Hanna: Sound Analysis

At the start of the sequence we don’t hear much apart from a slight buzzing noise, the lady talking and Hanna crying. Since Hanna is crying in this scene we think immediately that she is an innocent girl and the people that had put her into this type of prison are cruel. These are the only diegetic sounds we hear until Hanna breaks the ladies neck of which the sound is emphasised greatly to have more of an effect on the audience of what this girl has done. After this we hear a series of loud diegetic shots being fired, things breaking/shattering, strong siren alarms going off as well as non-diegetic techno music starting. At this point we know that Hanna is no longer the innocent girl we thought she was a few seconds ago and because of the tempo in the music we know that now she is on the run. Hanna’s breathing is amplified greatly empathizing the fact that she is in a panic, basically running for her freedom, desperately trying to find her way out.

When Hanna gets into the medical lab, the non-diegetic music stops suggesting to us that she must be in hiding, as soon as she is spotted the music started again telling the audience straight away that she is still in control of the situation but this time when the music starts its more upbeat making us feel more hope for Hanna and hinting that now she has a better chance at escaping. As soon as Hanna opens the latch to her freedom, her breathing becomes quieter, free from the panic that it used to have, the music stops and we hear mostly silence apart from a little wind, telling the audience that Hanna has successfully escaped and also the end of that action sequence in the film.