Research: Sound - Mrs Quinlan

Research: Sound - Mrs Quinlan

What is sound? Why is it an important micro-element?

Sound is vibration sent through the air until it reaches a receiver, (for example a human ear). Sound is an important micro element because it triggers one of the five senses for humans; hearing, sound triggers the most amount of levels of tension as it tricks your mind into what is actually visible. For example if a family was videod enjoying a day out together but there was "The Jaw Soundtrack" playing in the background, most people would expect a twist. 

Types of sound definitions

Diegetic sound – Is sound which is a part of the movie or film world (e.g. Music from a radio, Dialogue, Car engine). The sound can be on or off screen. An example of this is when in the film "Scream" the phone rings.

Non-Diegetic sound – Is sound which is not part of the movie or film (e.g. Sound effects, narrators commentary, soundtrack or mood music). An example for this is when in "Scream" the antagonist is making the female feel uncomfortable and there is tense mood music. 

On screen sound – Is when a sound is obvious and you could see the source of where the sound is coming from, for example sirens if a police car was approaching. 

Off-screen sound – Is when a sound is not visible on screen but you could hear it, for example if there was a war outside a house but the camera was used within the house even though you hear the gunshots. 

Parallel sound – The sound you would expect to hear in a film, for example if there was a scene with a party; you would hear shouting and music.

Contrapuntal sound – Is when there is sound that doesnt match what is happening on screen, for example in "Piranha" when they are enjoying them selves in the swimming pools, but you could hear a tension creating mood music. 

Thriller opening analysis

The opening scene of "Scream" uses a variety of different types of sound. Firstly it uses diegetic sound; we could identify this when we see the phone ring and we hear it, this happens when the scene is really quiet which causes tension. Another sound used was off screen sound; this was used when we could hear the antagonist speaking on the phone, in reality this wouldn't be possible as the phone was not on louder speaker. 

Conclusion

From what i have learnt today, I could understand the major effect sound has during a movie, film or any type of clip. It has a major part in causing tension and confusion within the audience. I could take benefit from this research and use sound in my own opening scene piece to keep the heart-beat at a constant high level.