Speech, Music , Sound Exam number 300817 Thematic · PDF fileOnce Upon a Time in the West....

Speech, Music, Sound Exam number 300817

Thematic course 2014

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The Sound of the Old West:

Music and Sound in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West

Introduction

As a film genre, it is the goal of the Western to evoke not the actual, historical American

West, but the mythic universe of the frontier narrative and the epic battles between white-

hat heroes and black-hat villains. This essay focuses on the soundscape and music of the

Western as an integral part of the cinematic representation of this mythic American West.

The Western is a broad and varied genre and in order to narrow the scope of this essay, the

choice has been made to focus on the Italian Western or, as this sub-genre is commonly

referred to, the ‘Spaghetti Western’, that emerged during the 1960s and 1970s.

The most exceptional example of how sound and music are used to evoke the mythic

West in Italian Westerns is Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Created in

collaboration with the influential composer Ennio Morricone, this film has had a lasting

impact on the genre and Morricone’s musical scores are widely recognised as the traditional

soundtracks of the Italian Western. The first section of the essay examines the opening

sequence of Once Upon a Time in the West closely in order to discuss how sound effects and

aural perspective are used to evoke the soundscape and texture of the mythic West. The

second section of the essay focuses on the musical theme belonging to the heroine of the

film, Jill, and discusses how music is used as characterisation and narrative cueing. Finally,

the third section of the essay analyses the final confrontation between the film’s hero,

Harmonica, and the villain, Frank, and discusses the meaning potential of the musical score

as well as the blending of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The discussion of Once Upon a

Time in the West will also touch upon the film’s status as something of a cinematic hybrid:



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on one hand, the film is produced by Paramount Pictures and conforms to many of the

standard uses of sound and music in Hollywood films, but on the other hand Leone deviates

from many of these principles and takes a more artistic, experimental approach to sound.

The chosen method of transcription is meant to provide an overview of the action

and soundtrack in the three scenes by representing the time flow vertically and listing the

attributes of the sounds horizontally. In order to illustrate the duration of the sounds, the

sounds with the shortest duration are colour-coded as dark blue while sounds that continue

throughout the shot are colour-coded as light blue. The transcription also aims to illustrate

the aural perspective of the sound and music by distinguishing between figure, ground and

field in a separate column. This column is particularly important in the transcription of the

opening sequence where it is meant to illustrate how sounds that would normally be quiet,

such as the buzzing of a fly or water dripping from a roof, are foregrounded.

The final column shows the distinction between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.

The purpose of this column is to illustrate how sounds are entirely diegetic in the opening

sequence of the film, how there is a clear distinction between diegetic and non-diegetic

music in Jill’s arrival scene and how the diegetic and non-diegetic is finally blended in the

confrontation scene. Furthermore, the illustration of both the aural perspective and the

diegetic/non-diegetic sounds are integral to the discussion of how the film deviates from or

conforms to the principles of sound in Hollywood films. The ditto-mark (“) is used to indicate

when a sound shares the same attributes as the one above. While there are many aspects of

the sounds and music that are not shown in the transcription, the choice has been made to

focus on illustrating perspective and diegesis since these are the main analytical parameters

of the essay.



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The Opening Sequence: Soundscape and Sound Effects

Originally, the Italian Westerns were aimed towards a working-class audience who went to

the cinema to watch low-budget films with plenty of action (Frayling, Spaghetti Westerns,

XI). However, Sergio Leone wanted his films to do more than provide action-packed

entertainment: he wanted to return to the core texture of the West by limiting dialogue to a

minimum and allowing the audience to “use their own imagination while they observe the

slow and ritual gestures of the heroes of the West” (Leone qtd. in Fawell 19). Nowhere is

this more obvious than in the opening sequence of Once Upon a Time in the West.

The opening scene of the film shows three gunslingers, all members of Frank’s gang,

waiting to confront Harmonica at a small desert station. Aside from the pared-down

dialogue at the very beginning and end of the sequence, the scene is dominated entirely by

sound effects. Each gunslinger is associated with a specific sound: Snaky with the buzzing of

the fly that keeps landing on his face, Stony with the splashes of water that drip onto his

head and Knuckles with the cracking of his knuckles. The volume of these natural sounds is

much higher than one would expect and can therefore be described in terms of aural

perspective. Aural perspective refers to the hierarchy of sounds and is closely linked to the

listener’s perceived proximity to the sounds (van Leeuwen 17-18). In Murray Schafer’s

terminology, ‘figure’ refers to foregrounded sounds that are coded by their volume as the

most significant sounds that the listener is expected to react to or identify with. In the shots

featuring the three gunslingers, the sounds that are figure – the buzzing of the fly, the

dripping water and the cracking of knuckles – make the listener identify with the physical

experience of the gunslingers. For example, the loud buzzing noise of the fly makes one

identify with Snaky’s growing irritation as the fly keeps buzzing around his head and landing

on his face.



