Intro to Sound for Film
SOUND - The Life of the Film
Sound for film uses a series of tricks in order to fool an audience into believing that what they are hearing is reality.
Because actors would not want to get punched in the face or have their bones broken in reality, a sound made off scene, maybe even months later, has to be placed at that precise moment of action. What actually creates that sound is a trick, totally different from what the audience is actually seeing. Yet, it has to be so in sync with the image that it comes across as reality.
Sounds inside films can make strong impressions by breathing life into the on-screen image. Take for example the sound a creature makes on screen such as the roar of a T. Rex. Although we may really want to, it is impossible for us go outside and record a real dinosaur. These sounds have to be invented with such creative recipes that the audiences are transported into the reality of the worlds inside the fantastical stories. All this happens depending on the intention of the director and the sound department.
Total immersion into a world that pushes the boundaries of our visual limits, like the world of Avatar or Interstellar, gives sound departments a chance to perform magic to the ear. Sounds are invisible to the viewing consciousness, and with the rise in technology, sound effects have risen to a platform unlike any other time in film history. Think of images from a random documentary of a scuba diver under water looking for sharks. Imagine the sounds that are expected with that moment. As filmgoers, these are the visual and sonic experiences meshed together to give us the total moment.
We have been trained to read visuals with certain sounds. There are audio clichés that are just a part of how we "read" or "understand" movies. Something as simple as the Death Star exploding in Star Wars brings with it the expectation of a loud explosive sound. Yet, you cannot hear any sounds in near-empty regions of space since sound travels through the vibration of atoms and molecules in a medium (such as air or water). In space, where there is no air, sound has no way to travel.
When we see films, however, we are witnessing a type of "visual essay." In that visual essay there are certain sounds that come to mind automatically because over time these clichés have become mainstream. This is how we see and hear films today and it is how we as audiences have been trained to hear sounds with picture over film history.
It is important to know where we've come from to know where we are going. As years go by films become increasingly more visually stimulating. And now, when we see films like the recent remake of Godzilla, we have creatures that demand a reinvention of sounds, while meeting what we expect in a monster from monsters past.
For now, we are here to get the basics. Even though sound in film is 50 percent of the product, the art behind it is often given little notice or recognition, because we are as "behind the scenes" as it gets.
In this course, we will explore the history, the process, and the future of sound design, all with the focus of grasping the magical art and skill of those who make up the sound department.
Sound for film uses a series of tricks in order to fool an audience into believing that what they are hearing is reality.
- A punch in the face is many times actually made by someone punching a head of lettuce
- The sound of bones breaking is done by breaking celery sticks
Because actors would not want to get punched in the face or have their bones broken in reality, a sound made off scene, maybe even months later, has to be placed at that precise moment of action. What actually creates that sound is a trick, totally different from what the audience is actually seeing. Yet, it has to be so in sync with the image that it comes across as reality.
Sounds inside films can make strong impressions by breathing life into the on-screen image. Take for example the sound a creature makes on screen such as the roar of a T. Rex. Although we may really want to, it is impossible for us go outside and record a real dinosaur. These sounds have to be invented with such creative recipes that the audiences are transported into the reality of the worlds inside the fantastical stories. All this happens depending on the intention of the director and the sound department.
Total immersion into a world that pushes the boundaries of our visual limits, like the world of Avatar or Interstellar, gives sound departments a chance to perform magic to the ear. Sounds are invisible to the viewing consciousness, and with the rise in technology, sound effects have risen to a platform unlike any other time in film history. Think of images from a random documentary of a scuba diver under water looking for sharks. Imagine the sounds that are expected with that moment. As filmgoers, these are the visual and sonic experiences meshed together to give us the total moment.
We have been trained to read visuals with certain sounds. There are audio clichés that are just a part of how we "read" or "understand" movies. Something as simple as the Death Star exploding in Star Wars brings with it the expectation of a loud explosive sound. Yet, you cannot hear any sounds in near-empty regions of space since sound travels through the vibration of atoms and molecules in a medium (such as air or water). In space, where there is no air, sound has no way to travel.
When we see films, however, we are witnessing a type of "visual essay." In that visual essay there are certain sounds that come to mind automatically because over time these clichés have become mainstream. This is how we see and hear films today and it is how we as audiences have been trained to hear sounds with picture over film history.
It is important to know where we've come from to know where we are going. As years go by films become increasingly more visually stimulating. And now, when we see films like the recent remake of Godzilla, we have creatures that demand a reinvention of sounds, while meeting what we expect in a monster from monsters past.
