Sound

Sound

The extra dimension that sound adds to film has been acknowledged since the early days of cinema, when live music in the form of a piano, organ or even a full orchestra accompanied the images on the silent cinema screen. Although the first demonstration of sound on film is meant to have taken place as early as 1911 in the USA, it was only in 1927 that Warner Bros. released the first feature film with a soundtrack – ‘The Jazz Singer’ starring Al Jolson. 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 (SFX).

Diegetic & non-diegetic sound

The world of the film as we see it on the cinema screen is known as the diegetic world. We can see only a section of this world – the events which the filmmaker has chosen to include in the frame. However, as a modern-day, cinema-going audience we accept that there are things taking place around the edges of what we see on screen. For instance, if a character has gone to make a cup of tea, we accept that they have gone to the kitchen which is part of the ‘film’ house in which they live. However, they are still part of the film world we are watching although they are out of vision.

Often, the edges of what we can see on the cinema screen are extended by the use of sound. We might hear a doorbell ring and we acknowledge that there is someone being let into the house even though we can’t see them. Likewise, we might hear the siren of a fire engine and we know that there is a road outside.

When we watch a film, the sounds that we hear can be diegetic or non-diegetic.

Diegetic sound is sound which is part of the film world we are watching. This can be dialogue, music or sound effects which come from a source within the film world. The music in this instance will be from a source in the film which we acknowledge could actually be producing music, for example, a CD player or jukebox.

Diegetic sound can occur either on screen or off screen; in other words we can either see the person or object that is making the sound (on screen) or we don’t (off screen).

Non-diegetic sound is sound which we do not recognise as part of the film world such as a voice-over or background music.

It is useful to begin by classifying sound into different types. The following four categories can be used to describe all the types of sounds we are likely to encounter during a film:

1. Diegetic sound: This arises directly from the world of the story. Its source may be on or off screen. A character on screen speaks, we hear words; a gun is fired in the next room, we hear a bang; horses are approaching, we hear hooves; a radio is playing, we hear music.

2. Non-diegetic sound: We hear this, but it is not produced by anything in the world of the story. The two commonest forms of non-diegetic sound are musical score and voiceover.

3. Synchronous sound: This is diegetic sound produced in the scene we are currently viewing – ie it is synchronised in time with the visuals. It may come from an on screen or off screen source, but it is within realistic hearing range.

4. Asynchronous sound: This is any sound not produced by the scene we are watching – ie it is not synchronised in time with the visuals. Here are two common uses for asynchronous sound:

• Bridging a cut: we hear the next scene moments before we see it in order to prevent the transition from jarring. This is called a sound bridge.
• Creating a meaningful juxtaposition of images and sound

Sound is manipulated a great deal during post-production. Actors may need to lip-synch (ie perform their lines again in a dubbing studio, matching their on screen lip movements) because of problems with the original sound. The noise made by on screen action, which for various technical reasons often cannot be recorded live, has to be created using sound effects libraries and foley artists. Foley is one of the strangest, most important, jobs in film production. In a room filled with miscellaneous pieces of junk, the foley artist makes sounds by hitting things, shaking thinks, rubbing things together and so on. These noises are used when constructing the soundscape of the film.

Sometimes, sound is essential to the creation of realism or sense of place. A scene shot in an inland town can be made to seem coastal by the addition of seagull cries. Some sounds need to be emphasised for atmospheric purposes: the creak of a floorboard or the engines of a passing aeroplane, for example.

Frequently, the emotional impact of a sequence is dependent to an enormous degree on the juxtaposition of image and sound, especially soundtrack music.

Questions for analysing sound

• Does the music include a recognisable tune or song? What message does this convey in relation to the images?

• Could you describe the music as having a recognisable style (eg military rhythm)?

• Is the music typical of the films genre?

• Can you recognise elements of the instrumentation (eg electronic instrument)?

• What tonal range dominates the arrangement (bass, midrange or treble)?

• Are contrasts between sound and silence used?

• How does diegetic background sound increase the audience’s sense of realism?

• Is diegetic sound used to increase the effect of any action (emphatic sound)?

• Are there sound bridges or other uses of asynchronous diegetic sound?

• Is there any asynchronous non-diegetic sound, other than music (eg voice over)?

• What are the effects of all of the above?