Sound

Lesson Objective: To be able to show an understanding of how sound is used to create meaning.

Lesson Outcome
ALL: Will be able to explain the purpose of one sound technique. E

MOST: Will be able to identify and explain the purpose of 2-4 sound techniques.C

SOME:  Will be able to use media language effectively to explain purpose of 5 or more different sound techniques. A

Sound

Sound is a very important generic convention when making a film, the use or non use of sound is able to enhance on how the audience interpret certain ideas and distribute emotions. Sound can give a different meaning to a scene or explain what action can not.

Sound Code:

Music is a sound code. The type of music in a text can convey a great deal of information, about the mood and tone of text, such as tension and emotions can be helped by the music.

à Psycho – (Shower scene):  High pitch instrumental, slightly eerie, yet calm to build suspense for future scenes. Follows, immediate shower scene, where the sudden screeching noise arises, symbolising potential danger, death. Constant deep rhythmic beat with the use of particular instruments such as cello and base to create this.

Diegetic Sound:

Music or sound that belongs with the frame and what you would expect to hear following the narration or action in that scene. For example a door being opened may consist of the door creaking.

 à Kidulthood- (Off licence scene): Bottles being brought to pay point, clanging together as placed down, when bottle is thrown, smashing noise against walls. When leaving store throwing down the card holders, shouting and swearing between two characters. When exiting the shop onto high road, noise from cars and traffic.

Non Diegetic Sound:

Sound or music that  has been edited into the frame after the scene has been created.Usually to emphasise, exaggerate or make louder on what would have been a diegetic sound.

à X- men evolution ( Fighting scene ) : When fighting, punches and kicks have been enhanced to exaggerate the fighting.  The sound track itself of the opera music is laid out throughout the whole scene as back ground music for dramatic effect.

Rhythm:

Rhythm of the music can dictate the rhythm of cuts, such as in the fight scenes to create tension.

à Charlie’s Angels (Fighting scene) – consistent rhythmic beat of both music and footsteps keep up the suspense throughout the scene. The beat picks up as the scene develops to the actual fighting, making it demanding  with a quicker pace sound , this in turn is able to draw the audience to the excitement and thrill of the scene.

Silence:
When a scene is edited so that no sound is displayed. Silence  is able to create tension and suspense or even dramatic effect.

à Crash ( little girl gets shot Scene) - Although when the little girl is shot music is played their cries and screams are in silence this is extremely dramatic as the audience is able to focus on the expression of their faces rather then the noise they make.

 Voice Over Narration:

When dialogue is added on in the editing stage and is usually used to explain things that have already happen or will happen throughout the narrative.
 

à Stand By Me (Opening scene) : There is a narrative of a character who explains at the beginning of the scene his journey, description of his friends and how  his life was when he was 12 years old.

Sound Bridge:

This uses sound to link two scenes, by having the picture and the diegetic sound change at different points. Usually the sound from the second scene is heard before we start to see the picture from that scene.
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Parallel sound:
 
When the sound and the image complement each other so the action and sound display similar aspects.

à Scar Face Ending: Images of a shooting and the sound emerging together creating in the audience being able to relate and feel a sense of realisation because the scene is so life like and poses all the factors both in sound and image to create a good fight scene.

Contrapuntal Sound:
 
The sound and image do not complement each other, for example happy music playing over a sad scene.

à Clockwork Orange:  Clowns joyfully singing show tunes, while attempting to rape and burgle the homeowner, the sounds from the music did not match the scene.

Relation To My Own Thriller Film :

Sound is important when applying it to my own thriller opening.  It participates with other elements to make up a thriller. For example different music themes produce a different mood and feel for thriller films. Such as, jumpy and quite eerie music which are played in each scene can produce different moods and settings for thriller films. Another sound element which is very classic is high pitched sounds ( as those found in the  famous thriller Psycho) /orchestral stabs or screeches.This adds suspense and horror/thriller to the film to give it its thrilling genre. Other sound elements which are used to give the films their thrilling genres are; diegetic, and non-diegetic sounds, synchronous/asynchronous sounds and ambient sounds. These all satisfy what we would connote with a thriller genre. This soundtrack on youtube demonstrates many of these sounds i have just mentioned. This is a good base to think about my own sounds.