For now, we are here to get the basics. Even though sound in film is 50 percent of the product, the art behind it is often given little notice or recognition, because we are as "behind the scenes" as it gets.
In this course, we will explore the history, the process, and the future of sound design, all with the focus of grasping the magical art and skill of those who make up the sound department.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND IN FILM
Sound was the underappreciated aspect of the filmmaking process for years. "We will fix it in post," is a phrase said too often on production shoots, meaning, "The Sound Department will work their magic and fix it later." Postproduction can often be seen as the place to fix or mend the parts of a film that are not working. In fact, in the making of Star Wars, director and creator George Lucas had so many complications with his film that some would argue postproduction in general is what saved it. Steven Spielberg had a similar experience with Jaws. Both directors leaned on their postproduction teams, which led to the enormous successes of their films.
It was a budding age for sound design at the time these movies were filmed (1970s). Sound really began to stand out as a force that could bring a film to an entirely new level, and these two films are good examples. George Lucas said, "Sound is 50 percent of the motion picture experience," because without sound we would miss those memorable laser blasts, TIE fighters, or Darth Vader's iconic breathing. Without the internet there were no online sound file databases around for the sound department to use as laser blasts. Someone had to "invent" or "create" them out of percussive explorations (Ben Burtt).
In the case of Jaws, those two simple notes, composed by the great film composer John Williams, brings a sense of doom coming our way in the shape of a giant shark. Two notes branded in our collective cinematic subconsciousness bring the emotion and fear of a film to a new level, giving sound, and music, a new platform of impact on viewers.
But here's the deal: sound can't be something that is just tacked on to the end of a movie after everything else is finished. To Lucas and Spielberg—as to many other filmmakers—sound is not only a big part of the motion picture, it is pivotal to the film's success. It is included in the process from the initial development of the film all the way to the final mix of the film. It is a BIG part of the equation of what makes a movie GREAT!
Sound was the underappreciated aspect of the filmmaking process for years. "We will fix it in post," is a phrase said too often on production shoots, meaning, "The Sound Department will work their magic and fix it later." Postproduction can often be seen as the place to fix or mend the parts of a film that are not working. In fact, in the making of Star Wars, director and creator George Lucas had so many complications with his film that some would argue postproduction in general is what saved it. Steven Spielberg had a similar experience with Jaws. Both directors leaned on their postproduction teams, which led to the enormous successes of their films.
It was a budding age for sound design at the time these movies were filmed (1970s). Sound really began to stand out as a force that could bring a film to an entirely new level, and these two films are good examples. George Lucas said, "Sound is 50 percent of the motion picture experience," because without sound we would miss those memorable laser blasts, TIE fighters, or Darth Vader's iconic breathing. Without the internet there were no online sound file databases around for the sound department to use as laser blasts. Someone had to "invent" or "create" them out of percussive explorations (Ben Burtt).
In the case of Jaws, those two simple notes, composed by the great film composer John Williams, brings a sense of doom coming our way in the shape of a giant shark. Two notes branded in our collective cinematic subconsciousness bring the emotion and fear of a film to a new level, giving sound, and music, a new platform of impact on viewers.
But here's the deal: sound can't be something that is just tacked on to the end of a movie after everything else is finished. To Lucas and Spielberg—as to many other filmmakers—sound is not only a big part of the motion picture, it is pivotal to the film's success. It is included in the process from the initial development of the film all the way to the final mix of the film. It is a BIG part of the equation of what makes a movie GREAT!
The Team
Sound is a powerful and emotional tool on which to educate ourselves, not only to appreciate artistically, but to be able to express ourselves articulately to the sound department, which is made up of:
The entire film production team are educated in all aspects of the process:
For us, in this class, it is important to understand the world with a sonic perspective. We have to enter the language and the world of audio appreciation. It is important to understand the vocabulary used and the roles that are played by members of the sound production team, as well as to learn to listen to the sounds that are taken for granted. Once you learn how to listen to those types of sounds, you will be able to better serve your creative projects by heading into production with the anticipation of good audio choices. Once you learn to listen with the right perspective, or to "think sonically," your ability to choose locations in preproduction will improve, as will your ability to spot sounds in script readings for emotional impact.
These are important perspectives to develop. With them you can head into your own projects with a great sense of awareness that enhances the films, as well as their budgets. Where audio is concerned, doing the right kind of preproduction homework can save money in postproduction and audio fixes. When you make good recordings the first time, you will find that your scheduled production time moves along better.
