This question is much more open ended than previous questions
Find an example in the stage directions where sound effects are used. Tell us the page number, the direction and how it affects the flow of the play.
PLEASE use your name somewhere in your response.
NB. If you are going to claim that you are a literary god, make sure you spell all the words in your comment correctly.
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Page 46, "As McCutcheon seizes White Dog, he cries out. There is a swelling of sound from the surrounding Sioux."
This stage direction changes the scene from one of a private event, to that of a public event. Now Walsh is aware that it is him against many, and may be potentially dangerous. Without this sound effect, Walshes actions would be confusing to the audience, for they would no longer be justified.
Page 41; “CLARENCE and HARRY exit. The lights dim as LOUIS crouches, listening to the sound of the Sioux arriving which builds, LOUIS moves about as if he were watching the arrival of the Sioux. The sound is well established before he speaks.”
The sound that would be presented here could be portrayed as an increasing of tension, as the sound of the Sioux arriving increases, so does the potential of the situation. After this stage direction, the sound continues to rise, which could also be said for the potential danger which Walsh and his men are about to face.
Pg. 43.
The sound is at it's crescendo - all around the audience - for several seconds. The sound stops. There is a pause.
This specific direction allows for the audience to understand the importance of the meeting about to take place between Walsh and the Sioux. The sound continually builds until it reaches its zenith, then abruptly stops. The pause gives the audience a moment's hesitation, wondering what exactly will follow. Wondering, just as Walsh is wondering where this confrontation will take him.
Page 85
"The lights black out. About four bars of calliope music is heard. The lights come back up. Mary is sitting there emroidering. Walsh is a distance away from her. The music fades as Walsh speaks."
Throughout Walsh, the audience hears sounds such as howling winds and moaning in such ways that increase tension. A Calliope is defined as being a "a steam-whistle organ with a loud, shrill sound audible miles away; it is used to attract attention for circuses and fairs". The calliope music is fairly different from any of the sound effects that Pollock uses in Walsh. I think that in making in different, Pollock shows the reader that the following scene is not something ordinary for Walsh as the audience rarely sees the private side of Walsh from Walsh himself and it is the only encounter and first mention of Walsh's family in the play. Its shrill sound should catch the audience's attention just as the exchange between Walsh and Mary is beginning. Also, through the use of sound effects Pollock signifies an end of one scene (between Louis, Clarence, Harry, McCutcheon, and Walsh) and the beginning of the next scene (between Walsh and Mary). Without the music (and ofcourse lighting and such) it would be hard for the reader to distinguish the ending of the scene and can make it confusing to follow the play. The music fades as Walsh begins to speak, so I think that the sound effect was mainly used to catch the audience's attention because it is not used throughout that scene. Calliope music is also defined as being the "muse of epic poetry", which usually signifies something heroic or majestic. This can be a form of foreshadowing because on page 86 Mary says "Here in the East, we're always hearing grand tales of Major Walsh... how he's subdued the Sious and Sitting Bull." Considering the general thought about the Indians and especially the Sioux, this could be seen as an act of heroism by many in Canada at the time. This example shows how Pollock with so sound effects, sometimes that are very short (as in this one) can give the reader impressions of what is to come and what has passed.
pg.
"There is growing silence between walsh and louis. then, a sound similar to leather moving on leather is heard. walsh smiles. louis wrinkles his nose in disgust.
WALSH: my bad! "
Page 64: "The many voices of the Nez Perces are heard in the background saying 'Ay Ay" as Louis speaks."
The "Ay Ay"'s of the indians in the background as louis recites his poem give this little scene a feeling of surreality (i think thats a word..), like it is at a native gathering with the warriors wearing masks and full body paint, singing and dancing around the fire, celebrating a successful hunt or battle, or worshiping their gods. Louis' poem is about trials and problems and difficult decisions, and about believing that you can do something for yourself, and it speaks about being given a nation by your forefathers, and that now that they are dead and can no longer help you, you have to take strength from yourself to do what needs to be done. The soft calls of the Nez Perce help make this prayer/poem sound all that much more like Louis is talking for all the indians whose blood he shares.
hey anonymous, did you make that up. i don't remember those directions
Page 46-47
"There is a swelling sound from the surrounding Sioux. Walsh raises his voice and announces as the sound continues in the background... White Dog hurries off. The background sound swells. Walsh walks over to Sitting Bull, who raises his hand. The noise stops."
