For the films I have studied for this topic, sound plays an important role in contributing to the power of the narrative, as well as highlighting social issues of an urban story.
Within the films I have studied, the common narrative convention of the characters being trapped and restrained due to their surroundings is typical of an urban story, and is often supported technically through the use of sound. This can be seen in 'City of God', directed by Fernando Meirelles, in the beginning sequence, in which we see a close up shot of a knife being sharpened, then switching to an extreme close up when it it sharpened right at the point, then cutting back again, which is emphasised even further due to the fast editing. The diegetic sound of the blade is incorporated with the non-diegetic sound of up-beat Brazilian music, signifying how violence and weapons are a part of the culture in the favellas, which is supported through the various shots of instruments, such as the close up shot of the guitar. The technique of placing the non-diegetic sound at the beginning of the film, shown firstly with a black screen to make the viewer solely focus on the noise, also sets the tone for the remainder of the narrative, suggesting that violence is un avoidable within their urban environment. The juxtaposition of the harsh sound of the knife and the up-beat festival like music shows the constant reminder of violence even within a positive party like atmosphere, shown through the close-up shots of various brazilians laughing and singing. The use of sound within this scene contributes to the narrative through representing how the inhabitants are forced to live on the edge due to their urban environment, and how they are subsequently trapped because of this. This is similar to 'La Haine', directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, which is placed within a time period of 24 hours, constantly reminded to the viewer through the use of a shot of a digital clock counting down throughout the film, which is emphasised even more so through the juxtaposition between the white colour of the time shown on a black background. The non-diegetic sound of what resembles a ticking bomb used along side the theme of time symbolises how something inevitable is going to happen, with the constant change of time, for example '14:21' to '6:01', it represents how they don't have a choice, and choices are made for them due to the restrain-ments of their urban environment of the projects.