Sound is a powerful and emotional tool on which to educate ourselves, not only to appreciate artistically, but to be able to express ourselves articulately to the sound department, which is made up of:
The entire film production team are educated in all aspects of the process:
- the director
- the producer
- the cinematographer
- the production designer
- the picture (film) editor
- the screenwriter
- and the sound designer
For us, in this class, it is important to understand the world with a sonic perspective. We have to enter the language and the world of audio appreciation. It is important to understand the vocabulary used and the roles that are played by members of the sound production team, as well as to learn to listen to the sounds that are taken for granted. Once you learn how to listen to those types of sounds, you will be able to better serve your creative projects by heading into production with the anticipation of good audio choices. Once you learn to listen with the right perspective, or to "think sonically," your ability to choose locations in preproduction will improve, as will your ability to spot sounds in script readings for emotional impact.
These are important perspectives to develop. With them you can head into your own projects with a great sense of awareness that enhances the films, as well as their budgets. Where audio is concerned, doing the right kind of preproduction homework can save money in postproduction and audio fixes. When you make good recordings the first time, you will find that your scheduled production time moves along better.
Sound History
Silent film (circa 1900-1930s) is where sound begins, believe it or not. Before records were invented, silent films were accompanied by an orchestra or a piano. This method of putting emotions, tension, action, and effects into a silent film relied on the musical composition created for a scene. The great films of the silent-film era represent that start of films for which music was everything. Gracefully we moved down the timeline into the first animated films. This is where sound and animation began to merge from the orchestra's influence. Percussive instruments developed more hard effects, and wacky percussive instruments were invented.
As the history of silent film came to a close and talkies began to take over, silent-film actors had a hard time with the transition. Many actors had thick European accents, like Rudolph Valentino, making it very difficult to move into mainstream stardom. Films like Singin' in the Rain and The Artist bring this transition of film history from silent to sound into perspective and are good recommendations for viewing. They give a taste of what the time was like, and what some of the challenges were for sound in film.
Sound effects began to grow and demand began to expand, with feature animated films like Snow White and Pinocchio. The movement out of musicals into Westerns demanded that gun shots be recorded and Foley to be improved. It wasn't until about the 1960s that sound began to really take off. Recording devices became more portable, even though they were still heavy, and the ability to record things like planes and real hard effects began to explode literally into the screen.
Silent film (circa 1900-1930s) is where sound begins, believe it or not. Before records were invented, silent films were accompanied by an orchestra or a piano. This method of putting emotions, tension, action, and effects into a silent film relied on the musical composition created for a scene. The great films of the silent-film era represent that start of films for which music was everything. Gracefully we moved down the timeline into the first animated films. This is where sound and animation began to merge from the orchestra's influence. Percussive instruments developed more hard effects, and wacky percussive instruments were invented.
As the history of silent film came to a close and talkies began to take over, silent-film actors had a hard time with the transition. Many actors had thick European accents, like Rudolph Valentino, making it very difficult to move into mainstream stardom. Films like Singin' in the Rain and The Artist bring this transition of film history from silent to sound into perspective and are good recommendations for viewing. They give a taste of what the time was like, and what some of the challenges were for sound in film.
Sound effects began to grow and demand began to expand, with feature animated films like Snow White and Pinocchio. The movement out of musicals into Westerns demanded that gun shots be recorded and Foley to be improved. It wasn't until about the 1960s that sound began to really take off. Recording devices became more portable, even though they were still heavy, and the ability to record things like planes and real hard effects began to explode literally into the screen.
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The Soundtrack
The next step in gathering a deeper understanding of this art form is to talk about how soundtracks are structured, how to go about working with sound designers and the other disciplines. It is true you may never mix or edit your own film, but a basic knowledge of what it does is imperative if you are to understand the complete motion picture. The worst thing in the filmmaking world is an uninformed producer or director. Later in your careers, when you are in a mix stage, you will have to press for creative ideas, whichever side of the mixing board you sit on, and you have to back those ideas up with sound aesthetic and reasoning.
To begin, what is a soundtrack?
A soundtrack is something we experience when we watch a film. A soundtrack is a living, breathing thing, with a life of its own. You need to understand how a soundtrack works, what its elements are, and how it is put together.
