Research: Sound - Mr Smith

What is Sound?

Sounds in films are used to create an understanding to the audience, to show more meaning to the scene and to the characters emotions. Sound is one of the most important micro-elements in film production. Sound is used in many different ways. It can be used to relax the audience but also make the audience jump.

There are different types of sounds that are used in film productions:

-Diegetic sound: is sound that you can see where is coming from in a film. For example, in a film, if music is being played from a radio, jukebox etc. this is diegetic as you can tell where the sound is coming from. Diegetic sound can be on or off screen.

-Non-Diegetic sound: is sound that is added on to a film which is un-natural, for example a soundtrack and sound effects. An example of this; when a film shows a montage, a soundtrack can be used to create a relaxing or tension building affect.

-On screen sound: is when we can see where the sound is coming from for example, cars, radios, jukebox, phones, heavy machinery etc. The use of this type of sound is to create naturalism and realism to the audience to make the scene feel more realistic. This helps makes scenes more believable and also helps the audience to follow what is going on in the film.

-Off screen sound: is when you can hear sound but cannot see where it is coming from. For example a phone call, films usually show one half of a phone call conversation so the camera is showing one person on the phone but you can hear two different people talking. The person talking on the other side of the conversation (off screen) is off screen sound.

Conclusion:

I have defined and analysed the different types of sounds in film productions. With this, i have developed a better understanding on sound and the importance of sound in film. I will also take note of what type of sounds i can and will be using in my own thriller to gain as much marks as possible.