INVESTIGATING AUDIO PRODUCTION
Why is sound important?
Sound is important for the obvious reasons of helping us determine what we can see. Sound can tell someone about a certain subject, wether thats a person, a object or a setting. Its important as it can move us in ways visuals can't, certain combinations of sounds and visuals evoke what neither can do alone.
Before you are born you are surrounded by darkness and the first sense you develope is sound, you start to hear sounds after around 6-7 months in the womb like your mothers heart beat, bodily sounds, music being played and loud noices coming from the immidiate vicinity.
Saving Private Ryan
One example of sound design is the 'Saving Private Ryan' opeining scene, the scene is packed with diegetic sounds. Some of these sounds would have been added in as a sound affect, like the gun shots at around 1:57 minutes. These are known as 'diegetic sounds' as it is inbedded into the scene, the sound it being made by a person. There are a lot of close ups in this scene which brings focus to the specific sound or dialogue being made, the opening shot showed the waves on the beach to focus on the waves sound and also allow the sound to show the setting.
Diegetic and Non- Diegetic Sound
The word 'Diegetic' means to come from the world of a story. So what is the difference between 'Diegetic' and 'Non-Digetic' sound? Well Diegetic sound is sound that is percieved as being made by an object or person on screen and within the scene's 'univerce'. So like any type of sound effect or dialogue is an example of diegetic sound. Then Non-Diegetic sound is is sound that takes place outside of the scene's 'universe' and has been added ontop, like a narrator in a film for example.
If we were to expand diegetic sound we would have 'Internal' and 'External'. 'Internal diegetic sound' is sound within the world of the characters that they can hear and 'External diegetic sound' is sound within a single characers mind that only they can hear.
Movement of Sound in Production
There are two types of states that your audio could be in when its on screen, static/ stationary and moving. 'Panning referes either to the stationary position of a sound (to the left or to the right) or the movement of a sound (from left to right or right to left). Panning helps create a immersive and wide sound feild, kind of like an 8D audio as it spreads the sound creating a sound bubble around your head. Panning helps position certain objects or people on screen. If an actor is on the right side of the screen while talking the sound must be coming from the right side!
Dialogue/ voices and mechanical objects are types of stationary audios, the thing making the sound has to be non-moving within the frame. Usually mechanical objects like cars and planes and dialogue are also moving audios.
Take the opening title screen from the film 'Baby Driver' for example, the scene is like one big panning shot following the character throough the street. Throughout the pannning shot there is background noises like subtle dialogue from background characters and moving cars. These background sounds are moving from left to right depending on where abouts they are to the character, as in this scene we are hearing from the perspective of the character.
Ambient Sound
Ambient and background sounds are all your audio elements which take place behind your main elements like dialogue. It can also be used to 'tie together' your sounds by filling in the gaps and providing a more 'even' and coherent background.
My examples of Ambient Sound
I used my 'Google Home Speaker' to create and ambient background noise. I filmed this using my Iphone 'VoiceNotes' app, I think the quality is pretty good considering i didn't have an actual microphone.
As i walked to the shop I audio recorded the area, you can hear the muffled wind and the cars when they go past. I also filmed this on my IPhone using the 'VoiceNotes' app, but I think this one is a lower quality as it came out quite muffled.
I audio recorded myself typing/ using my laptop. For a long audio it is very repetative, it is kind of satisfying though! Again i recorded this on my IPhone using the 'VoiceNotes' app, it came out very well and its just repetative.
Sound Bridges
A sound bridge is a traditional device used in film to connect one visual scene to another through sound. At its most basic, a sound bridge leads an audience in or out of a scene.
This scene from 'The Matrix' is a great example of a sound bridge, the scenes are linked through a rhythmic element from the scenes music soundtrack morphs into the alarm clock sound in the next scene joining the two scenes together.
Dialogue
Dialogue can be used in many ways, a single voice dialogue, multiple voice conversation, bacground sound, voice narrator, ADR etc. ADR stands for 'Automatic Dialogue Replacement' it is a voice over which has been re-recorded in the studio after the film shoot.
Automatic Dialogue Replacement
A dialogue may need to be replaced due to unwanted background noises like wind, enviroment, equiptment noise. It could also be replaced to change original lines recorded on set to help make a clearer narrative or to improve understandability (e.g. correct accent/ diction). A lot of the times audio is replaced to use a better singer if the actor is unable to deliver a good enough performance, this dialogue replacement is used a lot and one big example is in 'High School Musical' for the first movie Zac Efron didn't sing, instead Drew Seeley did.
To replace an audio the Production Sound Mixer/ Location Sound Recordist would record the audio, then the ADR editor reviews the audio in the scene then decides what needs to be replaced. The actor would rerecord the audio while reviewing the scene. This can be either done in a studio or sometimes on location if practical.
Uses of Effects in Media Production
What is 'Foley Sound Design'? Foley sound design is sound effects which have been created using everyday objects then added into a film/ video soundtrack. For example fruit and veg can be used for breaking bone sounds, hitting a book can be a punch and stable gun could be a gun.
My examples -
Soundscapes
City walk/ Restraunt soundscape
Loud beach
Deadspace
Music
When music is used in television/ film the soundtrack music can be broken down in to a few components...
Starting with 'Tempo', tempo is the speed of a piece of music and is measured in beats per minute (BPM). The tempo of a piece of music can often enhance a scene or a piece of media... Slow tempo music - gentle classic/ hip-hop (70- 80 BPM), Mid- tempo music - 90- 100 BPM and Fast tempo music - dance/ drum n base/ rock (130 BPM).