Sounds fill speakers all around us that present realistic noises for what we see on screen. Ambience fills the void, making us feel a certain way when a hero is in danger. Music pushes our emotional and psychological reflexes one way or another. Sound helps us become part of the motion picture. It engages the audience; it envelops us. Sound guides our eyes to what to look for, where to put our focus, and how we are going to feel about the images being presented.
In the film Gravity, for example, there is no sound in space; therefore, the sound effects artist decided to interpret the sounds the characters in the story would hear into the sounds in the film. These are sounds felt inside the suits of the characters, the vibrations they would feel through their bones, objects vibrating toward them. This makes the sounds feel very intimate, as though we are those characters. The sounds thus give focus to what the characters are experiencing, breathing intimate life into the picture. The sound design and the composition are driving the mood, making the overall experience so personal the audience could feel the disorientation, the nausea.
The next step in gathering a deeper understanding of this art form is to talk about how soundtracks are structured, how to go about working with sound designers and the other disciplines. It is true you may never mix or edit your own film, but a basic knowledge of what it does is imperative if you are to understand the complete motion picture. The worst thing in the filmmaking world is an uninformed producer or director. Later in your careers, when you are in a mix stage, you will have to press for creative ideas, whichever side of the mixing board you sit on, and you have to back those ideas up with sound aesthetic and reasoning.
To begin, what is a soundtrack?
A soundtrack is something we experience when we watch a film. A soundtrack is a living, breathing thing, with a life of its own. You need to understand how a soundtrack works, what its elements are, and how it is put together.
Sounds fill speakers all around us that present realistic noises for what we see on screen. Ambience fills the void, making us feel a certain way when a hero is in danger. Music pushes our emotional and psychological reflexes one way or another. Sound helps us become part of the motion picture. It engages the audience; it envelops us. Sound guides our eyes to what to look for, where to put our focus, and how we are going to feel about the images being presented.
In the film Gravity, for example, there is no sound in space; therefore, the sound effects artist decided to interpret the sounds the characters in the story would hear into the sounds in the film. These are sounds felt inside the suits of the characters, the vibrations they would feel through their bones, objects vibrating toward them. This makes the sounds feel very intimate, as though we are those characters. The sounds thus give focus to what the characters are experiencing, breathing intimate life into the picture. The sound design and the composition are driving the mood, making the overall experience so personal the audience could feel the disorientation, the nausea.
Next, we will take a look at the four basic building blocks that make up a soundtrack:
- Dialogue
- Music
- Effects
- Foley
Dialogue
We all know what dialogue is: people talking. But there are three different distinct dialogue elements that make up the dialogue portion of a soundtrack:
PRODUCTION DIALOGUE
When a crew lines up ready to shoot on set, there are a number of artists and technicians who come to do the sound. All the sound (from actors) on set is known as production dialogue. There are, at minimum, three professionals recording the actors' dialogue. These people are the boom operator, the sound recordist, and the production sound mixer.
The boom operator is the person handling the task of making sure that the microphone (or microphones) used in the production are placed in the perfect spot to pick up the actors' voices. These are the people holding the long stick (the boom pole or fish pole) that you see in production photographs. It may also be the job of the boom operator to maintain the equipment and serve as an engineer to fix equipment.
The sound recordist handles the other end of the recording process. Whereas the boom operator has the microphone, the sound recordist usually makes sure that what is recorded is done so properly. That is to say that whatever medium the sound is being recorded to—whether digital audio tape (DAT), reel-to-reel (which rarely happens in this day and age), or to a digital hard drive—the recordist is responsible for making sure the machine for recording works and that the recordings are of a high quality. This is known as quality control or QC. The sound recordist also makes sure the organization of recordings is readable and logical so anyone using the recordings can easily understand where they would go in the soundtrack.
The production sound mixer is the third person dealing with sound. This artist occupies a space somewhere between the sound recordist and the boom operator. This is the individual who manipulates the sound (through a portable mixing board) to make it as clean and audible as possible before it's recorded.
Singin' in the Rain Examples
We all know what dialogue is: people talking. But there are three different distinct dialogue elements that make up the dialogue portion of a soundtrack:
- Production Dialogue
- ADR
- and Loop Group (Walla)
PRODUCTION DIALOGUE
When a crew lines up ready to shoot on set, there are a number of artists and technicians who come to do the sound. All the sound (from actors) on set is known as production dialogue. There are, at minimum, three professionals recording the actors' dialogue. These people are the boom operator, the sound recordist, and the production sound mixer.
