Preliminary Exercise 14: Defining and Analyzing Sound in Film

 Introduction

Hello my wonderful audience, and welcome. Today on this lovely day, we will be discussing sound in film!

In my opinion, the most IMPORTANT part of a film is the sound. It enhances the film greatly. Back in the old days, films were silent. 

All you had were pictures and movie cards with dialogue that looked like this:

 But luckily those days are over, because now we have wonderful sound to accompany films.

For this exercise, we first learned the terms like "Non-Diegetic" and "Diegetic", and you may be asking, "What do those mean?" Well, the term "Diegetic" derives from the word "Diegesis" which means the world of the film and everything in it.

Non Diegetic is something the characters cannot perceive. Some examples of Non-Diegetic sounds are, incidental music or voiceovers. Diegetic is something the characters can perceive. Some examples of this are, atmospheric sounds, and dialogue.

To learn more about this concept, we watched the opening for the 2014 film "The Giver", and did an assignment with vocabulary, background information about the film, and the sound documented.

The Assignment

Section A:  Definitions and Examples 

Word	Meaning and example from a specific movie. (Add details)
Diegetic Sound	Diegesis, the world of the film and everything in it. The visuals and everything you and characters can see in a scene counts as diegetic. EX: Dialogue (a spoken verbal exchange between two or more characters), internal diegetic (sounds coming from the mind of a character)/thoughts, and even someone screaming for help outside of a building.    A popular example of this is the 2000 psychosocial thriller, American Psycho, in which the main character, Christian Bale, appears as professional, proper, and normal to characters in the movie, but is then revealed through his internal thoughts to be a “bloodlust,” as he puts it.
Non diegetic Sound	Everything that only the audience can see or perceive. This could be scenery or imagery that is unknown or unseen to characters within a film and is unfamiliar or outside the world of the film. For example, incidental music, which is music made to intensify dramatic elements in a scene. Pulp Fiction has some skillful use of incidental music, “Son of a Preacher Man” is one of their best.
Internal diegetic Sound	Sounds only a character (source of sound) and the audience can hear.    Ex: thoughts of a character. In the opening of “The Giver,” the main character, Jonas, speaks in his head about how he sees the world differently.
Background Sound	Also known as Ambient/Atmospheric sounds; sounds that are not synchronized with the picture but indicate setting (location, weather, etc.) to the audience.  Ex: forest sounds, river flowing     From the hit movie Dune (1984), frequent symphonies could be heard throughout the movie from the Vienne Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Volksoper Choir, which enriched the futuristic atmosphere of this movie.
Foley Artist	Devise and record the everyday sounds heard in media for post-production to enhance audio quality. Jake Hart and Ronnie Vander Veer are examples of Foley Artists.
Foley Sound Effects	Sounds that are synchronized and recorded for the screen. For example, prop sounds or footprints from 2002 movie “Scooby-Doo: The Movie”
Sound motif	Sound attributed and associated with something in particular.   A classic example is the “shark theme” associated with Jaws. The repeated synchronized sound in the theme associated with Jaws became synonymous with imminent danger.
Monologue	A speech given by a single character in a story. It is the vocalization of a character's thoughts. For example, in the Barbie movie, the character Gloria had a monologue about the struggles of being a woman, because of the crazy, unfair double standards.
Sound Bridge*  (EVERY MOVIE NEEDS TO HAVE SOUND BRIDGES!!!)	The sound of music carried from one scene to the next. It links two scenes together and keeps the audience distracted, while the scene cuts to the next. For example, in sitcoms, they use sound bridges to transition to the next scene.     An example from the 1999 cult classic movie, The Matrix, included a sound bridge of an alarm clock buzzing being carried between two scenes, as Neo (a character from the main cast) was in his room.
