24 S7E10 - Sound Analysis

"Jack, their turning left!" - The music kicks in hard as the chase sequence commences. It enhances the excitement for the viewer as it is fast paced matching the speed of the cars. Amongst the on screen chaos are sounds of brakes being slammed down hard on, other cars on the road beeping. Towards the end of the chase the music builds and builds signaling to the audience that something is about to happen, and when Jacks car slams in to the taxi blocking the road the music comes to a sudden halt. It creates the effect that all hope is lost and that the bad guys have got away.

As the camera cuts to the women in the other cars face we are shown an expression and we know she is about to do something. The music builds up as her decision becomes clearer and clearer to herself and the audience. Finally, she grabs the drivers face, she blocks his vision and as this is done the music kicks back in hard but at a tempo which is slower than before suiting the dramatic nature of this scene more. The car smashes in to another car and it goes spinning in to the air. There is almost no music for this as the sound effects of the car colliding, spinning and smashing to the ground are more pronounced and louder when it is done this way. It makes the crash seem more dramatic than it really is which is always an important role for sound.

The camera immediately cuts back to Jack and Renee and the dramatic music played before the crash kicks back in as the continue the chase on foot. This is done to tell audience that not all hope is lost and that Jack and Renee are 'back in the game' so to speak. As Jack confronts the man trying to escape the crashed vehicle the music slows down to a high pitched noise which creates tension as the audience doesn't know what the man will do. As he pulls for his gun Jack shoots him dead and as this happens the tension of that decision is broken and so the music stops to quiet background music.

As Renee tries to save the women, Jack notices that the car is on fire and as that happens the music builds up to something more tense as the audience now knows that the car could blow up at any second. Jack tries to physically get her out of the way but Renee pulls a gun on Jack and as she does so the music comes to a sudden halt. This creates and adds to the effect of suprise that the audience and Jack has. When Jack tries to help the women as well the music changes to something more hopeful and then when the women is free the music suddenly manifests in to something dramatic building on the feeling of tension as the audience want to know if they will be able to get away from the car before it blows up. When the car explodes the music stops as the music is no longer needed for that feeling of tension. There is almost no music at this point and we can hear some sound effects of the civilians around in panic. As Jack looks up to Renee trying to resuscitate the women the music changes to something very sad and drepressing which tells the audience that the women is dead and there is nothing Renee can do. It also builds on sadened the feeling she has as she promised to keep this women safe.