final sound presentation for intro to film
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
By Sean
Fogarty, Chelsea Massa, &
Mary Kate Thomerson
CHAPTER 7:SOUND
All sound that accompanies the filmMusic, dialogue, sound effects
DigitalCrisp and clean
Constructed separatelyFlexibleEasy to manipulate
Hard to studyCannot freeze a sound
SOUNDTRACK BASICS
Interest Silent Films accompanied by orchestra
Narration Voice over narration contributes/introduces the
story line http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOaV06ruMqg
Good Fellas Diner SceneUnderstanding
Alter perception of scene depending on sound http://frivolousdisorder.com/?p=535
Guidance Direct the attention of the audience
POWER OF SOUND IN FILM
AnticipationCreate suspense; Horror Films
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnRxQ3dcaQk Jurassic Park Raptor Scene
Value to SilenceSound is routinely used, lack of sound becomes alien http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j1wKBbRQhk Panic Room
POWER OF SOUND IN FILM
LoudnessAmplitudeVibrations of the airConstantly manipulated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vltUWa_tOhE&feature=related Twist and Shout
Characterizes dialogue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLESwFqDm9k
Pulp FictionShows perceived distance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQu5BDy2Wo Super 8
FUNDAMENTALS
PitchFrequency of sound vibrationsHighness or lowness of a soundMost sounds are a complex tone, or multiple pitches
Helps to distinguish between music, speech, and noises
Set the tone of a scenehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDpipB4yehk The Shining
FUNDAMENTALS
TimbreHarmonic Components Give a Sound “Color”
Combination of Harmonics, Frequency, and Overtones
Texture or Feel of a Soundhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA Econ Teacher
FUNDAMENTALS
Each sound serves a purposeSelect sound to fulfi ll particular functionSound added freelySoundtrack is not always made after image track
In many cartoons it is made first Not all sound is recorded for that specific project
Some editors reuse music and effects stored in a sound library Wilhelm Scream; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio
Importance of dialogue, music, and sound effects vary by fi lm Dialogue – Breakfast Club Sound Effects – Almost anything Michael Bay Music – Musicals and, more recently, dance movies
CHOOSING SOUND
Change acoustic qualitiesLoudness, frequency, tone quality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwAOHVBKTwg
Sound Mixing Join sounds together
End to end; One over the other http://www.cracked.com/article_19639_5-ridiculous-origins-m
ovie-sound-effects.html
Clarified and simplified to stand outDialogue Overlap
Dialogue continues past a cut
SOUND MANIPULATION AND EDITING
Film scoresUse of pre-existing piecesComposed specifically for movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh4zxv7gYkY ET
Music strongly influence emotional reactionMelody or music can be associated with particular setting, character, situation, idea, parts of narrative, or scenes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn94j5F5YLc Darth Vader
SOUND AND FILM FORM
RhythmBeat, pulse, tempo, pace, or patternRhythmic qualities in sound effects alsoGunshots in gangster films
Speech is rhythmicCharacters show distinct pacing and syllabic stresshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRK541tosfI Joker
DIMENSIONS OF FILM SOUND
CoordinationMatch rhythmic sound with rhythmic video Mickey Mousing
Disney characters move in sync with music, even when not dancing
DisparitiesCreation of contrasting video and audio rhythmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znEf9OVx32g Four Nights of a Dreamer
RHYTHM IN SOUND AND IMAGE
Extent to which sound is faithful to the source as we conceive it.
Purely a matter of expectation.If sound is unfaithful to its source and
we are aware of it, usually done for comic effect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE9t98Gox60
FIDELITY
Jacques Tati is a good specimen for the study of sound.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzAoCsvvFBY
May be manipulated by change in volume.Ex: Curtis Bernhardts “Possessed” alters the volume in ways that aren’t faithful to sources.
FIDELITY
Sound has spatial dimension because it comes from a source.
2 types:
SPACE
• Sound that has a source in the story world.
• Often hard to notice.
• May be manipulated in unrealistic ways.
• Sound that comes from a source outside the story world.
• Sound effects can be made from this type.
• Entire films can be made completely with nondiegetic sound.
DIEGETIC v NONDIEGETIC
• http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xav22j_north-by-northwest-run-for-your-lif_shortfilms
Diegetic sound can either be on or off screen Depends on whether source is in or outside of the frame.
Can be used to represent what a character is thinking. Ex: Speaking thoughts even though lips not moving
other’s usually can’t hear them
EXTERNAL DIEGETIC SOUND: way we as spectators take to have a physical source in the scene.
SPACE
INTERNAL DIEGETIC SOUND: comes from inside the mind of a character– subjective
can’t be heard by other characters: SILILOQUIES
Nondiegetic and internal diegetic sounds are often called SOUNDOVER because they don’t come from the real space of the scene.
