Mikayla's Media Blog: UNIT 38.1: ANALYSING AUDIO IN MOVING IMAGE PRODUCTIONS

Hand in Deadline: Friday 19th October

(Timings relating to 'Twilight' are from: https://the123movies.org/twilight/ )

(Timings relating to 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' are from: https://www.netflix.com/title/70113010 )

(Timings relating to the documentary are from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV8GLhJv6ck )

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In the 19th Century films that used sound began to appear, before this any footage filmed would not have had any audio, commonly these are known as ‘silent films’. The earliest known public display of projected sound films was held in Paris, 1900. However, it took many years before moving image productions with sound were made commercially accessible. These days almost all films and documentaries include an element of sound.

Within films, documentaries and television programmes, audio / sound is used in a variety of ways, to create different meanings and moods. The audio used has the power to change an audience's perception of what they expect to happen in a scene. Audio includes spoken word, music and also sound effects (sfx), all of these play an important role in moving image productions.

The purpose of adding music in moving image productions can be to aid an emotion, for example, if sombre music is playing it can influence the audience to feel low. Another use can be to enforce a particular theme; an example could be during a scene where someone has been defeated. In this case the music used may have a valiant feel to it and seem triumphant. Music can be used for a number of other reasons too; a way to connect scenes, to establish a certain period (e.g. Egyptians), there are so many uses of music.

An example of spoken word are voiceover's, this is narration within a film or show, which is not guided by the image of the speaker. Another example of spoken word is dialogue, this is the sound which is produced by characters conversing with each other. The purpose of dialogue can be a way to learn more about a character's personality, via a natural conversation. Another aim can be a way to inform the audience about a situation, this is classified as functional dialogue; it has a purpose.

'Twilight' was released in 2008; the film is part of a series based on the books by Stephenie Meyer. The set of films is about a regular girl (Bella Swan) who moves to a new town and ends up falling in love with a vampire (Edward Cullen). On the other side of things is a werewolf (Jacob) who is in love with Bella, throughout the film series we see the tension this causes. Sound certainly plays an important role when it comes to this film series; the sound heavily influences the audience's feelings.

In one of the scenes, the new girl (Bella) meets Edward Cullen (a vampire), for the very first time when she has to sit next to him in science class. The first sound we hear as Bella walks into the classroom, is coming from the paper flapping from the fan, (10 minutes 22 seconds). Initially this helps to create background noise. This is an example of diegetic sound as we can see the source which is creating the noise.

Immediately after we can hear the fan itself rattling, this sound creates a tense and nervous atmosphere; if you 'rattle' someone it means you have made them irritated. In this scene Edward is irritated and on edge as Bella's stench of blood is too much for him to handle. The intense atmosphere is further highlighted with the diegetic sound of paper flapping up harshly against Edward's hand, (10 minutes 33 seconds). Potentially this sound has been exaggerated as chances are it would not be this loud in reality. However, all of these sounds together help to set the mood for the audience, potentially causing the viewer to also feel tense.

Within this scene we also get naturalistic dialogue between the teacher and Bella which is to be expected, (10 minutes 41 seconds). A simple conversation where he is explaining a few things about the lesson, it doesn't seem at all out of place.

The next chosen example, 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' was released in 2009 and is the sequel to 'Twilight', yet again based of a book by Stephenie Meyer.

The film begins with music which initially appears calming but then it gradually becomes eerie and intense, (25 seconds). The harsh sound reminds me of a drum being banged; we hear this in the opening title sequence, which has a clip showing that a new moon is forming. Potentially, this is an example of sound motif, in many films music of this nature is used when there is a scene relating to astronomy. Space music is used as a way to elevate the audience and prepares us for something major e.g. A mission. Usually the music would have been recorded separately and then added in, this is an example of ambient sound.

