While We're Young: Sound to Portray Theme

Noah Baumbach's While We're Young essentially uses sound to supplement two key themes of the film - the irony of how technology is used between generations, and the 'danger' of youth. Transitions between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds offer insight to the character's experiences and a carefully selected soundtrack celebrates the core ideas of the film.

Diegetic sound is often used to portray the realism in films that relate directly to real life. "The distinction between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds can sometimes be murky" (186) say Corrigan and White, but in relation to While We're Young, several key moments transition between diegetic/non-diegetic sounds. The first time this happens is when Josh and Cordelia (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) meet Jamie and Darby (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried) at a 'street-beach' - a faux beach on the side of the road. A bass-fuelled hip-hop song plays as a non-diegetic sound outside the world of the film, and then transitions into a diegetic sound as it becomes the music playing at the street-beach. The second notable time the sound transitions is when Cordelia goes to a hip-hop class with Darby. At first the music is diegetic and plays at the dance class, and then transitions into non-diegetic as it accompanies a montage of Josh and Cordelia being influenced by the energetic youth of Jamie and Darby. 

fig. 1: Josh and Cordelia in amazement at baby
using a smartphone.

fig. 2: Josh, Cordelia, Marina and Fletcher
all engrossed with their smartphones.

The irony of the film revolves around this influence that the younger couple has on the older. Josh and Cordelia, a couple that are immersed in the technology of the present (see fig. 2), are inspired by Jamie and Darby - a young married couple who listen only to vinyl ("It's just like my record collection...except mine are cd's" - Josh looking at Jamie's record collection). It is ironic that the older couple are the ones so deeply immersed in technology, and rediscover the power of human connection in the younger couple who avoid technology.


 Soundtrack plays a significant role in accentuating this idea. The film opens with a nursery-esque cover of David Bowie's "Golden Years" by LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, accompanied by a shot of a baby. Without lyrics, the relevance of the song is only prevalent to viewers who know the original song - most likely of the older generation, as "Golden Years" was released in Bowie's album "Station to Station" in 1976. The idea of golden years runs throughout the film, as Josh faces a mid-life crisis and must accept his inability to be ultimately successful and memorable forever. The film closes with a shot of a baby using a smartphone, and the couple's shocked reaction (see fig. 1). 

 As a whole, sound features as a linking element to the themes of the film. Music is used to portray the irony of the reversal between couples of what is expected in terms of technology, both physically while the contrast between cd's and records is noted, and metaphorically when the diegesis of the film encapsulates Josh and Cordelia's transitioning attitude towards life through physically transitioning the soundscape from diegetic to non-diegetic and vice versa.  

fig. 3: Jamie and Darby

Works Cited:

Corrigan, Tim and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Boston: St Martins, 2012. Print.

While We're Young. Dir. Noah Baumbach. Scott Rudin Productions, 2014. Film.

Corban Goble, "James Murphy's While We're Young Soundtrack Release Detailed, Features David Bowie Cover." Pitchfork. February 6 2015. Web. Accessed 21/04/16.

Mistress America: Irony of Narrative Within a Narrative

Baumbach's 2015 film Mistress America is an enthralling (yet subtle) example of self-discovery, and is ironic in its consideration of a narrative revolving around narrative and the effects of story-writing. The film, which has been described as “knowingly erudite in a way that a certain bracket of American cinema is unashamed to be” (Jonathan Romney, “Mistress America review – a bracing, peppery tone”), follows the self-discovery of the two main characters, Tracy and Brooke (Lola Kirke and Greta Gerwig), through narrative style and character function. 

Tracy's story based on Brooke being read in Mistress America

It is almost uncanny how palpable the following quote from Corrigan and White is to the irony of narrative in Mistress America: "A visual narrative shows the appearance of characters more concretely than a literary one, while a literary narrative is able to present characters' thoughts more seamlessly than a visual narrative. A film narrative commonly draws from and combines these and other narrative traditions, and attending to how a particular film narrative might employ or emphasize the formulas or strategies of, say, oral narratives or operatic narratives illustrates the broad and complex history of storytelling embedded in cinematic form" (218). Mistress America makes for a brilliant narrative as it revolves around a young woman (Tracy) studying English who forms a relationship with her soon-to-be step-sister (Brooke) - the sort of flawed hero archetype that at first appears to be brilliant and unscathed but has many flaws and complexities. Tracy is inspired to write a story about Brooke as she is the sort of glowing character in a narrative that the protagonist aspires to be like, and faces the consequences of using her life as a narrative whilst the narrative of the film simultaneously unfolds. 

