Understanding the Elements of

Sound and Moving Image

Moving Image ProductionMoving Image:

A moving image production, could be classified as a film, television programme, documentary, television advert, music video or any type of production that involves a sequence of images moving along to make a full production (similar to a flipbook). Every single year more than 323 new releases in theatres every year, it is important that they are organised in categories to suit every individual’s needs, these categories are called ‘Genres’. There are many different film genres including:

Action Adventure Comedy Crime Erotica Faction Fantasy Historical Horror Mystery Paranoid Philosophical Political Romance Saga Satire Science fiction Slice of Life Speculative Thriller Urban

Soundtrack:

Since the beginning of film, moving image productions have been accompanied with music (soundtrack), soundtrack is made for the moving image (film) as without the sound, a motion picture would quickly become confusing, boring and pointless.

There are different kinds of sound used in film (moving image), and each kind of sound had its own use:

Diegetic Sounds- Sounds from your location Non-Diegetic Sounds – Music added through editing (usually to express

emotion) Foley Sounds- Pre-recorded natural sounds Digital sounds- sounds made using computer (used in fantasy movies and

video games) Live broadcast

These mechanisms of sounds are constantly used in the production and purpose of moving images. Soundtracks are usually added into the moving image, during the editing process, this is done in order to get a more accurate and high quality outcome. This means that the people who make soundtracks to moving images must be skilled in certain areas:

Must be able to choose the correct equipment and use microphones professionally.

Must be able to mix and edit audio correctly Must be able to prepare and create sound in a studio or filming location to

a professional standard

There are different types of sounds to be created, such as:

Dialogue

Ambient sounds Voice over Diegetic sounds Non diegetic Action code Underscore Sound effect Instrumental soundtrack

Analysis of Musical Ingredients

Composers can use a number of different musical element to achieve a certain mood or emotion through a soundtrack, these can include:

Tempo Dynamics Instrumentation Rhythm Melody Texture Harmony/key Structure SFX

To recording these sounds, composers use microphones, there are many different types of microphones available for different uses.

DynamicCapacitorElectricCondenserRibbonCarbonCrystalTie Clip (Lavier)RifleBoomRadioPZM (pressure zone microphone)

Polar Patterns –OmniCardioidHyper CardioidFigure of 8