sound - csun.edumed61203/film art sound.pdf · 3. non-diegetic sound • non-diegetic sound: comes...
TRANSCRIPT
SOUND
ESSENTIALCONCEPTS
Whatissoundincinema?
• Flexible&widerangingtechnique
• Itshapesourunderstandingofafilm
• Itdirectsourattention
• Isnotsimplyanaccompanimenttotherealbasisofcinema,themovingimages
• Whethernoticedornot,soundisapowerfulfilmtechnique
• Itcanactivelyshapehowweperceive&interprettheimage
• Itgivesanewvaluetosilence
Considerthatsound…
• Withtheintroductionofsoundcinema,theinfinityofvisualpossibilitieswasjoinedby theinfinityofacousticevents
• Ithasasmanycreativepossibilitiesasediting
• Itisnotenoughtoname&classify.Itisimportanttoexaminehowthetypesofsoundfunctioninthetotalfilm
Threetypesofsoundinfilm
• Speech• Music• Soundeffects
Threeaspectsoffilmsound
I.Fundamentalsofsound– Perceptualproperties– Selection,alteration,combination
II.Dimensionsoffilmsound
– Rhythm– Fidelity– Space– Time
III.Functionsoffilmsound
Fundamentalsoffilmsound
1.Perceptualproperties
• Severalpropertiesarefamiliarfromeverydayexperience:loudness,pitch,timbre
• Loudness:resultsfromvibrationsintheair.Filmsoundconstantlymanipulatesvolume.Alsorelatedtoperceiveddistance
• Pitch:theperceived“highness”or“lowness”ofthesound–e.g.,violinsplayedatextraordinarilyhighpitchintheshowersceneofPsycho–shrilleffect
1.Perceptualproperties-cont.
• Timbre:tonequality,or“color”.Itdescribesthe“feel”ofasound–e.g.,anasalvoice,amellowtoneIneverydaylife,therecognitionofafamiliarsoundislargelyamatterofvariousaspectsoftimbre
Loudness,pitch&timbreinteracttodefinethe
overallsonictextureofafilm
2.Selection,alteration&combination
• Speech,music&soundeffectsareselected&combinedforspecificfunctionswithinfilms
• Thesoundtrackdemandsasmuchchoice&controlasdoesthevisualtrack
• Sometimesthesoundtrackisconceivedbeforetheimagetrack–e.g.studio-animatedcartoons,sothatfiguresmaybesynchronizedwithsound,framebyframe.BugsBunny&DaffyDuckcartoons
2.Selection,alteration,combination-cont
• Soundeffectsareusuallycentraltoactionsequences
• Musiccandominatedancescenes,transitionsequences,oremotion-ladenmomentswithoutdialogue
• Increatingasoundtrack,thefilmmakermustselectsoundsthatwillfulfillaparticular
• Likethecameralens,themicrophonedoesnotautomaticallyfilteroutwhatisdistracting
2.Selection,alteration,combination– cont
• Filmsoundisnormallyreprocessedtoyieldexactlythequalitiesdesired
• A“dryrecording”ofthesoundinafairlynonreflectivespacewillbemanipulatedelectronicallytoyieldthedesiredeffect–e.g.,thevoiceofsomeoneonthephoneistreatedwithfilterstomakeitmoretiny&muffled
• Therhythm,melody,harmony&instrumentationof
themusiccanstronglyaffecttheviewer’semotionalreactions
II.Dimensionsoffilmsound
Thewayinwhichthesoundsrelatetootherfilmelementsgivesthemseveralotherdimensions:
• Rhythm• Fidelity• Space• Time
Thesecategoriesrevealthatsoundinfilmoffersagreat
manycreativepossibilitiestothefilmmaker
II.Dimensionsoffilmsound
1.Rhythm
• Rhythminvolvesabeat,orpulse,apace,ortempo,andapatternofaccents,orstronger&weakerbeats
• Allthesefeaturesaremostrecognizableinfilmmusic,sincebeat,tempo&accentarebasiccompositionalfeatures
1.Rhythm-cont
• Themostcommontendencyisforthefilmmakertomatchvisual&sonicrhythmstoeachother
• Inthe1930sanimatedfilmsofWaltDisney,thecharactersoftenmoveinexactsynchronizationwiththemusic,evenwhentheyarenotdancing
1.Rhythm-cont
Someinterestingexampleofrhythminfilm:
TheBandConcert(1935)DisneycartoonAlexanderNevsky(1938)dir.SergeiEisensteinTheLastoftheMohicans(1992)dir.MichaelMannBabyDriver(2017)dir.EdgarWrightIfBealeStreetCouldTalk(2018)dir.BarryJenkins
II.Dimensionsoffilmsound
2.Fidelity
• Fidelityreferstotheextenttowhichthesoundisfaithfultothesourceasweconceiveit-e.g.,abarkandadog
• Whenwebecomeawarethatasoundisunfaithfultoitssource,thatawarenessisusuallyusedforcomiceffect-e.g.thefilmsofFrenchcomedianJacquesTati
II.Dimensionsofsound
3.Soundinspace• Soundhasaspatialdimensionbecauseitcomes
fromasource
• Diegeticsound:itssourceisinthestoryworld–e.g.,soundsmadebyobjectsinthestory,wordsspokenbycharacters,musiccomingfrominstrumentsplayedonscreen,orheardfromdevices(radio,television,computer,etc)
