Preliminary Exercise 13: Introduction to Sound in Film (Be a Sound Engineer)

Introduction

Creator of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas once said, “Sound is 50% of the moviegoing experience. But often a layman ignores the contributions because it is not clear who is responsible for a sound choice.” Sound in film includes soundtracks, background noise, sound effects, music, dialogue, and ambient sounds. The benefits of a film’s sound (and sometimes lack thereof) can appeal to the senses of the audience, presenting the film as more realistic and authentic. Sound can support the genre of a film by adding emphasis and impact on particular scenes, or attribute common stereotypes heard in different genre. For example, horror movies are distinguished by their piercing screams, suspense-filled music, crescendo, dialogue being whispered by main characters, etc. Furthermore, sound indicates the setting of a film, sometimes before any visual effects are shown on screen. An example of this, is of a mall scene in "Stranger Things," where the main cast is surrounded by an atmosphere of people conversing, swiping their cards in check-outs, shopping bags ruffling, and escalators moving. Therefore, one might wonder, who is responsible for the sound in film? As the title hints, sound engineers and sound mixers are typically responsible for the production and application of all sounds added to a film.

To begin, sounds can be diegetic or non-diegetic. Diegetic sounds are heard by both the audience watching and characters in the world of the film, whereas non-diegetic sounds are only heard and heard by the audience. According to, “Film Sounds: the Noise of Video Production, whisperroom.com, The three essential categories of film sounds are dialogue, sound effects, and music. These three types of sound are crucial to the viewer.” Other variations of sound production are sub-categories of those three key categories. Sound effects are, as the Britannica website describes, “any artificial reproduction of sound or sounds intended to accompany action and supply realism in the theatre, radio, television, and motion pictures.” Dialogue are conversations amongst two or more characters, which are usually incorporated in interactions seen throughout films. Music is the art of sound that produces melodies, rhythm, harmony and tones through written interpretations and instruments.

To further explain, Other variations of sound which are commonly heard throughout a film include ambient or background music (which is diegetic), and soundtracks in film, which are original instrumental pieces made intentionally to be used in a film, and emphasize specific scenes of an emotional response in the audience (non-diegetic, because the characters in film can not hear the music).

Why is Sound Important?

Sound enhances genre, setting, and the characters in film by imitating the experience of how our senses react to those scenarios in real life. This, in turn, tells a bigger story as to what the author intends to convey by placing us, the audience, inside the film to interact with it through our senses. 

According to, “Sound Design: How Sound Helps Tell Your Visual Stories, videomaker.com, The background and atmospheric noise tell the audience where the scene is taking place. Although these sounds are usually quiet, they are essential to a scene, as they appeal to the audience on a subconscious level.” By combining sounds, recreating how and where those sounds would occur in real life, makes a film appear natural, which engages the audience. The audience can subconsciously interact and connect the sounds they are hearing to either a memory they have experienced in their lifetime, or by envisioning themselves as if they are in the films they watch.

A Cabin/The Woods (Horror)
Music	Eerie  Howling  Forest sounds  Slow, off-key flute music  Slow-Tempo  Choir or enchanting synthetic keyboard noises
Sound Effects	Crows making noise  Owl hooting  Wind shaking trees  Floorboard creaking  Breathing  Screaming  A flame of fire sparking  Doors or windows opening/closing  Leaves blowing  Tree branches cracking
Dialogue	“Did you guys see that?”   “Ghost!”  “Run for your life”  “We got to get out of here”

 

 

Basketball Game (Teen Drama)
Music	Fast Paced  Hype  Remixes  Rhythmic beats  Loud  Bass-boosted
Sound Effects	Crowd screaming and cheering  Basketball bouncing  Buzzer of score board   Whistle of referee  Coaches yelling plays  Sneakers Screeching on floor  Crowd stomping on the bleachers  Basketball announcer   Cheerleaders cheering   Girls arguing over boys in stands
Dialogue	Free-throw  Three  Rebound  “Pass Pass Pass”  “Right here right here right here”

 

 

Urban City Scene (Thriller)
Music	Popular Hits  Bass-boosted  Radio station mixes  Latin Pop music  Quiet Storm  Rhythmic Beats
Sound Effects	Engines revving  Lawn Mowing  Barking  Popular hits playing nearby in a vehicle/house   Honking Horns  Birds chirping  Elevator door  Shoes on sidewalk  Police sirens  Construction
Dialogue	“Watch where you’re going buddy”  “I’m going to be late for work”  “Move out the way”  “Be home by sundown”

 

Car Chase (Action)
Music  (List 6 words used to describe this music)	Fast pace  Intense  Electronic music  Dramatic  Fragmented; a music piece divided into smaller segments of various musical ideas  Adrenaline boosting
Sound Effects	Car engine  Wheels screeching  Police sirens  Radio  Honking horns  Car crash  A person in a car yelling  A person on the other side of the phone  The passenger talking  The stuff in the car moving around
Dialogue	“Hold on tight”  “They’re getting away”  “Floor it”  “We got to get them off our tail”

