Film Sound

1
Film Sound

• Chapter 8
• Sound Effects and Dialogue

2
3D Sound in Film

• Citizen Kane
• Considered the first modern sound film due to
  influence of Orson Wells and his background in
  radio.
• Varied sound quality
• Volume, clarity, reverberation and tonal
  qualities
• Changed position of sound effects relative to the
  camera.
• Development of Cinerama and six-track
  stereophonic sound.
• 1950s Cinerama Developed followed by Cinemascope

3
3D Sound in Film

• Dolby Sound was developed in the 70s and
  continues to be refined.
• Achieves a 360 degree sound environment.
• Clockwork Orange was the first film to use
  Dolby-NR
• SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) introduced in
  1990s supports 7.1 surround sound environment.
• Uses both edges of the film track. With redundant
  optical track.

4
Diegetic Sound vs. Non-Diegetic Sound

• Diegetic Sound is sound that has a source within
  the story world of the film.
• Dialogue, Sounds made by objects seen in the
  story world, and music created by instruments
  within the story world.
• Non-Diegetic sound is represented as coming from
  outside of the story world.
• Omniscient Narrator or Music added to heighten
  the emotional impact of the story,

5
Notice how the filmmaker (Brooks) fools the
audience by flipping from apparent non-diegetic
to diegetic sound in the middle of this clip from
Blazing Saddles
6
Layered Sound

• Contemporary Films today use layered sound to
  achieve a realistic depth in the sound
  environment.
• Sound can actively shape how we perceive and
  interpret the image. Its ability to connect
  emotionally is often very powerful
• Film sound can direct our attention to a specific
  event.
• A creaking floor or the slow, squeaky turn of a
  door knob.
• Sound can cue us to form expectations.
• A siren approaching, Footsteps on a path
• Sound can give new value to silence.
• Clarice in the Darkness being stalked by Hannibal
  Lecter

7
The Sound Mix

• Dialogue
• ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement Dubbing)
• Foley

• Original Music
• Soundtrack (diegetic and non-diegetic)
• Sound effects

8
The Four Dimensions of Film Sound

• Rhythm
• Fidelity
• Space
• Time

9
Rhythm in Film Sound

• Because sound occupies a duration, it has a
  Rhythm.
• Rhythm involves, minimally 1. A beat, or pulse
  2. A tempo, or pace 3. A pattern of accents,
  or stronger and weaker beats.

10
Notice the rhythm of music in the following
scene. What kind of feelings does it convey or
provoke? How would you describe the rhythm?
11
Now listen to this next scene. Again, notice the
rhythm of the music. How are the feelings evoked
different than those of the previous scene? How
would you describe this rhythm?
12
Fidelity

• Fidelity refers to the extent to which the sound
  is faithful to the source as we conceive it.
• Fidelity has nothing to do with what originally
  made the sound in production.
• Fidelity is purely a matter of expectation.
• Fidelity can be applied to all three types of
  sound (Speech, Music, and Sound Fx)

13
Sound Space

• Sound has a spatial dimension because it comes
  from a source.
• Sound creates the sense of space or a
  three-dimensional environment through the use of
  Diegetic and Nondiegetic sound.

14
Notice how the Diegetic Sound that happens within
this clip from Cold Mountain helps to shape the
space
15
Sound Time

• Sound takes place in time and can be used to
  manipulate time or represent time in a variety of
  ways.
• Simultaneous sound is sound that takes place at
  the same time as the image in terms of story
  events (most sounds fall into this category)
• Non-simultaneous sound describes sound that we
  hear at the same time as the present image, but
  that represents a moment from the past or from
  the future.

16
Notice how the voice-over dialogue in this
sequence of scenes from The English Patient
originates in one time frame (the present), while
the images show another time frame (the past).
17
Special Effects in Sound

• Using sound to tell the inner story
• To reinforce the emotional struggle of the
  character
• Pile Driver and mechanical waterfront sounds to
  support the inner struggle that Terry Malloy
  faces in confession of a murder.
• Distortion of Sound Subjective POV
• Sound reflect the inner psychosis of a character.
• Slow-Motion Sound
• The power of a single punch in Raging Bull.

18
Texture in Dialogue

• Robert Altman is most noted for his use of
  layered dialogue in films like MASH,
  Nashville, and Gosford Park.
• Layered dialogue appears more natural
• Blending of ambient sounds with dialogue
• Altman weaves visual and aural elements together
  into a equal blend that creates a unique texture
  in film.

19
Listen to the layers of dialogue and ambient
sound that are blended together in this clip from
Robert Altmans Gosford Park
20
The Sound Bridge

• A split edit essentially bridges two shots with
  sound.
• the audio track transitions at a different time
  than the video.
• The sound from the first of the two clips may
  continue several seconds after the visual
  transition has taken place, or the sound from the
  second clip may begin several seconds before the
  visual transition takes place. In either case,
  sound is used to bridge the two shots. 

21
Sound Bridge Audio Leads Video 

• In this scene, a Vietnam veteran opens up to a
  friend about the war.
• The scene is a two-shot of the two men.
• As the vet recounts what the nights were like in
  the jungle, the shot zooms to a close-up of his
  face. Sweat is visible on his brow and upper lip.
  
• As we see him talk, we begin to hear the sound of
  machine gun fire, mortars, people yelling and
  loud explosions. (Sound Bridge)
• As we see him talk, we hear what his mind hears
  and slowly, the video dissolves to a war scene
  and we are inside his head, experiencing the
  terror and chaos of war. 

22
Sound Bridge Video Leads Audio

• Again the two men talk about the war. We see the
  anguished face of the Vietnam vet as he begins to
  tell his story.
• The video slowly dissolves to a black-and-white
  shot of a platoon of men, including the vet
  himself, as they come under fire in the jungle.
  We see the war, but continue to hear the vet as
  he describes what he remembers. (Sound Bridge)
• Guns blaze and dirt flies as mortars explode, but
  the sounds of the explosions and machine guns are
  secondary to the voice of the vet.

23
Foley

• Sound Effects developed by human activity within
  the film frame.
• Created by a Foley Artist
• Comes from the first Foley Artist Jack Foley
• Short film on Foley work

24
Terms

• Rhythm
• Fidelity
• Sound Space
• Time Sound
• Simultaneous Sound
• Non-Simultaneous Sound
• Voice Over

• Dolby Surround Sound
• Diegetic Sound
• Non-Diegetic Sound
• ADR
• Foley
• Sound Effects
• Layered or Textured Sound

25
AssignmentVisual Soundscape

• Translate a picture or a group of related
  pictures into a Visual Soundscape.
• Imagine what sounds would accompany this
  picture(s) (e.g. a moon rising over a foggy
  wetland forest-what movement do we hear? A taxi
  cab rushing through a busy intersection-whos
  talking in the back seat? An old woman sitting
  in a rocker on her front porch-what does she
  see?). Create a soundscape to support the implied
  mood of the picture or series of pictures.

26

• IMPORTANT The image doesn't have to be yours,
  but if you do go to a location to capture an
  image (or group of images) then you can always
  gather audio to use as the bed for all the other
  sounds you add to create your soundscape.
• If you use more than one picture all of them must
  be closely interrelated and cite your sources,
  even if the pictures and sounds are ones you
  created or captured.
• The use of images available through Creative
  Commons Attribution is strongly encouraged.
• Time limit for this project is approximately
  (/-) 1 minute.