Outside the Frame

FLASHDANCE (1983, LYNE)

Steel Mill Introduction

I appreciate how the steel mill activities emphasize the rhythm of the music. Also, when the camera pans to the main character, it helps us understand from a later scene when she asks if he can see music. She probably sees it in everything and in her everyday interactions.

Crosswalk Scene

“More than any other single art form, music generates emotion in the listener. When you take that set of emotions and attach them to images, the emotional possibilities expand exponentially.” (The Last Detail) Playful music for a playful scene. I think I saw her headphones or them listening to music. So, I feel like she matches her dancing to music as well as her persona/behavior to the music/music in her environment.

Boss Follows Her

This scene is another example of music fitting how the main character is feeling. It is creepy and the music fits this. It also shows her whimsical approach to teasing or playing with him. Trying to test how interested he is…since he is her boss.

Dinner Scene

The movie rarely had music for scenes with normal dialogue. Here is one of the few moments there is music in the background but it fits the environment of a fancy restaurant with soft music barely noticeable. I am not the biggest fan when music is overwhelming dialogue so, I appreciate that even in a scene where it is so easy to make that background music loud, they kept it low so we could focus on their cheeky exchange. 

What a feeling, Irene Cara

Using the same track to open and close the movie is a nice way to go full circle. I think the lyrics having “steel” in them is also on the nose.

UNDINE (2020, PETZOLD)

Opening

"The background noise or ambient noise that would exist in everyday life is balanced and is not overwhelming. It is a pet peeve of mine to see moving hair in an outdoor environment yet hear no wind or leaves stirring in movies and TV. Making a point to add these sounds in really helps make this feel real and the dialogue that much more impactful. “Diegetic sound is here used to achieve something more dramatic than simple realism; it’s a recognizable, realistic sound effect that is established early in the film, but it is used to raise the dramatic tension in the scene; the sound is both naturally occurring and also used in a highly artificial way.” (The Last Detail) I also like how during the opening, Undine reacts to the loud bell tower and how they positioned her in the frame to allow space for the credits.

Bach: Concerto in D Minor

“His quiet dramas about people passing between literal and figurative borders tend to play out in stolen glances and emotional revelations expressed in stunned silences rather than giant outbursts. Because his films tend to be quiet, the sound that does appear takes on outsized significance.” (The Last Detail) The use of mainly Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for the few scenes with music helped me to easily connect previous emotional moments involving Undine on a more subconscious level. Even if I didn’t fully remember what happened, it tricked my brain to associate the scene and the previous ones I processed whenever I heard it start to play. It is simple but works in a similar way when people buy a new perfume or cologne to go on a vacation or during a specific time of their life and smell it months or years later but it still brings back those specific memories and emotions.

Leaving Cafe

This is where the pattern begins. Where we feel her anxiety and disappointment build no doubt she is replaying that interaction in her head as she heads inside her work. 

Remembering Cafe

We hear the piano begin as she replays the interaction from the opening scene as she continues her tour of the scale city while looking at the cafe she had been at earlier.

Entering Cafe

She does take a moment when entering the cafe to look around, where we have the chance to hear the bubbles aerating the fishtank and can peek inside to see a Diver Figurine. Having Cristoph formally introduce himself while next to the tank was also helpful, letting us know how he immediately connects to the story. 

The Couple Montage 

This was a really useful scene because even though it isn’t until later when we see Undine’s Ex and his new partner, I was already comparing Christoph’s noticeable interest in Undine and her job to how she was treated during the opening scene when she was staring at the model replica trying to stay professional. That difference is made even more clear when we can see the body language between her and Christoph and her ex's with his partner. 

I mean, how long were they dating for him not to know what she wears at work? But at the same time, make a point to figure out when her new presentation? The presentation she randomly got because her co-worker was MIA...very odd man.

Swimming Pool

It's almost like we are reliving the opening scene and experiencing that disappointment and sadness while we watch her do exactly what she promised Johannes months prior. Even after she is walking towards the lake, I am just left thinking of the happy memories with Christoph combined with the last sad one with him in the hospital being brain dead.

The Magic of the Universe

Sometimes, when we are going through hard times, we ask the universe for signs or feel like the universe is giving us signs. Using the same song kinda makes us feel this the way we are able to effortlessly connect the past feelings of the characters with their current situation. 

I think the connections with the diver figurine that was inside the cafe (right across from Undine’s job and where she was broken up with) and then an actual underwater welder, Christoph, just randomly being in town to check the bridges is a good tie in for that. 

Also, Christoph has a similar experience we discover in a later scene when he shows Undine her name that he found under a bridge he seems to regularly work at. 

Plus, when Christoph is looking for Undine in the cafe he sees the replacement are the Easter Island figurines. For a long time it was a mystery to how those things even got there in the iconic formation. So, it kind of plays into the whole mysterious aspect to how simple things in our environment can have meaning depending on our inner world - like if we are depressed or lonely or looking for a sign from the universe. I feel like he knew he wouldn’t be able to find her after seeing that. Bach is again, haunting us with bittersweet memories. 

Staying Alive

Even in the two scenes where Bach was not featured, the song was directly connected to a situation and memory experienced by Undine. This provoked a painless memory of when she was drowning but also had a super cute date with Christoph. Making that weird phone call that followed even more painful.