Sound in Film

SOUND SOUND SOUND SOUND SOUND
SOUND SOUND
The introduction of SOUND in Film
The extra dimension that sound adds to
film has been acknowledged since the
early days of cinema when live music was
played in the cinema to accompany the
silent film being shown. This usually was a
piano or organ but could also be a full
orchestra.
The first feature film released with a
soundtrack was called The Jazz Singer
starring Al Jolson and was a Warner Bros.
Film. One of the main reasons for the
delay in the implementation of sound
technology is that the film companies were unwilling to invest large
sums of money into sound equipment when they were making huge
profits with silent movies. However, the next commercial sound film
Lights of New York (1928) was so impressive that it stimulated a
rapid and total conversion to sound within the entire film industry.
Sound on film today is of course much more sophisticated with a
digital synchronised soundtrack combining the elements of dialogue,
music and sound effects.
DIEGETIC AND NON-DIEGETIC SOUND
(with on and off screen diegetic sound)
The world of the film as we see it is known as the DIEGETIC
(pronounced dye-(a)-jet-ick). Things in this world belong to the
films DIEGESIS. (Note the word sounds like an a is in it like
diagram, but it is an e a very common spelling mistake! Try to
get it right from the start!)
As audience members we accept that there are things taking place
in the diegetic world around the edges of what we actually see on
the screen for example when a character is having a conversation
with their friend who has gone into the kitchen to get a glass of
water we hear them in the kitchen, clinking around and running
the tap and we can hear their half of the conversation. This use of
ON SCREEN and OFF SCREEN diegetic sound helps to create the
sense of our viewing a three dimensional world rather than a flat
screen.
Sometimes off-screen sound is used to give us clues we hear a

scream and know someone is in trouble, we hear a police siren and
know that the location were in is right by a main road and help is
on its way. Perhaps we deduce were in an urban location.
Non-diegetic sound is NOT part of the film world and is added on.
The best way to think of it is this: If you were in the film space,
could you hear the sound? So, youd not hear the voice-over or
rousing orchestral music but, as in Top Gun, we hear the Walker
Brothers The sun aint gonna shine anymore but we later see the
off screen source the juke box in the bar (and then, as often
happens, the off-screen sound becomes on-screen).
SOUND BRIDGES
Often the sound from one scene will continue into or over the next
scene the images we see change but the sound is still from the
previous scenes. More often, we hear the sound from the next
sequence BEFORE we see the relevant images.
This is called a SOUND BRIDGE. A film would be very disjointed if
there were no sound bridges the effect they create is not only a
wider diegetic world but a coherent one it gives the film a sense
of linking of joining together. Thus sound bridges are part of a
films continuity.
PARALLEL AND CONTRAPUNTAL SOUND
Contrapuntal sound is often called asynchronous sound
When watching a film, the sound we hear usually complements
what we see happy sounds for happy images, exciting music for
exciting scenes sad music at sad moments etc. This is PARALLEL
SOUND as, as the name suggests, the music tone and mood
matches (hence parallel) the action on screen.
Sometimes when we are watching a film, we hear sound that
doesnt seem to match what we are seeing. The most famous
example of this has to be in Jaws when we are watching scenes of
happy holiday makers on Amity Beach but we hear the dur dur
motif of the shark a deep sinister and haunting sound that we
have, by this stage in the film, be conditioned to hear as a signal for
the imminent arrival of the man-eating shark. Thus, what we see
and what we hear DO NOT match. This is called CONTRAPUNTAL
SOUND. Contrapuntal means at a counterpoint to. Some people
call this asynchronous sound as in NOT synchronous that is not
in synch. It doesnt matter which you use use the one youre
happiest with but stick with it be consistent.

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SOUND SOUND SOUND SOUND SOUND

Sometimes off-screen sound is used to give us clues we hear a

happiest with but stick with it be consistent.

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