Sound & Music Analysis - Top Gun

The top gun opening sequence music uses both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.  The music starts when the production companies music is normally playing, this makes it seem like the music is as important as the film it self.

Up until the actual title of the film, the sound is just music playing.  the music sounds like it was made so you could tell something big was about to be introduced.  Throughout this period, different instruments get added into the track and it gets gradually louder like it is building up to something.  Even after the titles, you feel like something big is still about to happen.

When the title appears, you get the first bit of diegetic sound added in - the sound of aeroplanes, however it isn't completely obvious what the sound, so it is giving the audience a clue of what the film might include.  This sound of aeroplanes then bridges into the next shot of people and planes - the first look of the actual movie.  The diegetic sounds get louder and you start hearing different ones like the wind blowing and different plane sounds.  Then at about 1 minute 24 seconds, a non-degetic sound is added and it sounds like lots of different people talking on the radio, and late on you can hear just the one conversation and what it sounds like is the confirmation that a plane can take off.  The engines then get louder and as the plane sets off, a different track comes on and this is what feels like the last 2 and a half minutes has been building up too.

This track is a lot more up beat and reflects what the film is going to be about. it is also a parallel sound, the plane finally taking of and this is exciting and the music is also exciting.  Although the music is the main sound that you can hear in this part of the sequence, you can also hear what sounds like things being fixed and plane related sounds but the sounds being played are, a lot if the time, not what is being showed in the scene.  This use of off-screen diegetic sound gives the scene a 3D feel.

After this the only noise other than the music is the planes taking off and landing.  The music is also parallel in this scene as everyone on screen is excited and happy about the landings and takings off going well and this matches the music in the fact that it is up beat and happy.