3.Non-diegeticsound
• Non-diegeticsound:comesfromasourceoutsidethestoryworld.Musicaddedtoenhancethefilm’sactionisthemostcommontype
• Non-diegeticmeans“notfromtheworldofthestory”.Forexample,apieceofmusicusedtoenhanceemotionsorsuspense,inthesoundtrack,notaspartofwhatishappeningonthescreen
3.Soundinspace-cont
• Diegeticsoundcanbeeitheronscreenoroffscreen,dependingonwhetheritssourceiswithintheframeoroutsidetheframe
• AmericanGraffiti(1973)playsheavilyonthedistinctionbetweendiegeticandno-ndiegeticmusic
• Theuseofsoundtoenteracharacter’smindissocommonthatweneedtodistinguishbetweeninternal&externaldiegeticsound
3.Soundinspace-cont
Twointerestingcases:• ThesoliloquiesofHamlet,intheLaurenceOlivier
1948version:internaldiegeticsound–we“hear”thethoughtsofHamlet,comingfrom“inside”hismind
• WingsofDesire(1987):theangelscanaccesstheinternaldiegeticsoundoftheinhabitantsofBerlin
3.Soundinspace-summary
Soundmaybe diegetic–inthestoryspace non-diegetic–outsidethestoryspace
Ifitisdiegetic,itcanbe onscreen offscreen
And internal(“subjective”)
external(“objective”)
3.Soundinspace-examples
• Stagecoach(1939)dir.JohnFord• TheMagnificentAmbersons(1942)dir.OrsonWelles• Who’sMindingtheStore?(1963)dir.FrankTashlin• StarWars(1977)dir.GeorgeLucas• ApocalypseNow(1979)dir.FrancisCoppola• Unstoppable(2010)dir.TonyScott• Dunkirk(2017)dir.ChristopherNolan
II.Dimensionsofsound
4.Time
• Soundalsopermitsthefilmmakertorepresenttimeinvariousways
• Thisisbecausethetimerepresentedonthesoundtrackmayormaynotbethesameasthatrepresentedintheimage
• Synchronoussound–matchingsoundwithimageinprojection
4.Soundintime
Withrespecttotheimageonscreen,soundcanbe:
1.Simultaneousinstorywithimage Themostcommontemporalrelationwhich soundhasinfictionfilms.Noise,music,or
speechthatcomesfromthespaceofthe storyoccursatthesametimeastheimage.
Itcanbeexternal(objective)orinternal (subjective)
2.Earlierinthestorythanimage3.Laterinstorythanimage
4.Soundintime-Sonicflashback
Itispossibleforthesoundweheartooccurearlierorlaterinthestorythantheeventswhichweseeintheimage.Itisnon-simultaneouswiththeactiononthescreen
ThemostcommonexampleisthesonicflashbackInasonicflashback,weseeacharacteronscreenin
thepresentbuthearanothercharacter’svoicefromanearliersceneThissonicfashbackcanhaveanexternalorinternalsource
4.Soundintime–Non-diegeticsound
Mostnon-diegeticsoundhasnorelevanttemporal
relationshiptothestoryButoccasionallythefilmmakermayusenon-diegetic
soundthathasadefinedtemporalrelationshiptothestory,e.g.,OrsonWelles’narrationinTheMagnificentAmbersons(1942)speaksoftheactionashavinghappenedinalong-vanishederaofAmericanhistory
4.Soundintime-cont
Soundbridge–atransitionaldevicebywhichthesoundfromthenextscenetobeginwhiletheimagesofthelastonearestillonthescreen
InM(1931,FritzLang),theinspectorspeaksofthe
pencilinthewindowsillandthefilmcutstothewindowsill.Theburglarspeaksoftheabandonnedfactory,andthefilmcutstothefactory
II.Dimensionsofsound
• Bybecomingawareoftherichrangeofpossibilities,wearelesslikelytotakeafilm’ssoundtrckforgranted,&aremorelikelytonoticeunusualsoundmanipulations–e.g.,TheConversation(1974)dir.FrancisCoppola
• Wequicklylearntodistinguishbetweeninternal&external,diegetic&non-diegetic,simultaneous
&non-simultaneous
Useofsoundinfilm-examples
TheJazzSinger(1927)dir.AlanCroslandLoveMeTonight(1932)dir.RoubenMamoulianModernTimes(1936)dir.CharlieChaplinWomanoftheYear(1942)dir.GeorgeStevensThePirate(1948)dir.VincenteMinelliFantasia(1940)DisneystudiosSingin’intheRain(1952)dir.StanleyDonenLesvacancesdeM.Hulot(1953)ThreeColors:Blue(1993)TheThinRedLine(1998)dir.TerrenceMalickRoadtoPerdition(2002)dir.SamMendes
Jobsinsoundforfilms
• Sounddesigner• Boomoperator• Fieldrecordist• Soundeditor• Foleyartist• Filmcomposer• Soundmixer• Scoringmixer• Re-recordingmixer• Engineer
Source
ThisoutlinefollowstheconceptsoneditingdevelopedbyDavidBordwell&KristinThompsonintheirFilmArt,AnIntroduction(2001)Thelistoffilmexampleshasbeenpreparedby
MaríaElenadelasCarreras