Piece: William Thompson IV's War
By: Alan Hall
Year: 2006
Length: 27 Mins 34 Secs
The first thing you notice about this piece is the piano. It appears out of place of the story - it's unsettling, and low - there's no piano themes in Iraq. A bomb effect is played throughout the piece - it represents an explosion, which links with the dialogue straight away and sets the scene of the piece, you know it's going to be about war. This bomb effect is repeated throughout, to remind you - and also make it realistic, as bombs never stop going off when you're at war - I assume.
You also hear background noise from the radio, which once again makes it realistic - as it's how units tended to communicate at this time in the war.
One piece i like from this is when the dialogue says that you're 'free to listen', and the background is completely silent. It has a big effect, because it makes the audience relax and feel more involved in the piece, without taking it too far. The silence under the dialogue shows how important the script is - it needs to be clear for the audience to understand the piece.
The more of this you watch, you notice that the piece is about both THE war and HIS personal war, as you hear street sounds, birds, cars etc. - Which would not be heard in the war zone.
Overall, the sounds and the dialogue are both presented clearly, which means many soundscape tracks must have been used and edited with great detail & you are constantly reminded of the space he is talking about - by the repetition of the 'bomb' sounds.
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