Sound Masterclass.

These are the notes we recieved from our sound masterclass and which we went through and discussed with our teacher:

Though we might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we really cannot afford to underestimate the importance of film sound. A meaningful sound track is often as complicated as the image on the screen. The entire soundtrack is comprised of three essential ingredients;
• the human voice
• sound effects
• music

These three tracks must be mixed and balanced so as to produce the necessary emphases which in turn create the desired effects.

The Human Voice

Dialogue serves to tell the story and expresses feelings and motivations of characters as well. It’s interesting to note how dialogue is used and the amount used varies widely among films. Large amounts of dialogue force the audience to bounce from conversation to conversation and there is no time for audience reflection or to challenge the viewers. Consequently, the audience are caught up in a whirlwind of dialogue simply managing to follow the plot. This film presents pure escapism largely due to its frenetic dialogue.

Sound Effects

Synchronous sound are those sounds which are synchronized or matched with what is viewed, contributing to the realism of film to create a particular atmosphere.

Asynchronous sound is not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen. Such sounds are included to provide an appropriate emotional nuance, they may also add to the realism of the film.

Music

Background music is used to add emotion and rhythm to a film. Usually not meant to be noticeable, it often provides a tone or an emotional attitude toward the story and/or the characters emotions. In addition, background music often foreshadows a change in mood. For example; dissonant music may be used in film to indicate an approaching (but not yet visible) menace or disaster.
Background music may also aid the viewer understanding by linking scenes. For example, a particular musical theme associated with an individual character or situation may be repeated at various points in a film in order to remind the audience of salient motifs or ideas. Film sound is comprised of conventions and innovations. We have come to expect an acceleration of music during car chases and creaky doors in horror films. Yet, it is important to note as well that sound is often brilliantly conceived. The effects of sound are often largely subtle and often are noted by only our subconscious minds.

Dimensions of film sound

Rhythm is on of the most complex features of sound. Rhythm involves a beat or pulse a pace or tempo and a pattern of accents or stronger or weaker beats.

• Music has rhythm
Rhythm is most recognizable in film music, since the beat, tempo, and accent are basic compositional features.

• Speech has rhythm
People can be identified by "voice prints" which show not only characteristic frequencies and amplitudes but also distinct patterns of pacing and syllabic stress. In fictional films, speech rhythm is a matter for the performer's control, but the sound editor can also manipulate it at the dubbing phase (post-production).
• Sound effects have rhythm (e.g. rhythmic qualities)
The plodding hooves of a farm horse differ from a cavalry company riding at full speed. The vibrating tone of a gong may offer a slowly decaying accent, while a sudden sneeze provides a brief one. In a gangster film, a machine gun's fire creates a regular rapid beat, while the sporadic reports of pistols may come at irregular intervals.
• Images have rhythm
Any consideration of rhythmic uses of sound is complicated by the fact that movements in the images themselves have a rhythm as well, distinguished by the same principles of beat, speed, and accent. In addition, the editing has a rhythm. Short shots helps create a rapid tempo, whereas shots held longer tend to slow down the rhythm.

In most cases the rhythms of editing of movement within the image work in parallel with the sound. The most common tendency is for the filmmaker to match visual and sonic rhythms work in unison to each other.

Fidelity refers to the extent to which the sound is faithful to the source, conceive the audience. For example; if a film shows us a barking dog and we hear a barking noise, that sound is faithful to its source, the sound maintains fidelity. But if the picture of the barking dog is accompanied by the sound of a cat meowing, there enters a disparity between sound and image, a lack of fidelity.
Fidelity has nothing to do with what originally made the sound in production. A filmmaker may manipulate sound independently of image (in post-production). Accompanying the image of a dog with the meow is no more difficult than accompanying the image with a bark. If the viewer takes the sound to be coming from its source in the diegetic world of film, then is faithful, regardless of its actual source in production.
Fidelity is purely a matter of expectation. Even if our dog emits a bark on screen, perhaps in production the bark came from a different dog or was electronically synthesized.
When we do become aware that sound is unfaithful to its source, that awareness is usually used for the comic effect. Unfaithful sounds may have dramatic functions as the accompanying sound to a kick or punch.

Space

Sound has spatial dimensions because it comes from a source. Our beliefs about that source have a powerful effect on how we understand the sound. If the source of the sound is a character or object in the story space of the film we identify it as diegetic sound. Likewise, if the sound is represented as coming from a source outside story space we recognise it as non-diegetic sound.
One characteristic sound is the possibility of suggesting the sound perspective. This is a sense of spatial distance and location analogous to the cues for visual depth and volume which we get with visual perspective.

Theorists
Jane Knowles Marshall
David Bordwell
Kristin Thompson

Sound Equipment
Nagra
Windshield Modular System
Shotgun / Directional Mic

The shotgun microphone can be used onboard the camera or on a boom pole. Best for on location and spontaneous shoots. As it is a directional mic the onboard camera can pick up sound directly in front of the camera and cuts out most sound left, right, up and down. The boom mic requires a specific sound person or appropriate stand. This microphone is extremely accurate as you can get up close to the subject and the directional properties reduce background noise.


Things to look out for• Keep a close eye on the camera operator, as a boom mic can often appear in shot.
• An onboard boom mic will still pick up camera noise and remember you are close to the mic, although it is directional it will pick you up to some extent.
• Be aware of surrounding noise. If a dog barks, phone rings or siren goes off, don’t be afraid to stop the recording and inform the interviewer the sound is not useable.