I've incorporated two stage directions and sound effects into one because they compliment each other and they go together. There is a lot of tension going on in page 46; the sound coming from the Sioux intensifies the situation more, making the audience more tense and nervous about what is going on. When White Dog leaves, the background sound swells even more. This helps prepare the audience for what is coming next. Although this next bit is not as exciting and action-filled as the first, it still holds a lot of tention in it because what Walsh and Sitting Bull are going to discuss is the fate of the Indians in Canada. Sitting Bull then raises his hand and the music stops; this indicates that the first bit is over and the play is moving on. It also gives a cue and conveys the message to the audience that an important part in the play is coming up. The silence of the Sioux will bring the audience to a pause too, because they will be wondering what happens next and so they'll be more attentive.
Page 100; "WALSH stands rigid until McCUTCHEON and McLEOD exit. When they have gone, he pours himself another drink. He walks outside of his office and stands looking at the prairies, flask in hand. We hear someone whistling 'Garryowen.' He listens to the whistling, then speaks."
It is interesting that the tune Garryowen is being whistled right now because that tune is Custer's tune. This literature used it to symbolize custer and at this moment, Walsh is being shown as custer or perhaps even worse than custer because he is unable to decide which side to follow. Custer was able to decide that the natives should be killed and he went on doing so however, Walsh doesn't do this and he sort of plays the game of compromising and have people believe that he is "privately urging Sitting Bull to remain in Canada while publicly stating that he must leave." pg 92. This affects the flow of the play because someone has finally shown and used power over Walsh and Walsh understands what he must do and he tries to redeem himself by making a decision. That decision we learn is to just run away from everything because he knows what is going to happen.
pg.114
Walsh looks up at him for a moment, then slowly nods his head. Louis exits. The sound of Garryowen is heard in the background.
Pollock uses the sound of the song "Garryowen" in this scene in order to draw attention to the parallels that are being formed between Custer and Walsh. Garryowen is Custer's theme song that he would play before going into battle and killing the Indians. It is played at this particular point in the play in order to show the reader that Walsh is becoming in a way just like Custer. Walsh is now just like this cruel man who decieved so many Indians. Although he did not see it at the time, Walsh deceived Sitting Bull into thinking that they were friends but in this scene he betrays him. The use of Garryowen is to show that Walsh is now just as bad as Custer. The song is also played on page 100 when Walsh chooses his job over being loyal to the Sioux and realizes that he must betray them. It is played again on page 114 to show that the deed has been done and Walsh has officially severed his friendship with Sitting Bull and betrayed the Sioux nation.
“They hear a noise. They all turn around and look. A blue light picks out Louis. He makes his way toward them. He comes to Sitting Bull and stands before him without speaking. There is a pause for a moment.” Page 61.
This passage connects the time before Walsh and his people found Louis, who went forward to look for the Nez Perces, and the time after Louis had found them. The noise comes from the sounds of the Nez Perces and Louis. He comes back to Walsh with a blue light on him. Blue usually symbolizes sorrow, depression and unhappy feelings. So the blue light shone on Louis may depict an unpleasant thing he saw. He comes back without speaking, and the pause creates a tension, as well as drawing all attention to Louis. The pause allows the audience to be very curious and anxious about what Louis has to say. The pause could also be a pause where Walsh and Sitting Bull is waiting for Louis to say something, but Louis doesn’t tell them if he’s found any of the Nez Perces across the border immediately. During the pause, Louis may be gathering his thoughts and thinking of how to tell Sitting Bull about the people, since there are stage directions that indicates Louis is speaking to Sitting Bull. As soon as the pause is over, the play continues on smoothly.