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Furthermore, the soft sounds made by Snaky as he tries to make the fly go away –

his groans, sighs and blowing noises – are clearly audible and also function as figure. The

relation between these sounds and the listener is one of extreme intimacy since one would

normally only be able to hear such sounds clearly if they were uttered by oneself or

someone very close by. It is not only the volume, but also the quality and timbre of the

sounds that make them stand out, however. For example, the drops that fall onto Stony’s

bare head have a distinctly hard, clear sound, but change in timbre to a softer, richer and

more muffled sound after he puts on his hat. Similarly, the buzzing of the fly reverberates

hollowly after Snaky traps it inside his gun. This attention to timbre makes Leone’s

soundscape highly textile and enhances the listener’s experience of being physically present

in the scene.

‘Ground’ refers to the second layer of sounds that are normally perceived as the

context or part of the listener’s social world while ‘field’ describes the third layer of sound;

background noise that is part of the listener’s physical world and usually taken for granted

(Schafer 9-10, van Leeuwen 16-17). In naturalism, figure, ground and field are always

present, or put differently, there is always an aural perspective. In the opening sequence of

Once Upon a Time in the West, however, perspective is often reduced to two layers: figure

and field or figure and ground. While field is usually present, represented by the blowing

wind and the creaking windmill, it often becomes so quiet that it is almost inaudible. By

flattening the perspective and making individual sounds hyper-real, Leone evokes a

soundscape that is mythic or fantastic rather than naturalistic. As Ennio Morricone puts it in

an interview: “a sound, any sound at all from normal everyday life – isolated from its

context and its natural place and isolated by silence – becomes something different that is



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not part of its real nature … In a way, it becomes a kind of fantasy” (Morricone qtd. in

Frayling, Once Upon a Time in Italy 96-97).

By isolating individual sounds Leone not only characterises his universe as mythic,

but also evokes an acute sense of the kind of place it is. To borrow another of Schafer’s

terms, it can be described as a hi-fi soundscape. Schafer defines the hi-fi soundscape as one

where there is little overlap between sounds and where discrete sounds can be heard

clearly (Schafer 43). According to Schafer, the hi-fi soundscape is typical of the rural

environment in contrast to the lo-fi soundscape of the urban setting where many sounds get

blurred together and only the loudest noises stand out over the din of the city. The discrete,

isolated sounds of the hi-fi soundscape in Once Upon a Time in the West evoke the extreme

isolation and remoteness of the desert outpost as well as the loneliness of the vast, barren

plains. In short, the soundscape of Once Upon a Time in the West captures both the texture

of the old West and the sense of a large, mostly empty space.

As pointed out by Morricone in the quote above, individual sounds take on new

meanings when they become isolated from the larger context. Therefore, the meaning

potential of the various sounds in the opening sequence is also significant. The continuous

buzzing of the fly no longer just indicates the sound of the fly’s wings, but is stretched out to

a point where it can be said to signify the warm, sluggish atmosphere of the environment

because it is combined multi-modally with the image of Snaky’s drowsy, sweaty face.

Similarly, the shots of Knuckles are clearly also meant to indicate the slow passing of time as

he waits by the water trough and preoccupies himself by cracking his knuckles, but cracking

one’s knuckles is also typically seen as a threatening gesture and this hints at the dangerous

nature of the gunslingers and the upcoming confrontation between them and Harmonica.

The rhythmic dripping of the water that splashes onto Stony’s head and hat also evokes the



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slow passing of time, but at the same time it also brings to mind the heat of the desert and

the parched throats of the men as they wait in the sweltering heat. The loud swallowing

noise as Stony drinks from his hat only serves to enhance this impression of thirst.

