SOUND

Season 5 Episode 7

Summary- The chief announces he will award a solo surgery to one of the second year residents; they're all in a frenzy. Lexie and the other interns want to practice more procedures and so begin practicing them on corpses-and then themselves. Izzie comes face to face with the patient she stole a heart from for Denny, she can't take it and when Hahn find out about this threatens to bring it up to the ethics counsel but the chief refuses. This also puts a strain on her and Callie's relationship. Izzie begins to see (dead) Denny around the hospital and gets really freaked out. George is working with the latest technology to practise skill; a robot. Derek is annoyed Meredith spends so much time talking to Christina/Yang about her dead mother that he tries to get Sloan to sleep with Yang to distract her.

Good episode with brilliant developments for Izzie's storyline

Music is very important in Grey's anatomy and there is always at least 3 separate pieces of music in each episode that doesn't include the Grey's Anatomy motif. Grey's Anatomy has become known for creating hysteria about certain songs and new bands and has helped launched the career of The Fray who's song 'how to save a life' was featured on the trailer for season 2. Another song that became internationally recognised after it was played at the end of an episode was 'Chasing Car's by Snow Patrol. This just shows what a big influence television has on all aspects of our lives.

The Grey's Anatomy motif is a sang called 'Cosy in a Rocket' by Psapp. It was the theme tune to the opening credits for the first two seasons but has now become permanent and repeated at least 3 times an episode. The motif is used in different ways. For instances when someone finds out something interesting the motif plays a couple of seconds then. Also when a character realises something the motif plays with an added 'ping' to show the quick thinking and realisation. Another key sound thing for Grey's is that there is a narrator at the beginning and end of every episode. Usually this is Meredith, but there have been the odd episode where it's someone else such as Miranda Bailey. Music in Grey's often reflects the mood, either of the characters individually or as a whole, or sometimes of the patients.

1.) The Opening- Non-Diegetic music with a funky beat plays to start. Meredith's voice over says "the one thing you can count on in life is death". This establishes the theme for this episode, establishes the tone of what's to come (it is repeated often throughout the episode such as when yang says "you smell like death"). You would think this apparent as they are surgeons working with sick patients. This is peculiar because the music then seems contrapuntal as it is uplifting and almost jazzy. The song continues while Meredith says more things about death such as "Surgeons cheat death" and "give death the finger". The music is perhaps symbolic of how Meredith is keeping Derek up by talking on the phone to Christina; the music is disruptive and unnecessarily upbeat. The music could also be relating to the fact that surgeons have to make light of death because they are around it so much. The music stops immediately a completely non-related scene starts to show this more clearly, to separate the last scene and this one.

2.) Scene with Lexie - This is an example in which the sound used in the editing process to create an effect rather than a mood. Lexie walks down the corridor and the more she walks the more we can hear whispering which gradually gets louder and we can hear there are more than two people talking. The whispering is at it's loudest as she passes a door, and then there is a motivated cut to her looking through the door, and then a cutaway to what is behind the door; interns doing IVs on themselves for practise. The use of the whispering and walking down the corridor created suspense and tension: the audience wanted to know what is going on and what Lexie might find. The motivated cut shows us that she has found what is happening, but as the audience we still don't know what is actually behind the door, we can just see Lexie's face which isn't giving away that much other than she is shocked. Then the cutaway to the interns, we can here them talking quietly and can assume fairly accurately that it was them who were whispering.


3.) Sloan and Yang - The quick scene begins with the Grey's motif, but as Sloan flirts with Christina more and more the pace becomes quicker with a funky beat to it. This reminds me of a chase, like the chase for Sloan to bed Christina cause he doesn't want to lose face to Derek. The music is very passionate representing sex. However the music end with an abrupt 'boom boom' just before the scene ends which indicates it isn't going to happen between Yang and Sloan.


4.) Tense moments- A very tense moment between the chief and Dr. Hahn, the music needed to reflect this. The music and the dialogue were parallel; she was shouting and the music was an intense drone that got louder and louder as Erica (Hahn) got louder and angrier. Once she had left the room it faded down. This shows that Hahn was creating a problem that was unnecessary, as everything else was calm. The room was quiet before and after she left which shows the chief has dealt with the situation and cannot be changed. Another moment in which they used music during a tense moment was during a surgery when there are complications and things going really wrong they play a piece of music that sound like a heartbeat. In this clip they played the music when the guy wasn't breathing and everyone was frantic and demanding orders. The music got louder and louder until the guy started breathing again when it completely stopped but fitted in time with his own heart beat. The music helped to create a panicked effect and the quick cuts between doctors helped to emphasise this.

5. ) End - The narration comes back with Small snippets in between to calmly end the episode. Meredith says some more 'meaningful' phrases such as "we're born, we live, we die". The short scenes in between don't have dialogue, instead have a soundtrack over the top to calm down and wrap up the episode leaving it feeling fairly resolved. but the final shot of Izzie and Meredith saying "Only one thing can we be sure of...it ain't over 'til it's over" At this point Izzie is sitting with Denny and this indicates further development to this particular storyline.