Sound editing task Unit 4:

Mood and atmosphere – In TV and film, the background music is often used to alter the mood and atmosphere of the visuals. This is sometimes very obviously done but sometimes it is extremely subtle. One of the audio clips I have chosen that changes the mood and atmosphere is the Psycho violin music. This is one of the most iconic audio clips in film and it completely changes the mood on screen due to the foreign noises that are being made. As the only other sound that can be heard is the running water, when the violin is played it shocks the audience and puts them on edge as it is not a noise they would normally hear. Psycho Shower Scene

The ‘Psycho’ example is situated in the genre of horror however this can be done through other genres, one being romance. In the animated film ‘Up’, there is a scene where the audience gets attached to the main characters and the mood is instantly changed when the sad music is introduced as the audience can gather something is wrong with his wife. The mood is altered due to the change of pace with the music because it starts off upbeat, creating a happy tone then all of a sudden the pace crashes. As the pace of the music suddenly changes, it signalises the mood of the scene has changed and become very morbid. Up Scene

Audio Fade – an audio fade is literally what the title says. It is where the audio fades either into a scene, out of a scene or from sound clip to a sound clip. It is a transition for the audio clip which is used with the visuals. The purpose of an audio fade is to provide a smooth transition or it can actually be used to build suspense. In an action film, the music would gradually fade in to identify a fight scene or a build-up in action. This technique is usually quite discreet as the audience would not instantly catch onto it but when it is used effectively, it creates a perfect atmosphere. Here is a clip from star wars and in this scene the music fades from a very deep constant noise to a really high pitch violin/screech sound to add a lot more suspense to the key scene.

Dialogue – dialogue is just speech and conversation in a piece of art. There are different types of dialogue which can be used in order to create different moods and atmosphere. In a fight scene of a film, the dialogue is going to be much more aggressive as there is anger and tension in the scene however in a professional meeting, the dialogue will be much calmer and quieter as there is no stress in the scene. A perfect example of aggressive dialogue is in ‘Star Wars III: Revenge of the sith’ where Obi Wan Kenobi is screaming at Anakin because he is a traitor.

However, in ‘Kingsman: The secret service’ there is a scene where all of the leader spies are having a meeting and for this they are speaking in a very formal manor with an appropriate volume. This creates a calm and collected kind of atmosphere as the dialogue does not create any tension. If they were all aggressive to each other then it would have a different effect because tension and hatred would be created.

Voice over – voice overs are not so common in film as it is usually used as a narrative device which aids the audience with the story. As a film always has a progressive nature, it does not need a voice over, however a documentary would need this. As they are much shorted than films, they struggle with storytelling so they need to use this device. Also, documentaries are made to inform people about things so this is an extremely good way to talk directly to the audience and break the 4^th wall. One of the most famous documentaries is Blue Planet which has the world renowned David Attenborough as the narrator. The use of his voice alerts the audience and makes them listen to what he has to say therefore it is working as a device to inform people. Similar to dialogue, in ‘Blue Planet’ if there is a chase scene or a lot of action then the narrator will speak with much more pace and passion in order to create that perfect mood for the audience. 

Ambient sound – ambient sound is one of the best devices which is used to create realism in film. It is sound which is added to make the scene sound like a real life environment. For example, if there is a scene where two characters are conversing in a pub, there will be conversations in the background added in post-production to make it sound like it does in the real world. A good example of this is in ‘Deadpool’ where Wade meets Vanessa. They are in a very busy bar and although their conversation is the main thing the audience can hear, there is background noise added to give the impression that the audience is in the bar with them as we can hear what they are hearing.

Sound bridge – a sound bridge is a piece of audio that is used in order to transition the visuals. It is audio that it continuously playing even after the visuals have changed and this is often done as an easy way to transition between locations. One example of this is in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ where the woman is on the phone and as soon as she mentions the place, the visuals transition to that location. The phone call still carries on for about 5 seconds after that to show the audience that she is still in that same phone call. It is an extremely clever device to use because it relies on the audio cues of the sound clip to direct the visuals. It is not always done like the example that I have given; a lot of the time it is done with a piece of music where the audio just continuously plays over different destinations, which frequently occurs in action/adventure films. This may occur when the character is driving to several locations in a short period of time. There will most likely be the same piece of music playing through the entire duration of the visuals.

Foley sounds – Foley sounds are the recreation of the everyday sound effects which are displayed in the film. This can consist of footsteps or squeaky doors, if it can be heard, it is often recreated to sound better and then it is added later in post. The Foley artist in the production team does not get enough credit because nobody realises how much work they have to do because literally everything you hear is recreated. They often spend hours and hours of their time recreating simple sounds like footsteps by walking on different surfaces to make it sound as real as possible. When it comes to fight scenes, obviously actors do not actually get hit so Foley artists need to recreate punching sound effects too, by using abstract items like wet flannels and celery to make it sound like a punch on skin.

Synchronous vs Asynchronous sound – these two words are similar but used in different situations. Synchronous sound is where the audio is matched up with the visuals whereas asynchronous sound is where the audio does not match the visuals. Asynchronous sound often links to Sound Bridges because it would be used as a technique to help aid transitions as the audio has got nothing to do with the visuals. In this case, the audio may have a link to the visuals (e.g. rock music in an action film) however it is not directly correlated to the visuals in that scene. Synchronous sound is where the audio is directly proportional and matched up with the visuals. In the opening scene of Baby Driver, Baby is miming and dancing to the song which is being played through his headphones. There is a use of diegetic audio here which helps with the synchronous sound as the audience is able to hear what Baby is listening to. This gives us, the audience, detail and information as to what he is listening to and why he is dancing.

Sound Motif – a sound motif is a sound effect or a series of noises that is associated with a certain character. Think of a theme tune or walk-out music for a boxer, it is sound which is associated with a certain person on screen. One main example of this is Peter Lorre in ‘M’ because every time that he appears on screen, he whistles. This is like an audio key for the audience to know when the character is appearing.

ADR – this stands for Automated Dialogue Replacement. This is where they will film the scenes and then they will call the actors back to the sound room on a later date to record just the sound. This then allows them to lay this audio over the top and make it sound much better. The actor will stand in a booth and watch the clip that the dialogue belongs to, so they then can get the words in sync with the visuals. Here is how ADR is done.