The boom operator is the person handling the task of making sure that the microphone (or microphones) used in the production are placed in the perfect spot to pick up the actors' voices. These are the people holding the long stick (the boom pole or fish pole) that you see in production photographs. It may also be the job of the boom operator to maintain the equipment and serve as an engineer to fix equipment.
The sound recordist handles the other end of the recording process. Whereas the boom operator has the microphone, the sound recordist usually makes sure that what is recorded is done so properly. That is to say that whatever medium the sound is being recorded to—whether digital audio tape (DAT), reel-to-reel (which rarely happens in this day and age), or to a digital hard drive—the recordist is responsible for making sure the machine for recording works and that the recordings are of a high quality. This is known as quality control or QC. The sound recordist also makes sure the organization of recordings is readable and logical so anyone using the recordings can easily understand where they would go in the soundtrack.
The production sound mixer is the third person dealing with sound. This artist occupies a space somewhere between the sound recordist and the boom operator. This is the individual who manipulates the sound (through a portable mixing board) to make it as clean and audible as possible before it's recorded.
Singin' in the Rain Examples
In this clip, you'll see the result of silent film actors who have begun to transition to talkies and are not fully understanding the importance of speaking clearly into microphones.
In this clip, you'll see the result of mics being placed on clothing, picking up all the sounds that would now be edited out of the picture. As we'll see, the voice of the main actress is so awful, the producers eventually hire a double to sing for her and speak at times to cover her horrible accent and high pitch.
ADR
ADR stands for automated dialogue replacement.
Sometimes the audio from the production track is unusable. In fact, because of many of today's production necessities (generators, noisy cameras, unpredictable location sounds, and so forth), ADR is actually used for a good percentage of dialogue in motion pictures. For example, the set of the movie Titanic was so noisy (there was constant construction on the 1/3 scale ship) that much of all the dialogue in the film was recorded in a studio as ADR.
With ADR, the unusable production dialogue is used to create a guide track. The actor then watches scenes from the film and listens to the guide track, delivering the lines in an exactly matching performance.
Continuing with Singin' in the Rain, this clip demonstrates the use of ADR to cover the actor's high-pitched voice and terrible accent:
ADR stands for automated dialogue replacement.
Sometimes the audio from the production track is unusable. In fact, because of many of today's production necessities (generators, noisy cameras, unpredictable location sounds, and so forth), ADR is actually used for a good percentage of dialogue in motion pictures. For example, the set of the movie Titanic was so noisy (there was constant construction on the 1/3 scale ship) that much of all the dialogue in the film was recorded in a studio as ADR.
With ADR, the unusable production dialogue is used to create a guide track. The actor then watches scenes from the film and listens to the guide track, delivering the lines in an exactly matching performance.
Continuing with Singin' in the Rain, this clip demonstrates the use of ADR to cover the actor's high-pitched voice and terrible accent:
LOOP GROUP
A loop group (or walla) is a recording of an ad-libbed conversation between a group of actors played back at a certain volume that blends into the background. The sound from this track fills the space, making it more three dimensional and adding yet another layer of ambient realism.
As an example, imagine the following scene from a fictitious film: Two main characters, a couple, are having a conversation during a cocktail party. Their conversation is the main dialogue, while we hear the fluttering murmurs of background conversations from other guests. Those background conversations are recorded as a loop group.
A loop group (or walla) is a recording of an ad-libbed conversation between a group of actors played back at a certain volume that blends into the background. The sound from this track fills the space, making it more three dimensional and adding yet another layer of ambient realism.
As an example, imagine the following scene from a fictitious film: Two main characters, a couple, are having a conversation during a cocktail party. Their conversation is the main dialogue, while we hear the fluttering murmurs of background conversations from other guests. Those background conversations are recorded as a loop group.
Music
Music can be broken down into two subcategories—song and score.
SONG
Song, of course, is any music with lyrics that is either recorded or found for a specific movie. Take for instance the songs in the movie Batman (1989), written by Prince for inclusion in the music soundtrack. Prince did not, however, write the incidental music that plays on the emotions of the audience. Danny Elfman (who composed songs for the film Weird Science (1985) along with his group Oingo Boingo) wrote the score for Batman.
SCORE
Score is the non-lyrical part of music, specifically written for a film, that closely follows the plot or action. Score can have strong identification to a film just as songs can. We have all experienced the symphonic score of various films and the electronic keyboard scores of horror movies. If you've ever seen John Carpenter's Halloween, you'll know the electronic score. Or those two famous notes in Jaws. James Bond films, or another Danny Elfman film, Beetlejuice. The Incredibles is a good example of action and music playing on each other.
