PART I: The Music

1. List the straight diegetic examples.
2. List the straight nondiegetic examples.
3. List the ambiguous or problematic examples.

"Would You"

1. How do the filmmakers use visual cues to make sure we understand this sequence as always being diegetic?
2. Think about the song’s expressive function. Does it seem spontaneous? How does this affect our sense of whether the song is "realistic" or not?

"You Were Meant for Me"

1. What is the function of this song at this point? Where does the music in this scene start? Is it clearly diegetic or not? When does the position of the music in this scene become ambiguous? Why?
2. Who hears what? Do you think Kathy hears the orchestral music? Does Kathy hear Don singing or speaking? Do you think this scene could be set up to make it clear that Kathy is hearing a performance of a song that is also a declaration of love? How?
3. How does Don’s handling of the visual aspects of this scene make it seem more "realistic?" In other words, what illusion is Don revealing as mere fabrication? How does this "stripping away" make Don’s declarations of love seem more sincere?

PART II: Speech

One

1. Speaking from the point of view of the characters in the film, what is the biggest "sound problem" in the film?
2. Why is it a problem? (Focus on the cultural or social/class associations.)
3. How is the problem dealt with in the film? Are we, as spectators outside the film, supposed to be aware of the trickery used to deal with the problem of the disparity between sound and image? What about the spectators in the film?

Two

1. What is the disparity here between what we hear being said and what we see?
2. Where is the truth? How do we know? Why don’t we question the truth of the images?
3. How is the problem of truth in this scene different from the one in the "Would You" sequence?

PART III: Public v. Private

Speaking

1. Who gets to speak publicly in the film? When they speak, whom do they represent? Who is represented as speaking publicly but actually is not?
2. Is there a gender divide?

Singing

1. Who gets to sing complete songs in the movie? Who does not?
2. Who sings solos? Who does not?
3. Are there any songs that are made problematic, i.e. with which other characters interfere either visually or vocally?
4. Think about the songs that are sung in public. Again, is there a gender divide?

Kathy

1. Who constructs Kathy’s public performances?
2. Does Kathy ever really express herself in song?
3. How does Kathy have a basically different relationship to the diegesis than the men?
4. Do you think that Kathy’s relationship to the diegesis might reflect more generally the different relationships of men and women to the public and private spheres in American culture during the 1950’s? How?