Each character in Mistress America serves a particular function in the narrative of the film. Brooke, the seemingly put-together New Yorker whom Tracy grows to idolise, is in reality searching for her own place in the world just as much as Tracy. The two characters develop during the narrative as they come to terms with aspects of themselves. As mentioned by Corrigan and White, "...film characters usually change over the course of a realist film and thus require us to evaluate and revise our understanding of them as they develop. In a conventional story, characters are often understood or measured by the degree to which they change and learn from their experiences. Both the changes and character's reaction to them determine much about the character and the narrative as a whole. We follow characters through this process of character development, the patterns through which characters move from on mental, physical, or social state to another in a particular film" (229-230). What is captivating about this film is its ability to serve the function of a conventional narrative through its character development progressing with the use of narrative as a thematic device. The above video is an example of how narrative is foreshadowed - Brooke talks of her friend who is "...one of those people who doesn't have any good ideas for her own life so she just steals all of mine" - which is indirectly what Tracy then goes on to do when she bases her short story around Brooke. 

Works Cited:

Corrigan, Tim and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Boston: St Martins, 2012. Print.

Jonathan Romney, "Mistress America review - a bracing, peppery tone", The Guardian. 16 August 2015. Web. Accessed on 14/04/16

Mistress America. Dir. Noah Baumbach. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2015. Film.

Frances Ha: Cinematography and the Lesser Known Actor.

Frances Ha, Baumbach’s 2012 film following a young woman (Greta Gerwig as Frances) discovering aspects of herself, is a relaxing accumulation of cinematography that contours and generates meaning. The film’s colour contributes to the perception of its classic, stripped back ideas, while the status of Gerwig as an independent actress as opposed to a Hollywood star gives the film the power of familiarity.

Greta Gerwig and Mickey Sumner as Frances and Sophie in Frances Ha

Baumbach pays homage to classic Woody Allen films and French new wave cinema, at the very least, by shooting Frances Ha in black and white ("Frances Ha - Review", Philip French). Colour may be an eliminating factor in cinematography in that it directs attention away from the surrounding world and to the dialogue, in a similar stream as to how a deaf person might perceive more meaning in the dialogue of a film than one with sight. It may be plausible to conclude that much of the film's relaxed and seamless energy stems from its cinematography - as Corrigan and White say, "colour profoundly affects our experience and understanding of a film shot; even black-and-white films use contrast and gradations to create atmosphere or emphasize certain motifs...No longer a necessity, the black-and-white format is used self-consciously in...modern films" (114).  

What remains to me the most fascinating aspect of this film is the driving energy - Greta Gerwig. Her performance is undoubtedly naturalistic and organic, and compliments Baumbach's style of casual dialogue or under-acting. She has been described by co-star Mickey Sumner as "one of those queens". Sumner then describes what it was like to work with her, saying "I just feel like she has this regal-ness to her. It was very easy. People keep asking me, "How did I prepare to be her best friend?" It's like, "Just meet Greta Gerwig. That's how I prepared." You want to be around her, and you want to share things with her, and you want to be in the same space as her." Gerwig fuels the film with her honest performance, defying Corrigan and White's position on Hollywood stars: "Unlike less famous actors, star performers centre and often dominate the action and space of the mise-en-scéne, [and] bring the accumulated history and significance of their past performances to each new film appearance...We understand these characters as an extension of or departure from other characters associated with the star" (76). In the case of Frances Ha  it is quite the contrary - Greta may be associated with previous works of Baumbach's (Greenberg, 2010) but the totality of the connection she forms with an audience stems mostly from her natural appeal and reliability as an ordinary person. 

To conclude, colour as an aspect of cinematography and the choice of actor has an impacting effect on the film's overall meaning. Frances Ha is an episode of beauty, carefully constructed with a strong propelling central figure who has her life together as much as the next person in their twenties, with a classic touch in its lack of colour. Traditional boundaries may be defied upon choosing a lesser known actor to play a central role in a film, as Baumbach demonstrates thoroughly.

Frances Ha (all 3 figs.)

Works Cited

Corrigan, Tim and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Boston: St Martins, 2012. Print.

Philip French, "Frances Ha - review". The Guardian. 18 July 2013. Web. Accessed on 14/04/16.

Sheila Roberts, "Mickey Sumner talks FRANCES HA, Working with Director Noah Baumbach, Shooting in New York City, THE BORGIAS, CBGB, and More." 14 May 2013. Web. Accessed on 19/04/16.

Frances Ha. Dir. Noah Baumbach. Pine District Pictures, 2012. Film.

Greenberg. Dir. Noah Baumbach. Scott Rudin Productions, 2010. Film.