Page 40-"He and LOUIS start off. The sound of the arrival of the Sioux creeps in very softly-muted voices, horses, faint drums and singing. It can barely be heard."
This direction really sets the tone for the next few pages of text. It also does a good job of building up tension brought by the long awaited arrival of the Sioux nation. Right now the NWMP aren't sure how many natives are coming or if they are violent or not so the hum of their music in the background, this being the first time its heard can really add to the play.
WHITE DOG hurries off. The background sound swells. WALSH walks over to SITTING BULL, who raises his hand. The noise stops.
- page 47
The background music being heard in this passage is most likely that of the Souix who are alarmed at the bitter disagreement that has just taken place. The swelling of the sound adds to the tension as the exiting of White Dog still hasn’t put an end to any of their problems. There is still suspense in the conversation between Walsh and Sitting Bull. As well, tension is still in the air. The sound comes to a halt as Sitting Bull raising his hand and this absence of sound represents his higher authority and respect.
page 10; "There is an increase in the howling of wind and WALSH appears in a spotlight somewhat brighter than the general dim lighting. The wind fades as WALSH enters"
These stage directions are given in the prologue, which deals with Walsh many years after Sitting Bull's exile from Canada. In the directions it is also stated that the sound of wind is "a mournful sound".
Walsh’s character can be interpreted as somewhat of a tragic one. Even after the exile of Sitting Bull, Walsh is never really able to achieve a feeling of redemption, as we see later in the prologue when he hits the Prospector, Sitting Bull’s double. This description of the mournful sound of wind heard when Walsh approaches helps to set up this tone of the grief that is still surrounding the character of Walsh years after Sitting Bull.
I think that garryowen is one of the most important sounds in the play. It's custers battle music and represents the decline of the indian population and whenever it is heard it usually forshadows something misfortunate approaching in the play.
“As the lights dim on WALSH and SITTING BULL, they come up blue and cold along with a background sound of the howling wind. The lights pick out McCUTCHEON and CLARENCE, who are bundled in greatcoats. A winter blizzard is blowing.”(Page 60)
This stage direction sets the scene up by describing how cold of a winter it was. The “howling wind” sets the tone of the scene and reveals how “blue and cold” it really was. The last line of this stage direction is significant because it gives you the feeling of a miserable winter that was headed for them. This was only the beginning of the cold, in the next scene it shows how the extremely cold weather affects the Nez Perces and lots of those people ended up freezing to death, which is foreshadowed in this stage direction.
Page 41
Clarence and Harry exit. The lights dim as Louis crouches, listening to the sound of the Sioux arriving which buidls. Louis moves about as if he were watching the arrival of the Sioux. The sound is well established before he speaks.
This builds an aura of seriousness and also it establishes a feeling of tension to the audience. The last sentence indicates that Louis will say something important therefore increasing the audience's interest towards the play.
Page 47: "White Dog hurries off. The background sound swells. Walsh walks over to Sitting Bull, who raises his hand. The noise stops."
The background sound being referred to in this stage direction is the sound of the Sioux. The noise is one of passion coming from the Sioux, a strong nation who sticks together during good times and bad. At this moment, Sitting Bull has arrived to meet with Walsh. Walsh had to scream over the noises of the Sioux to talk, but Sitting Bull simply had to raise his hand and all silenced. This reveals to the reader just how much authority, power, and respect Sitting Bull has over his people.It shows just how good of a leader Sitting Bull is because he can silence five thousand people in one single hand motion. This is where Sitting Bull stands out over Walsh, because Walsh does not even have that much authority over his seargents.
Once again a late comment.... heh... wowy tehse guys have alot o.o;;; lets see what do i have left to work with @.@.....
pg 48; "GALL, WALSH and SITTING BULL exit. PRETTY PLUME enters, unrolls a buffalo skin for the floor of the tent, as LOUIS, singing softly, removes his pack and sits a distance from the tent."
The sound effect here presents a sense of ease, even though there was just a fight that just happens right before this scene, it seems as if Louis's singing emphasizes that the fight has gone and past, they've moved on, and the tension is all gone. Thus allowing the auidience to also be put at ease.
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