Preliminary Exercise 14: Defining and Analyzing Sound in Film

Section A:  Definitions and Examples 

Score: ______/60 marks
Word	Meaning and example from a specific movie. (Add details
Diegetic Sound	Any sound that originates from the world of a film EX: dialogue, sound effects
Non diegetic Sound	Any type of sound that does not specifically exist within of the film itself EX: incidental music, score
Source music	Music from in the world of the film.  EX: radio playing a song, character singing a song
On screen Sound	Any sound that is visibly connected to what is happening on the screen EX: dialogue, music
Off Screen	Any sound that is not audibly associated with actions that is taking on the screen EX: birds chirping, glass breaking that is not shown
Underscore	Meant to emphasize a particular piece of dialogue and tell the audience something important. EX: accompanies the mood
Internal diegetic Sound	Sounds only a character (source of sound) and the audience can hear. EX: the thoughts of a character
Background Sound	Sound that is not synchronized with the picture but indicates setting to the audience EX: Forest sounds, river flowing
Foley Artist	Records everyday sounds heard in film. Ex: records sound to use in television shows, video games
Foley Sound Effects	Sounds that are synchronized and recorded for the screen. Ex: Footsteps, cloth
Sound motif	A sound attributed and associated with something in particular EX: ‘shark theme’ used in JAWS
Monologue	A speech given by a single character in a story, EX: a student giving a speech at a student election
Sound Bridge	The sound or music that is carried on from one scene to the next EX:  Neo’s alarm clock from the Matrix (1999)
Sound Design	A process of experimentation to create an audio environment that supports the on-screen action and engages the audience. EX: lightsaber sound
Sound Perspective	The apparent distance of a sound source EX: a character shouting on the left side of the film
Sound Mixing	Multiple of recorded sounds are combined
Stings	Musical cues that came in sharply and dramatically
Melodic Sound	Will have positive and pleasing connotations. EX: “All is well in the world”
Discordant Sound	Harsh or unpleasant in sound EX: fork on a glass, nails on a backboard
Contrapuntal Sound	Sound that contrasts strongly with the image that see on screen EX: Reservior dogs when he was playing the music while dancing
Room tone	Sound at the space of a shoot EX: natural noise
Walla Sound	The vocal sound that people make in the background as the actors with speaking part deliver their line EX: Background noise
Synchronous Sound	A sound that matches the onscreen visuals EX: a “two shot’ conversation between two perople”
Asynchronous Sound	Audio that doesn't match up with onscreen visuals EX: wind, birds
Direct Sound	All sound recorded at the time of filming EX:
Parallel Sound	Sounds that matches the mood, tone, or atmosphere of a scene EX:
Loudness	The amount of noise something or someone makes, EX: making a lot of noise
Silence	Absence of any sound or noise
Crescendo	The loudest point reached in a gradually increasing sound
Rhythm	A strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound

 

 

 

Section B: Analysis 1: General analysis of film opening.  (28 marks) 

Opening of “The Giver”
What is the film about?	“The Giver” is about a boy named Jonah who lives in a world with no emotions, no wins or losses, no competition & conflict, everyone has to live under a certain set of rules and everyone is the same, the end of the opening shows that he might be different than everyone else.
Production Company/companies	Tonik Productions, Asis Productions, Canada Film Capital, Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, The Weinstein Company. Walden Media
Director	Phillip Noyce	Sound Engineer (s)
Genre (s)	Young adult fiction, Dystopian novel, Science fiction	Movie release	August 15, 2014
Audience (s)	Young Adult (YA)
Original music titles from the soundtrack.  (Only from the opening.)	Ordinary Human - OneRepublic
Music  (List 3 words used to describe this music)	Suspenseful, thrilling, tense.
Sound Effects  (List 8 effects)	Bicycles moving across the street, people talking, laughing, dirt rapid, the pressing of a button, bells ringing, wind gusting, droids in the sky moving at rapid space.
Dialogue  (List the most important line in the film’s opening and why? 3 sentences to describe information.	Line: “I never said anything, I didn't want to be different” - Jonah admits he is different in a world where everyone is the same.”    2 : “We live in a world where differences weren't allowed”    3: “I always felt like I saw things differently”
	Explanation:    Line 1 - Jonah begins to think there is fault within him for being different, he hints at being different.    Line 2 – Jonah says it’s unnatural & not accepted to be different where he is, even he feels that he doesn’t want to be like that because it is wrong.    Line 3 – Jonah admits he is & always felt saw things differently, which is a metaphor to say he feels things differently in a world where everyone sees & feels everything as the same.

 

Section C: Analysis 2: (25 marks) 

Using the table below place the sounds in this film into their correct sound source categories. Using the vocabulary box label each type of sound using the examples provided. 

Examples 

Dialogue: monologue, direct sound. 

Sound Effect: Thunder: Ambient sound, foley sound, loud, asynchronous. 

                         Alarm Clock: Ambient sound, foley sound, loud, synchronous. 

Music: Headphones playing “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley, incidental music, foley sound, crescendo, asynchronous. 

Diegetic Sounds (Dialogue, Music and Sound Effects the audience and characters can hear.)	Non-diegetic Sounds  ( voiceover, sound effects and music)
Sound effects: The kids laughing in the background: walla sound, on screen sound, background noise   -The sound of the morning medication being pressed an injected: Synchronous sound, On screen sound, foley Sound effects   -The bells from the bike: loud, foley sound,   - the sound of drones flying through the air : Asynchronous sound, foley found,	Music: The instrumental music: Non diegetic sound, Sound bridge,   Jonah voice over : Internal diegetic sound, Monologue,

Diegetic sound is any sound that comes naturally from the world of the video. Internal diegetic is the voice inside the characters head and non-diegetic sound that does not specifically exist within the world on film itself. Its important to understand the source of sound within a film because sound sets the right tone or them in a movie for example you hear loud banging you know someone in trouble this is a mysterious movie it adds context.

REFLECTION: I learned all the Definitions of all the different types of sound effects in a film . Alicia did section A Saika did section B and I did section C. We found some of our answers on the PowerPoint on canvas and the rest on Google or through, watching YouTube videos about the different sound effects. I would say me, and my team did pretty good on this assignment.

Progress Check
After studying this section, complete your self-assessment using the parameters below. You should be able to:    

Needs more work    Almost there    Ready to move on

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of Diegetic, non-diegetic sound and sound techniques researched.     
• Demonstrate an ability to identify aspects of all the technical elements of sound in media text.   
• Demonstrate understanding of how technical elements of sound communicate meaning to audiences.