II. Plot
Separated by an electric fence, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” tells the story of Bruno, the son of a concentration camp commander, and his friendship with a Jewish boy Shmuel. After moving to a house near a camp ran by his father, away from all his friends, Bruno decides sneak out of the house and explore the areas around it. When Bruno stumbled upon Shmuel sitting by himself behind an electric fence, the two boys immediately became friends. However, their worlds intertwined with WWII, leads to a tragic ending.
III. Overview of the Score
The score composed by James Horner utilises both previously composed work that fits the setting of the movie, and also original score composed to give the movie an edge for originality. In his …show more content…
For example, he used classical music and swing jazz in the beginning of the film (00:01:00 & 00:05:00) to set the time and setting of the movie. However, he also uses a large orchestra introduce the audience to the tone of the movie, for example, in the beginning of the movie where the scene shows Bruno departing from Berlin, Horner uses the theme of the movie “Boys playing with Airplanes” to set the tone of naivety and innocence to Bruno’s adventure (00:10:30).In addition to using an orchestra, Horner also uses just the grand piano. In scenes like 00:07:00, Bruno’s father walks down the stairs with a diegetic piano in the background. Furthermore, in scenes like 01:00:28, a piano is heard in an non-diegetic way to create the atmosphere needed for the …show more content…
The strings began to play in a high note at 01:21:38 when Bruno climbed under the fence into the concentration camp. At 01:22:07, the lower notes begin to harmonise with the higher notes to further increase the tension of danger within the scene. At 01:23:27, the piano joins in to create more tension. During the buildup of Bruno and Shmuel being marched off into the gas chambers, while Bruno’s parents ran to find him. The orchestra played in a slow tune, moving from note to note in a swinging rhythm. At 01:25:41 when the boys were in the gas chamber and was told to strip, the music increases its tempo between each note, now playing in short intervals to build up to the climax. At 01:27:25, the boys along with other prisoners started being gassed. During this time the strings held a long high note to signal the peak of the movie since the parents is running into realisation that Bruno had been gassed. At 01:27:48, the music dropped off suddenly, to show the silence that filled the gas chamber which infers that everyone had died. As the movie draws to a close, the camera pans from the gas chamber to show all the clothes worn by the prisoners. The strings were once again reintroduced in this scene, playing low notes in long sweeping rhythm to create a sense of regret amongst the audience. I find the buildup of the music to be particularly effective in this scene, because the
Separated by an electric fence, “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” tells the story of Bruno, the son of a concentration camp commander, and his friendship with a Jewish boy Shmuel. After moving to a house near a camp ran by his father, away from all his friends, Bruno decides sneak out of the house and explore the areas around it. When Bruno stumbled upon Shmuel sitting by himself behind an electric fence, the two boys immediately became friends. However, their worlds intertwined with WWII, leads to a tragic ending.
III. Overview of the Score
The score composed by James Horner utilises both previously composed work that fits the setting of the movie, and also original score composed to give the movie an edge for originality. In his …show more content…
For example, he used classical music and swing jazz in the beginning of the film (00:01:00 & 00:05:00) to set the time and setting of the movie. However, he also uses a large orchestra introduce the audience to the tone of the movie, for example, in the beginning of the movie where the scene shows Bruno departing from Berlin, Horner uses the theme of the movie “Boys playing with Airplanes” to set the tone of naivety and innocence to Bruno’s adventure (00:10:30).In addition to using an orchestra, Horner also uses just the grand piano. In scenes like 00:07:00, Bruno’s father walks down the stairs with a diegetic piano in the background. Furthermore, in scenes like 01:00:28, a piano is heard in an non-diegetic way to create the atmosphere needed for the …show more content…
The strings began to play in a high note at 01:21:38 when Bruno climbed under the fence into the concentration camp. At 01:22:07, the lower notes begin to harmonise with the higher notes to further increase the tension of danger within the scene. At 01:23:27, the piano joins in to create more tension. During the buildup of Bruno and Shmuel being marched off into the gas chambers, while Bruno’s parents ran to find him. The orchestra played in a slow tune, moving from note to note in a swinging rhythm. At 01:25:41 when the boys were in the gas chamber and was told to strip, the music increases its tempo between each note, now playing in short intervals to build up to the climax. At 01:27:25, the boys along with other prisoners started being gassed. During this time the strings held a long high note to signal the peak of the movie since the parents is running into realisation that Bruno had been gassed. At 01:27:48, the music dropped off suddenly, to show the silence that filled the gas chamber which infers that everyone had died. As the movie draws to a close, the camera pans from the gas chamber to show all the clothes worn by the prisoners. The strings were once again reintroduced in this scene, playing low notes in long sweeping rhythm to create a sense of regret amongst the audience. I find the buildup of the music to be particularly effective in this scene, because the