The background sounds are also significant. The faint, howling wind is an archetypal

sound that signifies barrenness, loneliness and empty space. Meanwhile, the creaking

windmill functions as a refrain throughout the sequence. It is continuous and directionless,

signifying the unchanging nature of this mythic location and the way time is stretched out in

contrast to the compressed sense of time in modern urban life. The sound of the windmill

also enhances the loneliness of the outpost, since it would easily have been drowned out by

other sounds in a livelier, lo-fi environment, and characterises the outpost as somewhat

ramshackle: a place on the fringe of civilisation. This makes it all the more startling when the

high-pitched whine of the train whistle, the train’s rumbling wheels and screeching brakes

suddenly intrude upon the scene and completely drown out the softer, natural sounds. One

of the main issues in the film is the intrusion of technological progress and capitalism upon

the world of the old West, and this is clearly signalled by the overpowering, uncomfortably

loud sounds of the train. Put differently, the meaning potential of the train’s sounds are

those of technology, speed and civilisation – all of which are in stark contrast to the world

evoked by the previously heard sounds. The arrival of the train jolts the three gunslingers

into action and the pulsating rhythm of the steam engine underlines the tension of the

scene as they gather on the platform, prepared to face Harmonica.

John Fawell notes in The Art of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West that

Harmonica’s first appearance establishes him as “a visitor from another world” or “an

avenging spirit” because he “seems to appear out of nowhere, his image often preceded

aurally by the wail of his harmonica” (Fawell 59). It is not only Harmonica’s mysterious



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entrance that makes him appear supernatural, however, but also the lack of rhythm and

‘unmeasured time’ in the wailing notes he plays. Unlike measured time, where there is a

clear beat that one can tap one’s foot to, unmeasured time seems to sway and fluctuate

without pause (van Leeuwen 51). Since unmeasured time produces a sound that humans

cannot imitate naturally, as we need to pause for breath, its meaning potential is often the

non-human, the superhuman or the supernatural (van Leeuwen 53). As the only character

whose signature music uses unmeasured time, Harmonica is clearly marked as a man with a

higher purpose. Harmonica is also the only main character whose signature music consists

of only one instrument and the isolated notes of the harmonica therefore also mark him as

the lone hero of the West.

Jill’s arrival in Flagstone: Music as Characterisation

Jill’s first appearance in the film is accompanied by cheerful saloon music as she peeks out

of the train, excited to arrive in the town of Flagstone and begin her new life. The saloon

music is clearly diegetic – that is, it belongs to the story universe and is audible to the

characters within it. This historically appropriate music is part of the acoustic setting, but it

also signifies Jill’s mood. It is foregrounded as figure in the first shot where it accompanies

her smiling face, but soon fades and becomes field while the other diegetic sounds that

contribute to the setting, such as the snippets of conversation and the noise from the

crowd, become figure and ground. This change in aural perspective reflects Jill’s emotional

state: other sounds become more prevalent as she explores her new environment and the

lively saloon music begins to fade along with her spirits as she searches in vain for her new

husband, McBain. Claudia Gorbman argues that music and other sounds usually subordinate



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themselves to dialogue in Hollywood productions (Gorbman 73), and that is also the case in

the beginning of this scene as the saloon music fades and voices become clearly audible.

However, as Jill realises that McBain has not arrived to meet her, the diegetic sounds

stop entirely and are replaced by Jill’s theme, a non-diegetic musical score. Just before Jill’s

theme music begins playing, there is a moment of silence as she looks at the station clock.

As noted by Barbara Flueckiger, silence is typically used to indicate a cognitive disturbance

and the beginning of a subjective experience since the “loss of auditory contact with the

environment” marks “a loss of connection to reality” (Flueckiger 173). Here, the silence

signifies Jill’s fearful apprehension as she realises that something must have happened to

McBain. It also functions as a cue to the audience that the point of view is about to become

internal and focused on Jill’s emotions.

At first glance, Jill’s theme fits many of the norms for Hollywood music listed by

Gorbman: it is non-diegetic, the technical apparatus is invisible, and it functions as a signifier

of emotion as well as providing narrative cues, continuity and unity (Gorbman 73). The

dominant instrument in the simple melody that functions as the introduction to her theme

is the harpsichord. Strings typically signify emotion and are often related to love and

romance. This fits well with Jill’s role in the film since she is not only the romantic interest

for all the male characters, but her story is also one of tragic romance: first, she suffers the

loss of her husband, McBain, who has been slaughtered by Frank shortly before her arrival,

then she begins to fall for Harmonica, but is left behind by him at the end of the film. The

tragedy of Jill’s story – her past as a prostitute as well as her broken dreams of a future as a

wife and mother – is signified by the descending melody of her theme. Descending melodies

have falling pitch, which indicates a decrease in energy as opposed to the more energetic

meaning potential of melodies with rising pitch (van Leeuwen 103).



