Thursday, 27 May 2010

Technical elements of the Moving Image-Sound

Diegetic sound-sound that is part of the 'world' of the clip. Sound that matches the images on screen. An example of diegetic sound would be 'ambient sound'. Ambient sound or ambient audio means the background sounds which are present in a scene or location. Common ambient sounds include wind, water, birds, crowds, office noises, traffic, etc.

Ambient sound is very important in video and film work. It performs a number of functions including:




  • Providing audio continuity between shots.
  • Preventing an unnatural silence when no other sound is present.
  • Establishing or reinforcing the mood.

Sound effects-often used in TV drama to draw the audience's attention to something. Note how the sound of the bus has been amplified in post-production at the sound mixing stage in the clip from 'Skins' posted earlier

Non-diegetic sound-sounds that are not 'natural' to the text e.g. musical score (in film), incidental music (music in TV), sound motif (musical phrases that relate to characters/emotions/moods)




In this clip from 'Lost' note the use of incidental music and the focus pull to make the audience focus on his feet!



In this clip at the very beginning there is a sound motif used in 'Lost' to let the audience know that there's a flashback.


Sting -Either a brief crescendo stab of music used to enhance the drama of the current situation just before an Act Break (called a "dramatic sting" when used this way), or a brief comical stab on music to enhance a punchline at the end of a scene (most famously, the so-called "rimshot" — ba-dum-bum-ching).


Sound bridge-refers to an outgoing sound (either dialogue or sound effects) in one scene that continues over into a new image or shot - in this case, the soundtrack, not a visual image, connects the two shots or scenes.



Note the use of sound in this Dr Who clip. Much more like a film score

Dialogue/Voiceover-dialogue can tell us a lot about representations. What do the characters say and what does this reveal about them?

All these elements together are collectively referred to as the soundtrack

Examples of aural horror from 'Clip Joint'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2010/jul/07/clip-joint-shocking-sounds

Sound bridge-sound continues from one frame to the next, 'bridging' the two frames

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