Diegetic and Nondiegetic sound blur. Ex: Cavalry rescue scene from
Stagecoach.
SPACE
Disembodied voice that gives us information that doesn’t belong to any characters in the fi lm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND1X594F1wY
OMNISCIENT NARRATOR
Many times a fi lm’s narration deliberately blurs boundaries between two spatial categoriesUsed to puzzle/surprise audienceCreate humor or ambiguityAchieve other purposes
Space of the narrative action isn’t limited to what we can see on the screen----same for sound
Off screen sound:Crucial to film – can create illusion of bigger space.
Can also create restricted and less restricted narration
SPACE
Characteristic of diegetic sound
Sense of spatial distance and location analogous to the cues for visual depth and volume that we get with visual perspective.
Can be suggested by volume ex: loud= near ; soft= more distant changes in volume
may suggest characters movement through space
Can be created by timbre Most noticeable with echoes
SOUND PERSPECTIVE
Particularly marked in telephone conversations
Telephone split – seldom matches what phone calls sound like in reality
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7750754192792496799
SOUND PERSPECTIVE
Using stereophonic and surround tracks a fi lm can more strongly imply a sound’s distance and placement.
Without the greater localization off ered by the stereophonic channels, we might scan the frame for sources of the sound.
Stereo reproduction can specify a moving sounds direction. Ex: Rumble on right side of
screen that moves across with plane fly over.
SOUND PERSPECTIVE IN THEATER SPACE
Synchronous sound- what we see produces what we hear example: dialogue
Asynchronous sound- when what we see doesn’t match what we hear example: the first talkies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsLqCWP-cT0Simultaneous sound-sound that takes place at the
same time as the image in terms of the story events Non-simultaneous sound-we hear sounds that occur
earlier or later in the story than the events we see in the image example: sonic flashback- one character hears the voice
of another from earlier
TIME
Non-simultaneous sound earlier than the image sounds come from earlier in the story Examples: sound flashback, sound bridges(the sound
lingers even through the image as moved on), and flash forward
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIkpD2Nr5yI Sound simultaneous with the image in the story
can be external or internal http://vimeo.com/25660023
Non-simultaneous sound later than the image http://movies.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70151172&t
rkid=3325854 start as 35:19
used as transitions or to help pull the story together
DIEGETIC SOUND
Non-simultaneous sound that came earlier sounds that are not part of the story but came before the images shone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpH5L8zCtSk
Simultaneous usually a narration
Non-simultaneous sound came later someone narrating their own past http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq5NWgSa0iA
NONDIEGETIC SOUND
Christopher and Jonathan Nolan wanted the movie to be l ike a magic act in it of itself.
The movie isn’t shown in chronological order, the story order is switched up and some scenes repeat so that the audience has some knowledge but is never really certain of it. (almost l ike Citizen Kane)
Robert and Alfred are two rival magicians who compete to amaze
their audiences. This competition grows when Alfred is responsible for the death of Robert’s wife in an act. After this Robert becomes obsessed with Alfred’s trick of the transported man, and he eventually comes up with his own transported man act using a machine built by Tesla. During on of his shows Robert dies and Alfred is blamed and then hanged. The truth behind Alfred’s act was that he has an identical twin brother who would perform the acts with him, together they had two lives and each l ived a part of both. The movie ends with Alfred’s twin kil l ing Robert, who actually didn’t die, and then each tells the truth behind their tricks.
FUNCTIONS OF FILM SOUND: THE PRESTIGE
Each place and event is given its own sound, such as the warmer sound of theater after a trick was preformed or the slow swell of the music before an act. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVTl90m1Auk 1:42:22
Also there are many sound bridges to connect scenes
Use a dialogue hook where a scene ends with a line and then cuts to another scene, usually having to do with the line.
Parallels are made between the love lives and careers of the two men.
The sound of metal clinking is repeated throughout the entire movie, like the clang of a trap door or the sound of Alfred’s chains.
FUNCTIONS OF FILM SOUND: THE PRESTIGE
The similarity in sound in scenes clarifi es the parallelism between the two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVTl90m1Auk 1:55:30
The use of the two magicians’ diaries help the audience understand where in time they are in the story and assist in leading to fl ashbacks for more information 7:30 and 11:32
Eventually the diaries aren’t shown anymore, but voice overs are used, it makes clean transitions from fl ashbacks back to present time 46:33
The opening of The Prestige foreshadows the way the rest story will be presented by starting with an important scene being played with a voice over 0:57
FUNCTIONS OF FILM SOUND: THE PRESTIGE