Not every film has both song and score. Some may omit one or the other to guide the audience toward a greater sense of realism. It helps to understand this by thinking about our own lives—we, of course, don't have a soundtrack playing behind us constantly, but in a film it can be used for artistic expression.
Film music can be diegetic (music as heard from the characters inside the scene) and non-diegetic (sound that does not have a visible source on the screen and is not perceived by the audience to be heard by the characters).
Another good example of use (or non-use) of score and song is the film Saving Private Ryan. The entire scene of the assault on Omaha Beach has no music in it. This added reality draws the viewers into believing what is happening on screen. In fact, in this two hour and forty-five minute film, there are only about 20 minutes that are scored. Director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams did not want to give the battles any false sense of glory. In this example, once again we find that sometimes the "negative space" created is a powerful tool. It also helps bring the sound effects more to the forefront of our listening.
Music can be broken down into two subcategories—song and score.
SONG
Song, of course, is any music with lyrics that is either recorded or found for a specific movie. Take for instance the songs in the movie Batman (1989), written by Prince for inclusion in the music soundtrack. Prince did not, however, write the incidental music that plays on the emotions of the audience. Danny Elfman (who composed songs for the film Weird Science (1985) along with his group Oingo Boingo) wrote the score for Batman.
SCORE
Score is the non-lyrical part of music, specifically written for a film, that closely follows the plot or action. Score can have strong identification to a film just as songs can. We have all experienced the symphonic score of various films and the electronic keyboard scores of horror movies. If you've ever seen John Carpenter's Halloween, you'll know the electronic score. Or those two famous notes in Jaws. James Bond films, or another Danny Elfman film, Beetlejuice. The Incredibles is a good example of action and music playing on each other.
Not every film has both song and score. Some may omit one or the other to guide the audience toward a greater sense of realism. It helps to understand this by thinking about our own lives—we, of course, don't have a soundtrack playing behind us constantly, but in a film it can be used for artistic expression.
Film music can be diegetic (music as heard from the characters inside the scene) and non-diegetic (sound that does not have a visible source on the screen and is not perceived by the audience to be heard by the characters).
Another good example of use (or non-use) of score and song is the film Saving Private Ryan. The entire scene of the assault on Omaha Beach has no music in it. This added reality draws the viewers into believing what is happening on screen. In fact, in this two hour and forty-five minute film, there are only about 20 minutes that are scored. Director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams did not want to give the battles any false sense of glory. In this example, once again we find that sometimes the "negative space" created is a powerful tool. It also helps bring the sound effects more to the forefront of our listening.
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SOUND EFFECTS
Sound effects can really make or break a soundtrack of a film. We can describe sound effects by breaking them into three subcategories:
Ambience (or background) sets the scene for the audience. It can be anywhere: a train station, a park, a battlefield, a hostile planet. We can describe ambience as the wide-angle lens of sound effects.
If ambience is the wide-angle lens of the sound world, then hard effects are the zoom lenses. They really, literally can be anything—from gunshots to giraffes, cars to can openers. What is most important about hard effects is that each sound is broken down into as many detailed pieces as possible.
The more detail you put into your soundtrack, and the more small parts you have, the more opportunity there is to control what people are listening to. Thus, you have more control over what you are trying to pass off as reality.
Sound design is a little more difficult to describe. We have been talking about sounds that reflect the reality of the picture so far. Sound design, in contrast, represents the sounds that reflect emotional or psychological states. But these sounds are not music, because music has rhythm and tempo. Sound design is also based on a theory that certain sounds at certain frequencies affect the human body in physiological ways. Certain sounds tend to make us feel warm, cold, nauseated, and so forth.
Sound effects can really make or break a soundtrack of a film. We can describe sound effects by breaking them into three subcategories:
- ambience (or background)
- hard effects
- sound design
Ambience (or background) sets the scene for the audience. It can be anywhere: a train station, a park, a battlefield, a hostile planet. We can describe ambience as the wide-angle lens of sound effects.
If ambience is the wide-angle lens of the sound world, then hard effects are the zoom lenses. They really, literally can be anything—from gunshots to giraffes, cars to can openers. What is most important about hard effects is that each sound is broken down into as many detailed pieces as possible.
The more detail you put into your soundtrack, and the more small parts you have, the more opportunity there is to control what people are listening to. Thus, you have more control over what you are trying to pass off as reality.