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While the introduction to her theme has a simple descending melody with few

instruments, the main melody of her theme is far more complex. This melody descends in

large steps to a full orchestra and wordless soprano vocals, indicating a greater emotional

expansion (van Leeuwen 105-106). The vocals are sung in legato, a smooth, connective

articulation that blurs the boundaries between the melodic phrases and has a sensual,

reflective character (van Leeuwen 109-110). While Jill’s dialogue mainly portrays her as

tough-minded, practical and independent, her theme music adds another dimension to her

character by providing a window into her emotional state. Furthermore, the soprano vocals

make her theme more sensual which ties in well with Jill’s role as a seductive, earthy type of

woman. In addition to signifying emotion, Jill’s theme also adds unity and continuity to the

entire film because it is repeated as a leitmotif, a recurring theme strictly associated with

Jill, in all the scenes where her point of view is prominent and she reflects on her own

situation.

However, Jill’s theme differs from typical Hollywood film music in one central way: It

is not inaudible in the sense described by Gorbman. Gorbman argues that Hollywood film

music is traditionally played in the background and is not meant to be listened to

consciously (Gorbman 76). The opposite is true for Jill’s theme. Since it functions as figure, it

is clear that the audience is meant to listen to it, react to it as a means of identification with

Jill and recognise it when it is repeated in different scenes. Furthermore, the scene

completely reverses the typical aural perspective of Hollywood films by making the dialogue

inaudible while Jill’s theme is playing. Finally, Jill’s theme music can be seen as an example

of how the editing of Once Upon a Time in the West has been adjusted to the rhythm of the

music. The most obvious example is when Jill hires a stagecoach and embarks on the

journey to McBain’s home. In this scene, the camera sweeps upwards in a crane shot that



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gives the audience a bird’s eye view of the bustling town. The music and vocals soar,

mirroring the upwards movement of the camera.

Claudia Cardinale has stated that “[t]he most important thing [about Leone’s

direction] was the music. He used to put it on just before he started shooting … it gave you

the energy and the poising and everything” (Cardinale qtd. in Frayling, Once Upon a Time in

Italy 119). As Cardinale explains, the film music is also synchronised with the movements of

the characters. Jill’s movements are feminine and sensual, like her theme music, while

Cheyenne, the charming bandit, ambles leisurely along to his casual, humorous theme

music. To sum up, the music and sound in Once Upon a Time in the West can be described

as mono-rhythmic, because it functions as a guiding element to which everything else –

including the editing, the cinematography and the choreography – are synchronised. While

mono-rhythmic editing is not unusual in Hollywood productions, this is clearly a much more

aestheticized approach than usual.

The Duel: Music as Narrative

With the exception of a single line spoken by Frank, the climactic confrontation between

him and Harmonica near the end of the film has no audible dialogue – instead, the music

itself becomes the narrative as it connects the scene to other pivotal events in the film. As

the two men circle each other in preparation for the duel, Frank’s theme music begins to

play. This is the same music that plays during his massacre of the McBain family in the

beginning of the film, signifying the connection between his crimes and Harmonica’s

decision to kill him. Frank’s theme music begins with an ominous-sounding woodwind which

oscillates in a melody that seems to go nowhere, signalling the uncertainty and danger of

the situation. Almost immediately, the woodwind is drowned out by the loud strum of



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electric guitar chords. The loudness of the electric guitar, combined with the large intervals

of the descending melody, makes it sound dramatic and masculine. The electric guitar is

foregrounded as figure while string instruments continue to play an oscillating melody on

the second layer of sound, still signifying the potential danger that Frank embodies.

Soon after Frank’s theme music starts playing, the wailing, unmeasured notes of the

harmonica begin to blend into it. This is not a case of call and response, where a subordinate

voice or instrument responds to a leading one. Instead, it signifies the inevitability of the

shared destiny of the hero and the villain. One cannot play out his role without the other,

and so the two are inexorably intertwined. The blending of Harmonica’s unmeasured theme

with Frank’s measured one can also be said to signify the human drama of the situation:

Harmonica, marked as an agent of fate by his supernatural-sounding theme music, has

finally caught up with Frank, the villain who is ruled by the dark human desire to commit

acts of violence in order to get ahead.

Throughout the film, Harmonica calls himself by the names of the men Frank has

killed whenever Frank asks him who he is, and this clearly indicates that his vendetta is not

just personal. He has become more than just a man: a force of righteousness whose sole

purpose is to see justice done. After a few moments, the full orchestra joins in with rising

pitch in large intervals. This change in pitch indicates grandness and heroism, and

surprisingly, it is also present when Frank’s theme music plays during the McBain massacre.

