Monday, September 26, 2016

Film Language: Sound

Our next aspect of film language is crucial: Sound.

A reminder of our notes on Sound:

Sound is incredibly important to our understanding of a film.  The music, dialogue and sound effects (SFX) all contribute to the way we appreciate what we are watching on the screen.    

Diegetic and non-diegetic sound

Diegetic sound comes from the world of the film we are watching.  This could include dialogue by characters in the scene or music or other sound that comes from a source we would naturally expect that sound to come from, e.g. a radio or TV.

Non-diegetic sound is added during post production, e.g. voice over or music sound track.


Parallel and contrapuntal sound

Parallel sound is music we would normally expect to hear accompanying a scene, e.g. soft romantic music might be played over a love scene.

Contrapuntal sound is music that we don’t normally associate with the scene we are watching, e.g. classical music played over a bloody fight scene.


Sound bridge

Sometimes you will notice that sound from a scene continues even though the visual image has moved to the next scene. Alternatively, the sound of the following scene may begin before the image changes. This is a called a sound bridge and helps create a smooth transition from one scene to the next.


Homework: parallel and contrapuntal sound video

1) Choose a 60 second piece of music. 

2) Using editing software (Windows Moviemaker is fine but Adobe Premiere is available on Media PCs) produce a one-minute film of images and video - one set of images that appears parallel to the music and one that is contrapuntal.

3) Upload the video to YouTube and embed it in your blog with a brief description of what you've created.

4) Present your video to the class next lesson, explaining the thinking behind your work.

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