Sound design is a little more difficult to describe. We have been talking about sounds that reflect the reality of the picture so far. Sound design, in contrast, represents the sounds that reflect emotional or psychological states. But these sounds are not music, because music has rhythm and tempo. Sound design is also based on a theory that certain sounds at certain frequencies affect the human body in physiological ways. Certain sounds tend to make us feel warm, cold, nauseated, and so forth.
FOLEY
Foley is the last of the major elements in sound. But it is by no means the least. Foley is the unsung hero of sound in film, and without it we would have a far less interesting soundtrack. Foley is comprised of the sounds that are made by the characters in the film, excluding dialogue. Walking, manipulating objects, and the swoosh of clothing all belong under the heading of Foley.
FOLEY FEET
First there is what is referred to as Foley Feet. This refers to any time that a character walks, runs, hops, crawls, or shifts weight, and it has to be recorded by a Foley artist in the studio. From astronauts walking on the silty surface of the moon to imaginary creatures with five legs stomping around a dungeon, a Foley artist will be performing to create that sound.
Like sound creators in the old-time radio plays, Foley artists have a wide selection of props to help act out a scene. They will watch a picture projected into their studio and literally walk along with the people on film to make sure that all of the characters' movements get recorded.
Get up from your chair. Take a walk across the room. Are you barefoot? Do you have on slippers, shoes, sneakers, or boots? Is your floor hardwood slats or parquet? Concrete or wall-to-wall carpeting? Linoleum or tile? When you walk, listen to the sound of your feet. Each detail has to be reproduced in the Foley studio.
FOLEY PROPS
Foley Props deal with any sound a character would make by holding or manipulating objects—for example, every time a character holds a gun, knife, garden hose, and so forth. Also, every time a character types on a keyboard or scratches his nose, it would be recorded on the Foley stage.
FOLEY CLOTH
Thirdly, Foley Cloth is recorded and edited into the soundtrack. Take a second and think about a person walking down a hallway. Then specifically think about what kind of pants he or she is wearing: What kind of sound would it make if he was wearing blue jeans? What kind of sound would she make by walking in a pair of corduroys? How would that sound differ if he or she had leather chaps on? These questions, believe it or not, are answered in the Foley studio. Even the sound of someone throwing back the bed sheets should be recorded and mixed into the soundtrack.
Foley is usually not very loud; in fact, it can be buried under all the gunfire and dinosaur noises. Without it, however, a dimensional quality is lost and the soundtrack becomes thin. Foley becomes more noticeable when it isn't there. Or, perhaps it should be said that the lack of Foley makes the soundtrack noticeably bad.
Foley is the last of the major elements in sound. But it is by no means the least. Foley is the unsung hero of sound in film, and without it we would have a far less interesting soundtrack. Foley is comprised of the sounds that are made by the characters in the film, excluding dialogue. Walking, manipulating objects, and the swoosh of clothing all belong under the heading of Foley.
FOLEY FEET
First there is what is referred to as Foley Feet. This refers to any time that a character walks, runs, hops, crawls, or shifts weight, and it has to be recorded by a Foley artist in the studio. From astronauts walking on the silty surface of the moon to imaginary creatures with five legs stomping around a dungeon, a Foley artist will be performing to create that sound.
Like sound creators in the old-time radio plays, Foley artists have a wide selection of props to help act out a scene. They will watch a picture projected into their studio and literally walk along with the people on film to make sure that all of the characters' movements get recorded.
Get up from your chair. Take a walk across the room. Are you barefoot? Do you have on slippers, shoes, sneakers, or boots? Is your floor hardwood slats or parquet? Concrete or wall-to-wall carpeting? Linoleum or tile? When you walk, listen to the sound of your feet. Each detail has to be reproduced in the Foley studio.
FOLEY PROPS
Foley Props deal with any sound a character would make by holding or manipulating objects—for example, every time a character holds a gun, knife, garden hose, and so forth. Also, every time a character types on a keyboard or scratches his nose, it would be recorded on the Foley stage.
FOLEY CLOTH
Thirdly, Foley Cloth is recorded and edited into the soundtrack. Take a second and think about a person walking down a hallway. Then specifically think about what kind of pants he or she is wearing: What kind of sound would it make if he was wearing blue jeans? What kind of sound would she make by walking in a pair of corduroys? How would that sound differ if he or she had leather chaps on? These questions, believe it or not, are answered in the Foley studio. Even the sound of someone throwing back the bed sheets should be recorded and mixed into the soundtrack.
