I chose the movie clip from “Back To the Future.” This movie is about a teenager Marty McFly, who accidently travels back in time where he encounters his parents who were teenagers at that time, and experiences many other adventures throughout the film. All through the movie his friend and scientist, Doc, who created the time travel machine, try to figure out how to make it back to the future. In this movie clip, McFly is showing Doc a video of Doc in the future, talking about how much gigawatts he needs for the time machine. It is in this clip that they figure out a way of how to generate that much power, through lightning, to be able to travel back to 1985.

There are many diegetic sounds throughout the clip, such as the television which Doc is talking from. There’s also the sounds of the TV rewinding, running, doors closing, the wrinkling of the newspaper, and McFly and Doc talking to each other. Additionally there are nondiegetic sounds. When McFly and Doc have the realization that a lightning bolt is what can help generate enough power for the machine, you hear instruments all of a sudden in the background, such as multiple violins. The music definitely adds to the emotion and mood of the audience. The music adds to the excitement of the scene, as well as filling you with anticipation and eagerness. The music helps you to see the gears in McFly’s and Doc’s brains working as they figure out more and more of their plan. The dynamics and tempo play a big role in the nondiegetic sounds, as it first starts out slow and low, then progressively gets faster and much louder when the realization of McFly being sent back to the future finally hits. If the music wasn’t there, the scene would definitely have lost a lot of its excitement, anticipation, and eagerness for the audience.