Why Is Sound So Important In Film? - Blog 15

The Importance Of Sound In Film

Sound is used in film to establish tone, atmosphere and to help give the audiences clues about the plot, characters and the genre of the film. It is also used to help suspend belief to create realism for the audience and heighten their experience of the film. George Lukas argues that 'sound is 50 per cent' of a film and that without sound the film would be half the product and not as good. There have been many developments in sound and sound design over the course of film history and we have the technology to make sure that a film's sound is 3 dimensional and makes the visceral experience enjoyable and makes a film as enjoyable to hear as it is to watch it. 

Definitions of sound and soundscapes:

Sound: What a person hears.
Sound-Scape: Everything you hear.
Sound Design: Choosing sounds and editing for different effects.
Suspending Disbelief: Believing that what you see is real.

In class we watched a title sequence  The Taking Of Pelham 123 twice, once without the sound and once with the sound. When I watched the title sequence without the sound it was boring and I found it difficult to engage with what was happening in the sequence, it felt as if it was incomplete film, in a film 90% of it is sound which shows that it is the most important part. When we watched the sequence with the sound the sequence became engaging and I was interested in what was going on. The whole film changed with the addition of sound. The upbeat music and the the sounds of the trains help give a hint to what the genre was and you could hear that the music was synchronised to what was on screen. Having the sound makes a massive difference as the audience can get exited and enjoy what they see on screen. sound adds a whole new sense and dimension to the film and without the sound the film doesn't entice the audience. sound is used to heighten the experience of viewers. 

Sound term definitions:

Ambient Sound: Background sound, the sound pressure level at given locations..

Diegetic: Sound hose source is visible on screen or whose source is implied to be present by the actions of the film.

Non-diegetic: Sound whose source is neither visible on screen nor has been implied to be present in the action.

Score: Music that does not include singing.

Song: Music that does include singing. 

Voice Over: When you can hear the speaking but cant see who is speaking.

Dialogue: Two people speaking to each other.

Foley: Sound in real life, its not added in after recorded.

Synchronous: Sound that matches the certain movement shown on screen.

Asynchronous: Sound that matches the action being performed however it is not precisely synchronised with the action. 

Sound Bridge: When the score begins and it is carried over to another scene, connecting the two together to show a link.

Sound Motif: Sound effects or combination of sound effects that are associated with a particular character, setting, situation or idea from the film.