Fawell notes that Henry Fonda, who plays Frank, strides majestically in time to this score in

the scene where he murders the McBains (Fawell 187). Fawell sees Fonda’s “prince-like way

of walking” (Fawell 50) as one of Leone’s “iconic references” (Fawell 51) to Hollywood and

Fonda’s status within Hollywood films. While this may be true, the grandiose rhythm of the

score also proves a vital point about Frank as a character: as his leitmotif, it indicates that



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while Frank is evil, he is also one of the archetypes of the genre – the black-hat villain who is

essential to the grand drama of Old West.

Eventually, the music stops entirely and the camera slowly zooms in on Harmonica’s

face until only his eyes are visible. The camera movement as well as the sudden silence

indicate a subjective transformation where the narrative point of view shifts to Harmonica

and becomes internal. Like the silence in Jill’s arrival scene, this signals an intense cognitive

disturbance in Harmonica as he recalls the beginning of his history with Frank. The silence

therefore also functions a cue to the audience by indicating that the following scene is a

flashback to Harmonica’s childhood. The central mystery of the story is revealed during the

flashback: as Frank places his harmonica in young Harmonica’s mouth, the camera sweeps

upwards to reveal Harmonica’s older brother balancing on his shoulders with a noose tied

around his neck, and the wailing of the harmonica becomes synonymous with young

Harmonica’s suffering as he is implicated in Frank’s sadistic execution of his brother. Only

Frank’s single spoken line, “keep your loving brother happy”, is necessary to explain the

scene – the rest is communicated entirely through the music.

The wailing notes of the harmonica are combined once more with the electric guitar,

signifying again how Harmonica’s and Frank’s destinies are intertwined. As the camera

glides upwards to show Harmonica’s brother struggling to keep his balance, the notes of the

harmonica begin to sound discordant. This point marks the intersection between diegetic

and non-diegetic sounds: the discordant notes indicate young Harmonica’s laboured

breathing through the instrument and this diegetic sound blends into the non-diegetic

score. The grandiose orchestra begins playing again, signifying the height of the drama and

cueing to the audience that the climax will be reached at any moment. The camera shows

Frank and his men laughing, one of them casually eating an apple, and Harmonica’s brother



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speaking soundlessly before he kicks Harmonica away and allows himself to be hanged.

Throughout the flashback, all of this is inaudible and only the music can be heard. With

music as figure and no other aural perspective, the naturalistic reality recedes and indicates

that the memory is completely dominated by emotion; emotion that is expressed through

the music.

The noose is tied to a bell which can be heard ringing as young Harmonica falls to the

ground. The sound of the bell is diegetic, but again there is a blending of diegetic and non-

diegetic sounds as it also functions as a conclusion to the non-diegetic score. Fawell notes

that the ringing of bells is a “morbid leitmotif” throughout the film since it also accompanies

the deaths of other characters (Fawell 193). This is yet another example of how sound is

used to create unity throughout the film. However, Leone’s use of leitmotifs is at least as

radical as his use of rhythm. The duel between Harmonica and Frank is a prime example of

how music provides insight into the inner worlds of the characters and largely controls the

audience’s understanding of the action. Far more than mood music, the sound of the

harmonica is a central, structuring part of the plot.

Conclusion

Sergio Leone denied that his Westerns were either an attempt to copy Hollywood’s typical

American Westerns or create a new form of critical avant-garde cinema – instead, he

believed that he brought an entirely new set of conventions to the Western which were

exclusively his own (Frayling, Once Upon a Time in Italy 75). At the same time, Leone was

very aware of the mythic content of the Western as a genre. As he puts it in one interview,

the Western is comparable to the plays of William Shakespeare or Greek mythology because

“it all comes down to the same thing. These are great myths about individualism. The



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warrior. The pistolero” (Leone qtd. in Frayling, Once Upon a Time in Italy 76). Arguably, the

most significant new convention that Leone brought to the Western was his attempt to

evoke the great drama of the Western, its archetypes and texture through music and sound.

Before Leone’s films, sound effects in Westerns were mainly reduced to shock

effects, such as the loud bangs of guns and punches, and music largely consisted of folk and

period songs, popularised by the famous director of early Westerns, John Ford (Kalinak 194).