Sound Design	It is the art of creating audio for a film. An example of sound design is using the combination of a film projector's motor hum, TV interference, and waving a mic in front of the speaker to create a "swooshing" sound of a lightsaber as used all throughout the Star Wars franchise.
Sound Perspective	It is when the volume, tone, and pitch of a sound source indicates the apparent distance. For example, a dog barking in a city alley produces prominent barks with minimal echo as used in 1996 “101 Dalmatians”. The distance from the microphone increases the sound of the air or room, making the dog appear quieter and barking more.
Sound Mixing	The process where the raw materials assembled in the sound editing process are combined and balanced into a coherent soundscape. For example, original mix and instrumental are sound mixing.    In the Oscar-Winning movie Gladiator (2000), sounds mixers Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, and Kate Wenson capturing a significant part of the film's atmosphere of vigorous battles of the Roman Empire.
Stings	It is a short musical phrase. For example, “dun dun duuuuun” could be indicated to create suspense.
Melodic Sound	Melodic sound will have positive and pleasing connotation. It will be uplifting/mellow and sweet sounding. Connotation: All is well in this world. An example of this is the opening of Ex Machina.
Discordant Sound  *Could use for movie to bring out humor*	When a sound is harsh and unpleasant to listen to. It will provide negative connotations. An example is the sound of a fire alarm, which is a displeasing noise.
Contrapuntal Sound*  (Used for comedy. Cambridge calls this exemplary!)	Sound/music that strongly contrasts with the mood or tone of the scene. For example, a happy upbeat song playing while a crime scene was discovered. A movie example is in the movie “Pulp Fiction,” using the song “Comanche” during an infamous scene.
Room tone	A recording of the sound in the space of a shoot – may be used as a part of the soundscape to provide depth and atmosphere. It is a type of ambient effect. For example, the sound of silence when no one is talking in a room. You can hear the ac blowing, or the refrigerator making noise.
Walla Sound  *Will need this for our movie*	A sound effect, which illustrates the murmur of a crowd in the background. It is often used as subliminal aural communication and sets a mood or a tone. For example, students talking in a classroom. In the movie “Rhubarb
Synchronous Sound	A sound that matches the onscreen visuals- there is a visible source from the source. An example is a scene of a river, and you can hear the river flowing.
Asynchronous Sound	A sound that does not match the onscreen visuals – there is no visible source for the sound. It includes any noise that you cannot see. For example, an owl howling or a train whistling in the back.
Direct Sound	All sounds recorded at the time of filming. An example of this is in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, you can hear background noises like popping gum noises.
Parallel Sound	Sound that matches the mood or tone of a sequence. For example, in the film "Untouchables," the song "Fly" by Ludovico Einaudi plays in the background as the protagonists struggle to leave their troubles and become free.
Loudness	The volume or level of the sound. For example, the sound of traffic. You can hear cars honking their horns.
Silence	Lack of audible sound or presence of sounds of low intensity, often used in film for dramatic effect or to give the audience a breather after climactic scenes. An example of this is in Whiplash, where the main character (Andrew) is in the middle of his unexpected solo. In the middle of this performance, the sound of the drums fades away as the camera focuses on his face.
Crescendo (MUST USE!)	A gradual increase in loudness in a piece of music. For example, when the background music starts low, it gradually gets louder. Like John Williams – “The Imperial March” (Star Wars).
Rhythm	A reoccurring beat forming a pattern. Rhythms may be rapid or slow, regular, or irregular, producing different emotional effects in the viewer/listener.   Ex: Katy Perry’s “Hot N’ Cold”    In the Squeakuel of Alvin and the Chipmunks (2009) the Chipettes, who were the Chipmunks rivals at the time, sang Katy Perry’s “Hot N’ Cold” while competing against the Chipmunks in a singing contest.

