The purpose of the sound diegetic (any sound, voice or piece of music that comes from within the world of the narrative) in the clip is to set the scene. You can hear the ticking of the clock and the police on the radios which builds the tension of the scene because you can pick up on the fact that there is a time limit of something and that there is police movement but they don't know where the car it. This suggests a crime thriller theme because of the police involvement and the suspense Ryan Gosling presents when he keeps anxiously looking out through the overhead mirror.
Because we know some information about the situation but not all of it, it makes us tense because we don't know the full story, therefore you anticipate something interesting will happen to create a climax. When the scene switches to the watch it shows that time is moving on and it's acting as an alarm - someone [the police] is aware of the robbery. The music gets louder and therefore the tension builds more because you can tell the time is running out.
You can establish the genre because of the tension and the police - that it's a crime thriller. This sets the tone to be tense and serious, but entertaining.
The ticking watch
(Analysing the effect that the various sound effect has on the clip)
The pitch, tone and and volume. The pitch of the ticking clock is quite low and repetitive through the whole buildup of suspense before the criminals get into the car. This low rhythmic noise sounds like a heartbeat ticking like a time bomb, so the suspense builds when you relate it to that because we relate a heartbeat beating fast with being tense and nervous. The volume of the watch gets louder when the camera is on it, showing that it is an important part of the scene. The watch's tone is a sharp and repetitive drone that continues through most of the scene, showing that it is a main factor of the scene and helps you to understand the storyline.
The police radio scanner
The police radio scanner plays at the same volume throughout the clip (the words are quite hard to hear) and you can pick up on certain parts of what is being said through the scanner to set the context for the film - we learn that the car is being searched for so it is obviously stolen, which tells me about the crime-thriller genre of the film. The pitch is quite high so it builds tension because it's distracting and you have to listen to what is being said because it's the only spoken dialogue at the start - it helps you to understand what the situation is. The tone is anticipation because you want to see if the driver gets caught.
The radio
The radio changes volume because of the driver turning it up and down to listen (1:06). This sound diegetic adds a sense of realism to the scene because everyone normally tunes into the radio when they're in the car on there own - so you feel drawn in because you can relate to the driver more. This builds tension because you know that something is going to happen to climax the scene and you think that something's going to happen because listening to the radio seems too normal. The pitch of the radio is fairly monotone so it isn't the most interesting noise, but the words you pick up on are [interesting] because it helps set the scene of the crime that is actually taking place and you establish the scenario. I think the tone is interesting because it is quite crackly and hard to understand what it says word for word.
Environmental sound
Using the environmental sounds (alarm, traffic, car engine, police siren) helps to distinguish a normality in the scene - making it realistic and therefore drawing you in because it's sounds that you recognize. The volume of these sounds are quite low because they are in the background and because the scene is set in the car the noises are muffled to make it more believable. The alarm and police sirens suggests the area that the scene is set in has got danger and criminals - and could be foreshadowing the car chase later on. In addition the alarms and sirens intimidate the audience because they are associated with danger, and you are uneasy when you see how the driver is unaffected by the noises; again suggesting he is a criminal because he is keeping his cool (you can still see a glisten of concern in his eyes at 1:27 however). The pitch of the sirens are high and ear-piercing slightly, building the suspense that the police could appear any second. The tone is suspenseful because you are on edge, waiting for the climax.
Overall, the sounds blend together to create a suspenseful, engaging scene. The way the continuous drum of the non-diegetic beat builds up in the background represents your heartbeat as all the other sounds come together to form a realistic crime thriller scene. The blend of tones, pitches and volumes draw you in because you listen for each thing that gets louder, for instance you're listening to the ticking watch, then the police radio and then the car alarms; you end up piecing together the different sound elements to work out the structure and idea of the scene. If there was no sound elements in the scene, it wouldn't be engaging or climatic because there would be no sounds to draw you in and engage/learn about the characters and their situations.
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