While there is an obvious connection between the folk songs of ranchers and cowboys and

the mythic West, Leone’s use of sound gets even closer to the texture of the West by

isolating each individual sound against the silence of the great, barren plains. The analysis of

the opening sequence of Once Upon a Time in the West in this paper illustrates how the use

of a flat aural perspective gives every sound a new meaning potential which evokes the

physical experience of being present in the old West. Furthermore, while folk songs may

evoke the historical setting of Westerns, the musical scores in Once Upon a Time in the West

are not only central to atmosphere and setting, but to the very plot of the film.

As discussed in the second and third sections of this paper, music gives the audience

vital insight into Jill’s character and story and, even more importantly, Harmonica’s leitmotif

is central to the film’s mystery and the climax of the revenge plot. Finally, the major

characters’ leitmotifs are composed specifically to suit their roles in the film and therefore

evoke the central archetypes of the West: The lone hero who is destined to be a force of

justice, the dangerous villain whose fate is inextricably bound up with the hero’s, and the

sensual heroine with the tough exterior and a heart of gold. As indicated by its title, Once

Upon a Time in the West stands out as the one film by Leone that has attempted to capture

the essential myth of the frontier; a myth that is brought to life through the sound of the old

West.



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Transcription 1: The opening sequence

Time remaining/Shot

Sounds Perspective

Diegetic/ Non-diegetic

2:40:04 – 2:39:40. MS of Stony (Woody Strode) standing under a leaking porch roof, fanning himself with his hat. A single drop of water falls onto the top of his bare, hairless head. He pauses, frowns and looks up, seeing the puddle of water on the roof. Another drops falls. He puts his hat back on his head. Another drop falls, now landing on his hat. He smiles.

Birds screeching. Wind blowing. Loud, fleshy splashes as the drops of water fall one by one onto Stony’s head. Metallic creaking from the windmill. Loud, deep, muffled splashes as the water drips onto Stony’s hat.

Field Field Figure Field Figure

Diegetic “ “ “ “

2:39:45 – 2:39:25. MS of Knuckles (Al Mulock) sitting on a drinking trough and running his hand through the water. A dog appears and whimpers. He turns to look at it. Knuckles takes his hand out of the water trough and begins cracking his fingers.

Water sloshing. Wind blowing. Dog whimpering pitifully. Loud, bony cracking of fingers.

Figure Field Ground Figure

Diegetic “ “ “

2:39:26 – 2:38:39. CS of Snaky (Jack Elam). He is napping, but opens his eyes when a fly lands on his neck. He squints and moves his face in the attempt to make the fly go away. He blows at the fly and it takes off for a moment. The fly lands on his cheek again, crawling onto his chin. He continues trying to make it go away by blowing at it.

Fly buzzing loudly. Sound of Snaky swallowing. Fly buzzes again. Wind blowing softly. Snaky sighing and groaning softly. Snaky blowing at the fly. Fly buzzing briefly. Snaky makes a series of short, increasingly louder blows at the fly. A few long, loud blows.

Figure “ Field Figure “ “

Diegetic “ “ “ “ “

2:38:40 – 2:38:30. MS of Knuckles sitting on the drinking trough. He is still cracking his fingers.

Wind blowing. Finger bones cracking loudly. Birds cry out.

Field Figure Field

Diegetic “ “



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2:38:31 – 2:38:08. CS of Snaky. He is still blowing at the fly on his face. The fly lifts off twice for a few short moments and lands again. Snaky begins to rock back and forth on the bench.

Snaky blowing at the fly. The fly buzzing loudly. Snaky blowing again. The bench creaks loudly. Snaky blowing. Metallic creaking from the windmill.

Figure “ “ “ “ Field

“ “ “ “ “ “

2:38:09 – 2:38:01. CS of Stony followed by a close-up of the water puddle on the roof, then a close-up of the rim of Stony’s hat where the drops of water are landing.

Water dripping. Windmill creaking. Water dripping again.

Figure Field “

Diegetic “ “

2:38:01 – 2:36:46. CS of Snaky. He is still blowing at the fly on his face. Snaky waves his hand at the fly and it takes off and flies around for a while. The fly lands and the camera turns to show Snaky’s profile. He slowly turns to face the side of the bench where the fly has landed. Close-up of his face. Snaky turns suddenly, slamming his gun over the fly. He puts his finger over the end of the barrel, trapping the fly inside the gun. Snaky leans back, listening to the fly inside the gun, occasionally shaking it. Snaky turns to look behind him.

Snaky blowing at the fly. Windmill creaking. Fly buzzing loudly. Snaky breathes in. Muffled sounds of movement. Loud bang as the gun slams against the wooden bench. The fly buzzes loudly inside the gun. Snaky sighs. The fly begins buzzing inside the gun again (muffled). Train whistle blowing

Figure Field Figure “ “ “ “ “ “

Diegetic “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

2:36:46 – 2:36:39, CS of steam train seen from below.