'Dynamics' refer to "Dynamic Range", this is the ratio of levels of intensity of music from quiet/ gentle through to loud/ agressive. A horror film jump scare is a great example of usage of audio dynamic range.
'Rhythm' is the pulse of heartbeat of a peice of music, this normally generated by the drums in a track, but can also be provided by other instruments. For example, "Jaws" theme - John Williams: Menacing cello.
'Melody' is the "tune" or the "hook" that people remember most or accosiate with a piece of music. In film terms when a theme is accosiated with a character, this is called a LEITMOTIF. For example, most starwars characters have one and the joker in Batman has one.
The 'Texture' of music refers to the combonation of sounds that go together. The texture of a piece of music can normally be judged on how many layers it has. For example, 'Dunkirk' has three layers which appear to consistantly rise pitch.
'Contrapuntal/ counterpoint Music' is where the music you have in a scene is the polar opposite of what you would expect, for example a an action scene having slow/ emotional music.
'Pleonastic Music' is a style of music that copies the mood or the actions shown through the images. For example, a horror film would typically have exaggerated 'scary' music/ sonic themes which are designed to match whats happening on screen.
ADR Project
For this project we were asked to use this video some other students recorded and add the voicover and some sound effects. I did this by downlading a sound libary along with the voicover then putting them into "Adobe Audition". I used Audition to edit the voice over and add any sound effects I felt were necessary, then I used "Adobe Premier Pro" to add this sound I had created to the original video, making sure it all lined up with the initial voice.
While I was working on this I had my doubts about a few parts and there was a few things I struggled with, like lining up certain parts, also some of the sound editing parts. Once I was done I felt a bit better about the project and how it eventualy turned out. I think my personal goals made an impact as I had higher expectations.
I think the voice over line up went well, it was actually easier than I thought it would be to add the sound up with the mouths movements. Some parts of my sound editing like the camera shot and the "thud" sound effects were pretty good. But I didn't think the footsteps/ running effects went as well as I wanted them to. I found slowing down and lining up the footsteps a little dificult, I think it is defiently something I can work on improving.
I could improve by finding a footstep sound effect, or even create my own one, that fits my scene much better and would be easier to line up. If I was to do this project again I would maybe create some of my own sounds to edit and add. Also I think some music could have been added maybe just to add something to some of the quieter parts.
Scene Analysis (Sound)
Through out this scene there is a lot of dialogue. For the most of it the dialogue is normal conversation between the characters, which was most likely just spoken on set. However, there is a little bit of muffled background chatter near to the start of the scene which would have been added into the scene as a sound effect.
There is quite a few examples of ambient sound throughout this scene, one being a tiny bit of background music. A few other examples of ambient sound wound be the chatter and footsteps going on in the background of the scene. These sounds would have all been added into the scene after filming.
There wasnt much music in this scene only a tiny clip of it around 50 seconds in, it normalised the scene for a couple of seconds then there is some intese music/ sounds to show the tension of the scene. At the start of the scene while there is some dialogue there is some intense background music which is again used to show the tension in the conversation.
The majority of sound in this scene is most likely a sound effect, from loud footsteps in heels to bones crunching. Some of the sound effects, including the intence throwing or the thud when someone smacks the ground I would say are from the sound libary, they're basic swooshin and banging noises. However, the bone cruching, intense breathing, footsteps and wood breaking sounds through out this scene are probably Foley sounds.
The sounds of characters appearing/ disapearing come from different areas, at one point a character appeared on the rightside of the camera, behind the main character, making the sound come out on the right side. Then when he disappears another character appears on the left side of the camera, again behind the character, making the sound now come out the left side. I would say the footsteps are reverbed, they are very loud, I think they were made to be exaggerated and slightly reverberated to allow the viewer to get a sense of the enviroment they're in.
Digectic sound is percieved as being made by an object or person, so all dialogue and sound effects like the footsteps and thuds within the scene are digectic sounds. Non-Digetic sound is a sound that takes place outside the scene, so all the music added to intensify the scene are non-digetic sounds.
Scene Analysis 2 (Sound)
This scene quite a bit of dialogue, most of it being a voice over which would have obviously been added in after filming. There is some conversation around one minute into the scene and near the end which would have probably just been recorded during filming on the set. There is muffled background chatter in Grand Central and during the party at the end. These background voices would have been added in as a sound effect.
There are a few examples of ambient sounds through out this opening scene, one being at the very start. There is a montage of New York/ the area this is set which has some upbeat music that would have been added in after filming. During this montage there are background noises like trains going past and whisteling which would have also been added in as a sound effect after filming. The music continues as a background sound as the voice over starts.
There were two songs used in this scene, both being quite upbeat. The song at the very start is called "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John. I think they might have used this song to show the vibes of the Upper East Side. The second song they used is called "If Its Lovin' That You Want" by Rhianna, this song just sets the mood for a party.
There wasnt a massive amount of sound effects during this scene, only really minor sounds. Most these sound effects, like the camera shutter, trains and phone beeps, were most likley from a sound libary, there wasnt any foley sounds.
All these sounds are pretty straight forward, they dont move from ear to ear or create any location on camera, they always come through both speakers. The camera follows the character as she walks while the voiceover is going on, this character obviosly cant hear the voice so it instantly shows a story is being told about this character. Some reverb may have been added to help the tiny sound effects, like the camera shutter, be more heard in the enviroment theyre in.
The digetic sounds that is percieved as being made by an object or person are sounds like phone buzzing and dialogue, also the music during the party as the characters would be able to hear it. Non-digetic sounds that take place outside the scene like the voice over and the music in the station that have been added in but the characters cant hear.