Sound in film masterclass

 Sound is very important in film and has a great impact in the storytelling of the film. There is two types of sound in film: Diegetic sound, and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is sound that is involved in the films world, that the characters can hear. It can appear on or off screen, like a dog barking or other forms of sound effects. Non-diegetic sound is sound that is added over the top of film, which we hear not as a part of the world in the film. This includes soundtracks (film scores), and narration.

 

Layers of sound:

 

-   Ambient sound

-   Dialogue (try to limit dialogue, as actors find acting for screen very difficult, and so if we limit the dialogue not only can we tell the story with the imaging and other forms of sound, but we can also make it easier and better for the actors, and therefore make the film better entirely)

-   Music – non diegetic and diegetic (whether its ambient or added over)

-   Foley sound (also known as sound effects)

-   Voice over (again can be non-diegetic or diegetic)

 

In the soundtrack, there is usually a motif (sequence) in which parts of or even the rest of the composition is based off of. For example, in Star Wars, the big jump from the tonic to the dominant in the piece is very recognisable and is used throughout that theme in all of the films. Other examples include the Indiana Jones theme, Avengers, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

I am going to try and create a soundtrack for the sequence that I filmed in my previous blog post. I am going to use logic pro to accompany my master shot with a soundtrack and maybe some non-diegetic sound effects too.