Mise en scene, cinematography, sound and especially the editing all play key roles in the development of the story.

The sound throughout the film is sharp, and often heightened to an almost unbearable pitch. This takes the audience out of their comfort zone and places them firmly on the edge of their seats. The musical score consists of eerie classical music, which is usually associated with dramatic scenes in horror movies. The score also comprises of a continuous droning sound and buzzing noise from the broken lights, which are uncomfortable to listen to. From the very beginning of the film, the unsettling music seems to be

The use of fast and slow motion also adds new dimensions to a scene. Fast motion can be seen in the party scene, when Sara is frantically cleaning her house and when Harry is alone in the apartment. It is used when the details of a particular scene are not necessarily important, but when the overall action within the scene needs to be acknowledged by the audience. In Sara’s case, the viewer needs to see that she is becoming increasingly more energetic as a result of the diet pills. In the case of the party, the fast motion shows how insignificant other people are to the three friends, as they are so withdrawn into their own lives.

The sound of a brewing storm is heard just before Marion has sex with Arnold for money. The threatening sound of thunder foresees the dramatic climax of the film. When Harry and Tyrone experience agonizing withdrawal symptoms in jail, their pain is amplified by the throbbing sound of a saw. The dialogue between characters is also used to add to the suspense of the film. Another sound, which seems out of place at the time but makes sense toward the end, is the sound of children playing while Tyrone and his girlfriend are having sex. Throughout the film there are hints that Tyrone had a serious tragedy in his past, or perhaps something happened to his mother that has he has not accepted. The memory of his childhood seems to haunt him and the sound of the children playing, while he is having sex shows that his mind is not at ease.

Towards the end of the film, Harry has a drug-induced hallucination in which he is running on a pier towards his girlfriend, Marion. He is shouting her name but the audience is only able to hear the sound of his footsteps. This represents the lack of communication in their relationship towards the end of the film. When we see Sara stepping off the scale during her second trip to the hospital, nothing can be heard but an eerie, hollow sound. This allows the audience to experience the emptiness and loneliness that Sara feels without her family, and without the doctor’s attention.

Other ECUs occur mainly with Sara, because her hyperactive mind and body becomes sensitive to everything. As one can see in the transcript, Aronofsky uses ECUs in almost every shot of this sequence. Every one of Sara’s actions is enlarged so that the audience becomes completely engrossed in the ‘pill-popping’ process. ECUs are used when Marion applies makeup. It seems completely out of character for her, as she never wears makeup around Harry. When she wears heavy makeup the audience knows that she is about to prostitute herself. She hides behind the ‘mask’ to hide her true, and good identity.

Some topics in this essay:
Marion Harry, Sara Goldfarb, Tappy Tibbons, Requiem Dream, VCU Sara, Fall Winter, Harry Tyrone, Marion Arnold, Sara Sara’s, ECUs Marion, throughout film, fast motion, screen split, towards film, slow motion, screen split vertically, diet pills, motion seen, fish-eye lens, mise en, aspect film, sound children playing,