Foley is usually not very loud; in fact, it can be buried under all the gunfire and dinosaur noises. Without it, however, a dimensional quality is lost and the soundtrack becomes thin. Foley becomes more noticeable when it isn't there. Or, perhaps it should be said that the lack of Foley makes the soundtrack noticeably bad.
Sound Designing
The following points define what some good sound design can do. More specifically, it is a good working list of things to look for as we explore more films.
Sound is used to...
Suggest a mood. As we have discussed, sound can play with our emotions and set the emotional tone for a scene.
Set a pace. Music is a good way to do this. Just think of the difference between Mozart and Metallica.
Indicate a geographical setting. If you were in the Red Square in Moscow, it would certainly sound different from Times Square in Manhattan.
Indicate an historical period. A Revolutionary War battlefield sounds different from a battlefield during World War II.
Clarify the plot. An emotional moment will have its own sound. For example, fear sounds different from anger.
Define characters. Darth Vader's "Imperial March" is his signifying musical theme—you know he's about to enter the room when it's played.
Connect otherwise unconnected elements. Consider clues in a mystery that, when produced on screen, have a similar sound attached to them. It provides the audience with subtle clues.
Heighten or diminish realism. The creation of realism is all in the details of the smallest pieces that are put together.
Heighten or diminish ambiguity. You can take a dark room and make the audience feel like it knows what's happening by providing nothing but aural information.
Draw attention to or away from details. You can do this by enhancing the sound of a certain item. The loud ticking of a clock would be a good example.
Indicate changes in time. What if you were to take that same clock and run it ahead five hours? That could be indicated with some weird sound design, maybe super-fast ticking.
Smooth abrupt shot changes. When pictures are edited, the abrupt change from one shot to another is usually covered with sound. This makes the eye feel as if the transition is smoother than it is.
Startle or sooth. A sharp piercing cry from a dark room can make you jump, whereas the low murmuring of a cat purring is likely to make you feel very relaxed.
Describe an acoustic space. A baseball field sounds different from a basketball court. A bedroom sounds different from a bathroom. If you were to speak in your room, the sound would probably be a bit flat. But in a bathroom, in contrast, the sound would reverberate off the many hard surfaces walls.
The following points define what some good sound design can do. More specifically, it is a good working list of things to look for as we explore more films.
Sound is used to...
Suggest a mood. As we have discussed, sound can play with our emotions and set the emotional tone for a scene.
Set a pace. Music is a good way to do this. Just think of the difference between Mozart and Metallica.
Indicate a geographical setting. If you were in the Red Square in Moscow, it would certainly sound different from Times Square in Manhattan.
Indicate an historical period. A Revolutionary War battlefield sounds different from a battlefield during World War II.
Clarify the plot. An emotional moment will have its own sound. For example, fear sounds different from anger.
Define characters. Darth Vader's "Imperial March" is his signifying musical theme—you know he's about to enter the room when it's played.
Connect otherwise unconnected elements. Consider clues in a mystery that, when produced on screen, have a similar sound attached to them. It provides the audience with subtle clues.
Heighten or diminish realism. The creation of realism is all in the details of the smallest pieces that are put together.
Heighten or diminish ambiguity. You can take a dark room and make the audience feel like it knows what's happening by providing nothing but aural information.
Draw attention to or away from details. You can do this by enhancing the sound of a certain item. The loud ticking of a clock would be a good example.
Indicate changes in time. What if you were to take that same clock and run it ahead five hours? That could be indicated with some weird sound design, maybe super-fast ticking.
Smooth abrupt shot changes. When pictures are edited, the abrupt change from one shot to another is usually covered with sound. This makes the eye feel as if the transition is smoother than it is.
Startle or sooth. A sharp piercing cry from a dark room can make you jump, whereas the low murmuring of a cat purring is likely to make you feel very relaxed.
Describe an acoustic space. A baseball field sounds different from a basketball court. A bedroom sounds different from a bathroom. If you were to speak in your room, the sound would probably be a bit flat. But in a bathroom, in contrast, the sound would reverberate off the many hard surfaces walls.
Conclusion
In this lecture we talked about the importance of sound in film, the people who make up the film's sound department, the history of film sound, the different parts of a soundtrack, and how sound can be used to direct the audience's emotions and attentions.
Sound Design Production Appreciation
Interstellar - Critical Listening Lab #2
After watching the Insterstellar video, complete the Critical Listening lab assignment in Blackboard.