Another essential point, the way in which the music doesn't just fade out as the title sequence disappears. It carries on through to the next transition, this is known as a sound bridge, the music connects multiple scenes. Next a voiceover is used and we hear Bella's voice saying:

"These violent delights have violent ends." ( 1 minute )

Now the music seems incidental, it clearly accompanies the events that are happening, the harsh sound matches the dark words being spoken. Furthermore, it also sets the intense mood for the following scene; a clip of Bella quickly running through a crowd of cloaked people, ( 1 minute 18 seconds ).

Overall, I would say that (non-animated) films use a balance of spoken word, music and special effects (sfx).

It is very clear that non-animated films use a range of audio elements and animated use just as many.

‘The Simpsons Movie’ was released in 2007, it is an American film based on the television series, The Simpsons.

Throughout the whole film synchronous sound is used, this is when the sound is in sync with the thing creating the sound. The animated character’s mouths move in time with the audio that we hear as the audience.

It has been shown that films use many elements of sound, covering spoken word, music and sound effects. However, documentaries, interviews and location recording of animals in nature also use these techniques.

This documentary 'Fallen Angels' is based in the Philippines and explores the true cost of sex tourism. It explores the harsh reality that many kids grow up fatherless due to men travelling just to have meaningless sex.

The documentary immediately begins with diegetic sound which is coming from traffic which we are shown. First, we see a bird's eye view of a city and then we see a close up of traffic passing through. The sound appears naturalistic, seems to be like the usual volume you would expect from traffic on a busy road.

After this quick burst of sound fades out we hear a soundtrack which most likely was exaggerated (hyperreal) or added in the editing stage, although it seems to be coming from within the scene I don’t feel it would have really been as loud. It appears as if there would have been a lot of other background noise therefore making it hard to hear. Furthermore, the soundtrack is used as a sound bridge as it continues to play across multiple transitions. This is another reason I suspect the audio was added over the footage.

Next, we get another type of sound, spoken word, we quickly get a brief dialogue between a woman and a man, who we do not see. It then changes to a voiceover, (30 seconds), we hear a woman narrator begin to inform us about the subject being explored in the documentary. Throughout the whole documentary we get information from this narrative voice.

Similarly, we get a section which has multiple children giving some background information about their lives. Here are the words of a young boy, which is aimed at his father:

" Hi, Dad.
I'm a big boy, I'm already 12.
I was born on July 1, 2003.
I really hope to meet you, as there's German blood in my veins and we should definitely see each other "

(1 minute 24 seconds)

This is an example of functional dialogue; the purpose is to highlight how often sex tourism leads to fatherless kids. It shines light on the sad reality that they will probably never meet their dads. During this we also get the ambient sound of chickens, we can hear them in the background but they are not in our field of vision. Potentially this sound has been used to portray the feeling of chaos.

Although most of the spoken word within the documentary is functional, there is also some conversational dialogue. Personally. I feel this is important to include as it gives a better insight to how the issue affects the people. There is a scene where we simply get to see Filipino children talking to each other and playing, (12 minutes 27 seconds).

Overall, this documentary is filled with spoken word, including functional / conversational dialogue and voiceovers. In regards to music there was practically none in the entire documentary, only at the start did we hear any and then towards the end, ( 41 minutes 52 seconds ). Then again as the documentary was finishing we heard a musical piano piece, of a sombre tone, ( 48 minutes ). Also, there were appeared to be no added sound effects, the documentaries audio (e.g. background noise), was all from the surroundings where the footage was filmed. I feel this is what makes a documentary appear natural, all the sound came from people involved with the subject matter.

Generally, I would say the main difference between the audio in films and live productions is the type of sound. In films there appears to be a larger amount of hyperreal sounds, which is to be expected, they are films and more so to entertain an audience. Whereas in documentaries it appears to use naturalistic sounds; I feel the reason for this is because the main purpose is to educate rather than entertain. Also some of the topics that are explored in documentaries are sensitive; it wouldn’t seem serious if there were added sound effects.