Today’s class discussion mainly revolved around the discussion of tone and the internal logic of a world. Having Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River screenplay as a reference was a useful tool in this discussion as it is so rich in both tone and its own internal logic.

So, what IS tone? As a class, we came up with the following as possible answers to the question of what exactly tone is and elements that effect or create it;

  • The attitude the piece takes
  • Feeling
  • Colour and temperature
  • What type of resonance
  • Mood (also linked to genre)
  • Affects the way the world is portrayed

After some reflection, I settled on summarising my ideas into two definitions;

  1. Tone refers to the mood, feeling or attitude depicted within a piece.
  2. Tone refers to the overall feel of a piece, created by various elements such as setting, mood, characterisation and situation or even by post production elements like score, colour grading, editing and framing.

~Examples~

Frozen River (screenplay)

Tone is created and manipulated by…

  • The bleak setting/environment
  • Regretful characters
  • Unfortunate situation

Overall tone= Uninspiring, dull, sad

Fargo (movie)

Tone is created and manipulated by…

  • Desolate landscape/setting
  • Colour contrast (red blood on white snow)
  • Colour grading (colours intensified)
  • Characters (Minnesota lifestyle/casual tone/unobservant witnesses)
  • Narrative
  • Consequences (arrest, death etc)
  • Costuming (lots of layers give the characters a need to be “protected” from the elements)
  • Acting (protagonist’s anxious jittering, nervous sweating, convoluted and unthinkable ideas)
  • Score (eerie, provoking)
  • Open ending (money left in the snow)

Overall tone= Dangerous, eerie, bleak, “more to it”

La La Land (movie)

Tone is created and manipulated by…

  • Opening number (sets the tone with an upbeat, catchy tune and dazzling choreography)
  • Use of colour (primary colours, bright and bold)
  • Score and soundtrack (can be uplifting, romantic, nostalgic, sad, thoughtful and provocative)
  • Editing (fantastical elements)

Overall tone= Daydream vibe, inspiring, happy

That’s all for today’s adventures in tone, more from me when I finally watch the full product of Frozen River.