Posted at May 21, 2020
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Sound Analysis)

I hear a score and overture with someone yelling out “TOM!”. Afterwards it sounds like somebody crashed in a pool with a string quartet in the melody for the score as if someone is walking home. This continues for a little while and then slows down and smooths its way into a harp melody. This is much of the sound of the film in the beginning. The score speeds up with watery sounds and then hearing the sound of an old woman and a young boy in a house or cottage. It seems that the film is set in the countryside. Tom is ordered upstairs but it sounds like he sneaks out upsetting his Aunt Polly and one of his friends. Polly then makes Tom paint the fence with Tom angered and hits one of his peers because of it. It sounds like he tricks other kids into painting the fence while frogs ribbet. Polly is fooled into believing Tom did all of the work. He runs into a girl named Amy who has something for Tom. Tom receives news that the new judge has just moved in. Tom tricks Amy into believing that she still has chickenpox and she runs back in her house. The scene moves into an underlying score for the film until coming to an abrupt crescendo. 

Afterwards, someone taunts Tom for having a girl. Tom runs to his aunt and something is thrown through a window. Tom offers one of his friends to buy their frog back. The scene shifts to the judge. A kid named Sydney is two tickets short for purchasing a bible. I assume Tom stole them. Tom volunteers that he has enough tickets for his reward, however. The judge asks Tom the names of the first two disciples. Tom pauses and then gets prompted by his Aunt only for him to respond, “Adam & Eve”. The scene shifts to a school with children singing and a teacher calls Tom out and asks why he is late again. Tom wanted to talk to Huck Finn and the teacher tells him to sit with the girls. As class begins, a frog ribbets with the teacher writing on the chalkboard. Tom whispers to another classmate only to be interrupted by the teacher, who finds an inappropriate drawing of some kind. The teacher demands to know who drew the drawing. The teacher wants Rebecca Thatcher to come up until Tom confesses and comes to the front of the class. The teacher swings a ruler or switch at Tom and hits him with it as Tom sits back down and the teacher continues the lesson. The music grows somber in its tone. Tom asks himself how he could be so noble and is approached by Becky as they start talking about chewing gum and marriage. 

In the real story, Tom swings on a rope and into the water, after his Aunt yells for him. The opening credits then begin to roll. Afterwards, we see a countryside where two boys get off a moving wagon and then moving into a house with Aunt Polly. Tom comes in and they say grace. His Aunt finds out that Tom played hooky from school and was out swimming ordering him upstairs to be punished. To simply escapes out through the window, only to later be caught by his Aunt again to paint the fence. One of his friends mocks Tom and Tom splats paint over him. One of the other kids offers to whitewash for Tom and when the children are finished, Tom fools his Aunt into thinking he painted the fence. He then runs into a girl named Amy and they both see a judge move in with his daughter that Tom takes a liking to. Tom attempts to get her attention and even attempts to balance a quill on the tip of his nose. One of his friends taunts him for it, as well. 

At school the teacher finds a disrespectful doodle of himself and Tom confesses to it. The rest of the twenty-five minutes is pretty much what I wrote previously. 

 

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