Learning about Sound

Different types of Sound

             We are learning in lessons about all the different types of sound that is heard in movies. This sound comes in many varieties. 

Sound can be either:

• Diegetic - that is, it exists within the film
• Non-Diegetic - that is, it emerges from outside the world of the film, e.g. a film soundtrack.

Diegetic sound (Diegesis is the Greek term for world) is any sound we would expect to hear if we were part of the 'narrative world'. 

Diegetic sound can be divided into: 

• Dialogue - Speech
• Sound Effects - footsteps, doors opening and closing, gun shots etc
• Ambient Sound - Background noise, distant chatter, wind, traffic etc

Non-Diegetic sound is the sound which has been added to support the mood and atmosphere that the filmmaker is trying to convey. It is usually in the form of music, e.g. the ominous music that is heard whenever the shark approaches in Jaws. 

Contrapuntal sound contrasts/ juxtaposes the sound with the images on the screen, e.g. in the movie 'A Clockwork Orange' there is classical music and violence in the same shot. 

Film sound itself can be either:

• Synchronous- that is, caused by some event on screen so that sound matches the action
• Asynchronous- that is, separate from the visuals, such as a voiceover. 

Sound Bridge

A Sound Bridge connects two scenes and the music carries on from one scene into the other. This can start off as diegetic and then become non-diegetic or vice versa. 

There are four main areas of meaning that can be generated through sound (diegetic and non-diegetic) 

• Character, e.g. Jaws, James Bond
• Genre, e.g. thriller music
• Setting, e.g. An outdoor setting would have outdoor sounding things
• Narrative, e.g. Matilda, War of the Roses. 

The 'Kuleshov Effect' is where meaning is created through editing images together. For example, cutting to a young man looking at something, then cutting back to a mother and child, then cutting back to the man smiling gives the impression that he is a happy trustable family man. Whereas if the middle image was a girl sunbathing in a bikini the man goes from being a family man to a pervert. 

Sound and Character

Can establish how we as an audience can see a character. This can include: 

• Evil or Good
• Victim or Hero
• Characters regularly have a piece of music attached to them called a 'Character Theme'. 
• Can establish status as a character can be signalled by playing their theme when not on the screen
• Aural motifs (not music but repeated sounds), a characters state of mind could be conveyed through non-diegetic sound. 
• A sudden shift in the non-diegetic soundtrack of a film into a sequence of long-held, low chords could indicate peril for a character. 

Sound can let the audience know the genre of film. 

We looked at the sound used in a sequence from the movie "Hanna". There was a large amount of Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound. 

Diegetic Sounds in a sequence of Hanna

There were many diegetic sounds including doors opening and closing, echoing footsteps, speech, gunshots, glass breaking, running, vents, crying, panting, buttons being pressed, microphone feedback, panting, shouting, running, guns cocking and alarms. The part of the sequence with all the diegetic sounds in has been embedded at the end of this post. 

Non-Diegetic Sounds in Hanna

As Hanna is escaping a techno beat kicks in with her running, this showed the panic as she's being chased. The beat gets slower as she gets to an obstacle to show her concentration and then the beat gets faster when she gets through the obstacle. The beat gets louder and faster as she runs. The part of the sequence with the non-diegetic sound is also posted.