Train whistle blowing Loud rumbling of the train carts and wheels screeching on the tracks as the breaks are applied

Ground Figure

Diegetic “

2:36:39 – 2:36:21. CS of Stony. Stony slowly takes off his hat,

Train whistle blowing. Steam train chugging.

Ground Field

Diegetic “



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tips it and drinks water from the rim. Stony lowers his hat and smiles.

Water sloshing. Stony swallowing. Steam train chugs louder as it approaches.

Figure “ Ground

“ “

2:36:22 – 2:36:15. CS of Snaky. He is still holding his finger over the barrel of the gun, trapping the fly inside. He lets the fly out of the gun.

Steam train chugging. Fly buzzing.

Ground Figure

Diegetic “

2:36:15 – 2:36:06. CS of Knuckles. He turns to look at the train approaching from behind.

Steam train chugging.

Figure

Diegetic

2:36:07 – 2:36:00. CS of Stony cocking and loading his gun (only his hands and the gun are visible). CS of his face.

Stony cocking the gun. Steam train chugging. Clicking sound as Stony loads the gun.

Figure Ground Figure

Diegetic “ “

2:36:00 – 2:35:54. CS of Knuckles’ profile. The train drives past him.

Steam train chugging. Breaks screeching.

Figure Ground

Diegetic “

2:35:54 – 2:33:53. MS of Stony from behind. The train approaches and comes to a stop. Camera moves to show the train from the front. Stony approaches from the side. CS of Stony’s profile. CS of Snaky’s profile. LS of the train carts. One of the doors slides open. CS of Stony. CS of Snaky. A member of the train staff throws parcels out of the cart. CS of Stony’s gun. CS of Knuckles from the front. The door slides shut. CS of Snaky from behind, facing the train. CS of Stony’s profile. CS of Snaky from the front. CS of Snaky’s gun, his fingers twitching. CS of Snaky’s profile. He signals to the others with a move of his head. They gather on the platform.

Steam train chugging. Breaks screeching. Bell ringing. Steam engine thumping rhythmically. Loud grinding from the train door. Loud thump as the parcel lands on the ground. The door grinding. Thumping. Train whistle. The sound of footsteps on wooden planks.

Ground Figure Ground Figure “ “ “ “ Figure Ground

Diegetic “ “ “ “ “ “ “ Diegetic “



18

The train starts moving again. The three men stop on the middle of the platform. They turn to leave. CS of Snaky from the front, his back to the train. He stops suddenly and turns around slowly. The train departs and reveals Harmonica (Charles Bronson) standing behind it, playing the harmonica.

Steam blowing from the train. Train chugging. Harmonica playing a few notes (unmeasured time).

Figure “

“ “

2:33:52 – 2:33:40. CS of Harmonica from the front. He stares at the men while playing his instrument.

Harmonica playing.

Figure

Diegetic

Transcription 2: Jill’s arrival in Flagstone

Time remaining/Shot Sounds/Music Perspective Diegetic/Non-diegetic

2:20:26-2:20:00. MS of Jill (Claudia Cardinale) looking out of a train compartment and alighting.

Saloon music playing. Bustling crowd noise.

Figure Ground

Diegetic Diegetic

2:20:00-2:19:49. MS of Jill. She wanders around the area, searching.

Saloon music still playing, but fading. Man 1: “I saw some mighty fine stock down South.” Man 2: “Is that so?” Man 1: “And the prices were right.” Bustling crowd noise. Squeaking from wheel chair.

Field Figure “ “ “ Ground “

Diegetic Diegetic

2:18:44 - 2:18:00. CS of the station clock. CS of Jill (Claudia Cardinale) from the front. Jill looks at her own pocket watch. CS of her face.

Saloon music fades out and stops. (Silence) Harpsichord begins playing the intro to Jill’s theme (descending melody) Strings begin playing.

Figure

Non-diegetic

2:18:00 – 2:16:55. LS of Jill pacing in front of the train, looking around. She begins to walk away. Jill walks into the station. She speaks to the telegraph operator and the stationmaster. She leaves with the two men carrying her valises. Camera crane slowly moves up, above the roof of the station. Overhead shot of the bustling town underneath.

Female soprano voice (Edda Dell’Orso) humming Jill’s theme wordlessly in legato (descending melody, large steps going down). The harpsichord stops and is replaced by an organ. Strings begin playing. Music and vocals soar, pitch rising.

