Walking Out Monologue
The editing and use of the montage effectively displays the theme of aging by carefully crafting over sixty years of life into a short four minute clip. It incorporates three stages of the couple’s life from newlywed, to middle age, then to their elderly years. A repetition of certain scenes and locations are used to show the change in time and also demonstrates the stark contrast of their youth to older years. The most significant recurring image exhibited is the scene of Carl and Ellie walking up a hill to go on a picnic date. In the first hill scene, Ellie is seen in the lead, at the top of the hill while Carl slowly trails behind her. The day is young; the sun in full brilliance and a happy atmosphere is laid out. She is healthy, youthful
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Although dialogue can offer a look into the character’s mindset and feelings, this sequence demonstrates that the use of mise-en-scene combined with music can communicate sentiment just as well through nonverbal cues. The music is sensitive to Ellie and Carl’s experiences as well as their state of mind. The mood is very dependent on the music transitioning from a generally cheerful melody reflecting the couple’s youthfulness, before dropping to a slow, lone piano when Ellie has a miscarriage. Nonetheless, the music gradually becomes hopeful once more with the revival of their dreams to go to Paradise Falls. Another scene where the tempo slows down to a sad drawl is in the scene where Ellie falls while climbing up the hill, with the piano ending on a sad note. For Carl, Ellie was his whole life, so when Ellie dies, his whole world is shattered, thus the optimistic music never returns. It reflects his mentality and that he is, indeed, truly alone. Music adds a whole other dimension of emotion to this sequence and we quickly learn to associate the mood of the scenes with the music. This musical timeline echoes the theme of them growing old together and highlights the many highs and lows they experienced together. The emotions that would have been difficult to describe in words were thus expressed
Although dialogue can offer a look into the character’s mindset and feelings, this sequence demonstrates that the use of mise-en-scene combined with music can communicate sentiment just as well through nonverbal cues. The music is sensitive to Ellie and Carl’s experiences as well as their state of mind. The mood is very dependent on the music transitioning from a generally cheerful melody reflecting the couple’s youthfulness, before dropping to a slow, lone piano when Ellie has a miscarriage. Nonetheless, the music gradually becomes hopeful once more with the revival of their dreams to go to Paradise Falls. Another scene where the tempo slows down to a sad drawl is in the scene where Ellie falls while climbing up the hill, with the piano ending on a sad note. For Carl, Ellie was his whole life, so when Ellie dies, his whole world is shattered, thus the optimistic music never returns. It reflects his mentality and that he is, indeed, truly alone. Music adds a whole other dimension of emotion to this sequence and we quickly learn to associate the mood of the scenes with the music. This musical timeline echoes the theme of them growing old together and highlights the many highs and lows they experienced together. The emotions that would have been difficult to describe in words were thus expressed