 

 

Alien invasion (Sci-fi) Create your own!
Music	Synthesizers  Classical sounds  Choir of Sopranos singing  Suspenseful  Fuzzy white noises (static, for instance)  Range of contrasting frequencies
Sound Effects	Farm animals  Spaceship engine  Ray guns blasting  Ray beam taking up things  Spaceship door opening  Spaceship equipment beeping  Crash landing  Electricity buzzes  Foreign Alien languages  Steam or smoke blowing from the spaceship
Dialogue	“Look out!”  “Stay quiet”  “Don’t let it see you”  “Aim for the head”

 

REFLECTION

In retrospect, the lesson learned from this activity is analyzing the three main components of sound in film: dialogue, music, and sound effects. All those elements come together to create a familiar, and mutually connecting atmosphere, in which an audience is able to be engaged with a film. Learning these key skills will help our team to use the resources available to us wisely, in order to authentically imitate real-life sounds that will keep our audience at the edge of their seats. Our team of producers have each contributed our parts in this project, each in unique ways such as Peyton P providing the definitions for key terms in sound engineering, Lexi M and Marley B partnering to brainstorm and innovate commonly used dialogue from popular films for each film category, and sound effects, and I had provided descriptions of music for each category, including sound effects, as well.

All together, we were able to complete this task effectively and punctually, being that we enjoy music and observe sound effects that catch our attention in the films we watch. Peyton P referenced to definitions or teacher provided for our class, in which she analyzed what she had retained, and did research on examples of each term she had documented. Lexi M and Marley B researched and annotated key phrases in dialogue, and sound effect conventions for the categories given, as a well as one we had all collectively agreed on. Then, once I had done thorough research on music and descriptions of music for the categories we were given, while brainstorming sound effects to add to our lists for each category, all information found was written in our table chart above and is cited below.

WORK CITED:

-Gray, T. (2018). Sound Is 50% of the Movie, but Hollywood is Often Tone-Deaf. [online] Variety. Available at: https://variety.com/2018/film/awards/sound-movie-blade-runner-get-out-phantom-thread-1202705398/#:~:text=George%20Lucas%20has%20said%20that.

-Stranger Things (2019). El & Max Shopping Scene | Stranger Things 3 | Netflix. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEhsSSQY8dM [Accessed 17 Nov. 2019].

-Reich, J. (2017). What is sound? [online] Geneseo.edu. Available at: https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/exploring-movie-construction-and-production/chapter/8-what-is-sound/.

-WhisperRoomTM (2020). Film Sounds: The Noise of Video Production. [online] WhisperRoom, Inc.TM. Available at: https://whisperroom.com/tips/film-sounds-the-noise-of-video-production/#:~:text=The%20three%20essential%20categories%20of.

-Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Sound effect | theatrical production. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/sound-effect.

-lauracase (2015). Creepy music in woods? [online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/Paranormal/comments/3smjab/creepy_music_in_woods/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

-Dixon, A. (2023). 10 Words to Describe a Spooky Forest. [online] Writing Tips Oasis - A website dedicated to helping writers to write and publish books. Available at: https://writingtipsoasis.com/words-to-describe-a-spooky-forest/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

 

-Quora. (2019). How do I describe a creepy forest? [online] Available at: https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-describe-a-creepy-forest#:~:text=It%20can%20have%20dark%20tree [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

 

-Wikipedia. (2024). Urban contemporary music. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_contemporary_music#:~:text=Urban%20contemporary%20radio%20stations%20feature.

 

-www.britannica.com. (n.d.). Urban contemporary music | Rap, Hip-Hop, R&B | Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/urban-contemporary-music#:~:text=urban%20contemporary%20music%2C%20musical%20genre [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

 

-sierraclark16.github.io. (n.d.). Types of sounds in the urban environment. [online] Available at: https://sierraclark16.github.io/Noise-pollution-in-Accra/SoundType.html#:~:text=Sounds%20of%20engines%2C%20drilling%2C%20honking [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

 

-arn@evenant.com (2018). Film Scoring: Introduction To Action Cues. [online] Evenant. Available at: https://evenant.com/film-scoring-introduction-to-action-cues/#:~:text=Generally%20in%20action%20music%2C%20melodic.

 

-filmsound.org. (n.d.). Sound Effects in Science Fiction and Horror Films. [online] Available at: http://filmsound.org/articles/horrorsound/horrorsound.htm#:~:text=Synthesizers%20are%20almost%20always%20used [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

-www.acmi.net.au. (n.d.). Electric sound in sci-fi. [online] Available at: http://www.acmi.net.au/stories-and-ideas/electric-sound-sci-fi [Accessed 5 Apr. 2024].

-StudioBinder. (2022). VIDEO: Diegetic Sound — Storytelling For Your Ears. [online] Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-diegetic-sound/#:~:text=Non%2DDiegetic%20sound-.