Figure “

Non-diegetic “



19

Transcription 3: Duel

Time remaining/Shot Sounds/Speech/Music Perspective Diegetic/Non-diegetic

22:50-22:45. LS of Frank. He is walking slowly in a large circle, facing the camera. 22:45-22:42. Harmonica enters the screen. The camera pans as the two men circle each other slowly. 22:40-22:00. Camera slowly zooms out. Frank and Harmonica stop moving, facing each other. 22:00-21:46. Camera shows Frank from below. He removes his coat. Both men begin circling each other again. 21:46-21:20. CS of Frank who is still moving. LS of Harmonica who stands still, facing Frank. CS of Harmonica. 21:20-21:09. CS of Harmonica, then CS of Frank. 21:09-20:44. CS of Frank. CS of Harmonica. LS of Frank who stops, facing Harmonica. 20:44-20:12. Harmonica walks towards Frank, then stops and reaches into his pocket. 20:12-19:36. They stand facing each other. CS of their faces. Camera slowly zooms in on Harmonica’s face.

Frank’s theme starts playing: (descending melody) oscillating woodwind. Footsteps. Electric guitar strums. A string instrument joins the woodwind and the guitar. The harmonica blends in. Full orchestra joins as accompaniment. The harmonica stops playing. Soft vocals humming wordlessly. Harmonica begins playing again. Harmonica stops playing (orchestra continues). Music fades. Just strings playing. Music stops. Wind blowing. Harmonica starts playing slowly.

Figure Ground Figure Figure Ground Field Figure “ “ Field Figure

Non-diegetic Diegetic Non-diegetic “ “ “ “ “ “

19:35-18:45. Flashback begins: Young Frank walking towards the camera. He stops and takes a harmonica out of his breast pocket.

(Harmonica continues playing)

Figure

Non-diegetic



20

18:46-18:24. CS of Harmonica, camera slowly zooming in on him until only his eyes are visible.

Strings and woodwind begin, harmonica fades out and stops.

Figure

Non-diegetic

18:24-18:14. Flashback returns: Young Frank speaks, then inserts the harmonica in young Harmonica’s mouth. 18:14-17:26. CS of young Harmonica. Camera zooms out to show young Harmonica’s brother standing on his shoulders with a noose around his neck. 17:28-17:12. CS of young Harmonica. Camera moves up to his brother, then back down. 17:12-16:46. CS of Frank. Frank and his men laughing. CS of the men. 16:47-16:41. Harmonica’s brother speaks, then kicks young Harmonica away. 16:42-16:28: He is hanged. Young Harmonica falls to the ground, the harmonica in his mouth.

Frank: “Hm. Keep your loving brother happy.” Electric guitar starts playing. Harmonica blends in. Orchestra blends in. The harmonica begins to sound jarring and random. The harmonica stops. Orchestra and vocals playing. Bell ringing. Orchestra and vocals fade out. Harmonica starts playing.

Figure “ “ “ Ground Figure

Diegetic Non-diegetic Non-diegetic Diegetic Non-diegetic Diegetic Non-diegetic

16:27-16:26: Back to present time: Harmonica and Frank pull on each other and shoot.

Two loud gunshots. Figure Diegetic



21

Works Cited

Once Upon a Time in the West. Dir. Sergio Leone. Paramount Pictures, 1968. Netflix. Web. 2

June, 2014.

Fawell, John. The Art of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. Jefferson, North

Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc. Publishers, 2005. Print.

Flueckiger, Barbara. “Sound Effects – Strategies for Sound Effects in Film”. Sounds and Music

in Film and Visual Media. Eds. Harper, G. Doughty, R. Eisentraut, J. London:

Continuum, 2009. PP 151-178. Print.

Frayling, Christopher. Sergio Leone - Once Upon a Time in Italy. London: Thames & Hudson

Ltd, 2008. Print.

---. Spaghetti Westerns – Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone. New York:

I.B. Tauris Publishers & Co Ltd, 2000. Print.

Gorbman, Claudia. Unheard Melodies – Narrative Film Music. Bloomington: Indiana

University Press, 1987. Print.

Kalinak, Kathryn Marie. How the West was Sung: Music in the Westerns of John Ford.

Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. E-book.

Schafer, Murray. Our Sonic Environment and the Soundscape – The Tuning of the World.

Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books, 1994. Print.

Van Leeuwen, Theo. Speech, Music, Sound. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999. Print.

Speech, Music , Sound Exam number 300817 Thematic · PDF fileOnce Upon a Time in the West....

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