, he would usually go undeveloped, but Peele decides to throw us into him in more subconscious ways. The sound design helps us sympathise with Chris and feel the fear he is feeling, constant tension rising in the audience as alleviation from the quiet, silent, ambience never arrives.
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