Moments - 06 - Violet Evergarden The Movie (Sound and Stillness)

Violet Evergarden the Movie is a film that I have been looking forward to watching for quite a while, and if you have read my prior articles on Violet Evergarden you may know just how highly I think of the show as a whole. Having watched it now, I am glad to know that it lived up to and surpassed my expectations for the standard of quality that it was able to reach. Calling back to many of the episodes that were present in the show, while developing the world, and characters in tandem.

There are two aspects of the film that I thought were a particular highlight, following the strength of the narrative, are the cinematography, and the sound design in the film. It was something that stood out right away while watching the film, and so wanted to take time to commend them as such attention to detail is rarely paid so much attention to in many pieces of media today. With framing that is mediocre, scenes that are at a rush to end at the earliest convenience without taking the time to end them organically, and sound design that is either actively lazy, or are taken from a selection of stock packets reused over and over. So seeing such attention to detail is something that is wonderful to see.

Let's start with the cinematography. It is wonderfully executed as there is purpose behind every frame. The frames that stood out to me the most are the ones where Violet is by herself, in complete isolation when the frame is still, and the surroundings are overwhelming her to the point that she looks smaller in comparison. Emphasising the loneliness she is feeling through visuals. While the argument could be made that such still moments that linger for extended periods of time could be cut for a more efficient run time, I would argue to the opposite as these extended moments allow the audience to marinate in the scene with the character and attempt to get into a similar mindset as the characters that are on screen. What it also does is that it allows the film to have moments that slow down the pace of the film so that they are able to space the various plot points accordingly to have the best possible impact when shown off. Preventing the film from suffering a blistering pace, or stagnate for extended periods of time.

The sound design in this film, if they are stock sounds I must say they are used fantastically, but I am quite certain that they are in fact bespoke for this particular film. Each turn of the screw, and the press on the typewriter sounded authentic to this film, and the world that has been created here. This goes on to elevate the immersion of the film as you are less likely to be distracted by a noise that was present elsewhere in another film. It also creates a sense of the film being quite intimate and hand crafted, as if the objects that are in the film are referenced from real material instead of it all being generated artificially. (Though I must say the wizardry that many visual effects artists are capable of today is quite amazing to behold.)

These are two aspects of the film that stood out to me and wanted to speak briefly about at this moment in time. At a future point when I have marinated on the film a little longer and find myself at a position where I am for more confident in talking about the narrative in a more objective manner I shall talk about moments I loved in the film that are related to plot and character.