The Crop Duster Scene

The inclusion of the crop duster scene in a classic film analysis that focuses on musical score might seem surprising and utterly redundant but worry not! This famous scene is widely known for not having any music in it, and it is for that very reason that it is to be analyzed.

Let's talk about balancing the score. For The Conversation, Walter Murch opted for minimal use of musical scoring, which is to be appreciated mainly because the intensity and duration of David Shire's solo piano-driven score suits the film perfectly. In North by Northwest, the obviously strong and appropriately composed score is used and omitted sufficiently through the scenes of the film. The crop duster scene is the perfect example where music is omitted, and effectively so. Alfred Hitchcock left the entire sequence devoid of music and with very minimal dialogue, the result of which is a phenominal, memorable, suspense-filled, edge-of-the-seat movie experience.