Section B: Analysis 1: General analysis of film opening. (28 marks) 

Opening of the Giver
What is the film about?	-This short film portrays the perspective from a boy named, Jonas, who lives black-and-white, futuristic society (called The Ruin), where everything and everyone were controlled by government facilities, where they could not lie, differences were not allowed, no losers, or winner, no pain, no contentions, no fame, no complete control or independence, and all memories of the past were erased. Jonas points out he is the only one in this society who can see things differently than everyone else.
Production Company/companies	TWC productions, and Walden Media
Director	Phillip Noyce	Sound Engineer (s)	Automated Dialogue Replacement Mixers:   Bobby Johanson  Greg Crawford  Mark DiSimone  Mitch Dorf  Michael Miller  Chris Pinkston  Tim West   Dave Wilson  Andy Wright    Automated Sound Dialogue Replacement Recordists:  Justine Baker  John Baldofsky  Tucker Bodine  Daniel Kearney  Cole Leksan  Michael Rivera  Diego Ruiz  Ryan Young  Dan Brown  Ja-Ann Wang  James Ezra    Sound Recordist:  Dale Angell  Aiden Ramos  Henau Marais    Sound Mixer:  Nico Louw  Paul H. Maristas    Boom Operators:  Brendan-John Allen  Nate Aylor    Re-Recording Mixers:  Michael Barry  Paul Hsu  Sena Solntstev    Supervising Sound Editor:  Paul Hsu  Philip Stockton    Foley Artist:  Marko A. Costanzo    First Assistant Sound Editor:  Chris Fielder    Audio Description Narrator:   Christopher Flowers    Foley Supervision:  Frank Kern    Trailer Sound Designer:  Nick Murray    Assistant Sound Editor:  Angela Organ    Sound Designer-Trailer:  Mikaal Sulaiman    Supervising Automated Sound Dialogue Editor:  Deborah Wallach    Sound:  Louw Verwoerd
Genre (s)	Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopian, and Futuristic	Movie release	August 15, 2014
Audience (s)	Young Adults from ages 12-18.
Original music titles from the soundtrack. (Only from the opening.)	Ordinary Human by OneRepublic
Music  (List 3 words used to describe this music)	Melodic  Peaceful   Emotional
Sound Effects  (List 8 effects)	- Children Laughing  - The food machine beeping  - Bike bell ringing  - Bike tires on pavement  - Wind blowing the trees  - Government drones zooming to monitor citizens  - Soccer ball falling into grass  -Sounds of a medicine machine button being pushed, and dropping medication, and its automated message saying, “injected.”
Dialogue  (List the most important line in the movie and why? 3 sentences to describe information.	Line:   “I always felt like I saw things differently, saw things other people didn’t.”
	Explanation:  These lines are significant because they describe and explain Jonas’ perspective of his life and the world around him. In the shot where this line is spoken, Jonas is shown to see the colors of trees above him, which implies that others in this society cannot see things such as color. This observation could signify a difference in perspective in the main character in comparison to the black-and-white community he lives in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section C: Analysis 2: (25 marks) 

Using the table below place the sounds in this film into their correct sound source categories. Using the vocabulary box label each type of sound using the examples provided. 

Examples 

                          

Diegetic Sounds (Dialogue, Music, and Sound Effects the audience and characters can hear.)	Non-diegetic Sounds  (Everything that only the audience can see or perceive. Can be scenery or imagery unknown or unseen to characters within a film.)
Dialogue: monologue, direct sound.      Alarm Clock: Ambient sound, foley sound, loud, synchronous.	Sound Effect: Thunder: Ambient sound, foley sound, loud, asynchronous.    Music: Headphones playing “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley, incidental music, foley sound, crescendo, asynchronous.

Reflection

Today, my team and I learned the astounding wonders of sound in film, and the different kinds of sounds we hear in film. We took note of the tips and tricks by studying scenes from different films, and documenting all the kinds of sound we hear. 

Doing this assignment was fairly easy, my teammates and I split up the work, and we worked pretty fast. :)

I believe this whole lesson strengthened my skills with identifying sound in film, and now I can say I am an expert! Anyways, thank you for reading! I'll see you in the next blog post, P is logging off.