At the beginning of this scene, Simon Pegg’s character, Shaun, and Nick Frost’s character, Ed, are watching a news broadcast after discovering a strangely-behaving woman in their back garden.

The diegetic sounds (that the characters can hear) in this part of the scene is the two characters sitting on the couch (presumably a foley sound to amplify the effect of them sitting down), the news broadcast’s monologue, the two characters communicating, the noises of the door opening as the zombie walks into their house, and the zombie’s soft groans as it approaches – which is quieter than it should be, of which I assume was done to display the character’s lack of self awareness.

The non-diegetic sounds include the low rumbling present through the scene, and the musical sting before Ed and Shaun notice the zombie in their house.

They then attack a zombie that walks into their home with various household objects, ranging from books to pillows to an ashtray. Shaun then shuts and locks the front door after they kill the zombie.

Diegetic sounds present within this segment include the cartoonish sound effects of the objects hitting the zombie – or the window behind them – the news broadcast still running in the background, more dialogue (panting and screaming), the sound of the ashtray breaking on the zombies skull, and, while amplified for effect on the audience, the sound of the door locking.

The use of non-diegesis here is present in the tense musical score and musical sting as the zombie is killed.

More examples of non-diegesis throughout the scene is the soundtrack, with a hip-hop track briefly playing as the characters throw vinyl discs, and whoosh sound effects accompanying scene transitions.

A voice over is a sound device wherein one hears the voice of a character and/or narrator speaking but the character in question is not speaking those words on screen. 

Narration can be first person or “voice of god” style – consider the two different effects on the narrative.

A film that uses narration is Blade Runner.

Diegetic sound is any sound that the character or characters on screen can hear.

Non-diegetic sound is any sound that the audience can hear but the characters on screen cannot.

Examples of diegetic sound in Shaun of the dead

Sound of the news on the TV

Dialogue

Impact of items being thrown

Zombie noises

Examples of non-diegetic sound in Shaun of the dead

Cartoonish whoosh

Music

A sound editor records sounds needed for a production, including post-production sounds too. A sounds mixer combines the sound editor’s work together with the film in post-production.

An example of a famous sound editor is Gary Rydstrom, especially for his work on Titanic, (1998), where he won an academy award for best sound.

Examples of Non-Diegetic Sound in Shaun of the Dead: The tense music as the first Zombie enters. The techno-music as both characters fight the pair of zombies in their back garden. Examples of Diegetic Sound: The smash of vinyl records against walls, the dialogue of characters and the TV presenter on the News.

A ‘needle-drop’ moment is where music is first played dietetically, then covers over a montage of clips , (typically). It is used to create continuity with music appearing in a film, and blur the line between diegetic and non-diegetic sound.]

A famous example of a Needle-Drop moment in film is in Elvis, (2022), during the final scene where Elvis begins singing, and the film moves into a compilation of videos of Elvis.

Examples of a film’s soundtrack being composed by a Foley artist: Star Wars’ Lightsaber Sound FX, footsteps in The Shining and vinyl smashes in Shaun of the Dead.

An example of a Leitmotif in a film that adds an ambience to a character is ‘Amelie’, where the song ‘L’Autre Valse d’Amelie’ reoccurs whenever Amelie gets up to her antics.

Bladerunner is an example if a film where narration is used to provide information to the viewer, similarly to Shawshank Redemption when one of the protagonists details his connections to the prison as the camera zooms over the facility.

My favourite film soundtrack is Pulp Fiction, primarily due to the use of ‘You never can Tell’ during the dance competition scene.

One film that heavily uses Leitmotif to enhance meaning for the audience is Harry Potter. The song ‘Prologue’ is used continuously in every single one of the films which gives a sense of nostalgia and safety in knowing that you are going to watch something familiar and gives you a sense of home connecting to the characters in the film going back home to Hogwarts.

Sound which could be made by a film’s Foley Artist could include: footsteps, punches in a fight, glass breaking and doors opening and closing.

A film that uses a leitmotif to enhance meaning for the audience is Jaws. The use of this leitmotif means whenever the shark is approaching, the audience are aware before the characters are, adding to the tension of the scenes, as the audience know something bad will happen.

Another film that uses a narration is Bladerunner, in the opening scene. It helps explain the world and context for the audience, as well as setting up the characterisation of Deckard.

One of my favourite film soundtracks is probably the Harry Potter films soundtrack by John Williams who has produced other soundtrack such as Starwars and Jurassic Park. It appeals to me so much because it sets the tone and atmosphere for the magical setting, as well as being nostalgic.

A voice over/ narration is when one person hears the voice of a character or narrator speaking but the character in question is not speaking those words on screen.

An example of this could be in “YOU” during Joe’s narration of his thoughts about the other characters. Narration could be used here to give insight into the characters thoughts and ideas and let the audience know certain factors that other characters on screen don’t. Such as when he describes what he thinks of the new people he met.

Many times sound effects in film are created by Foley Artists who use different objects and animals to create sounds that the camera can not capture.

Some examples of this include the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, the sound of flipping pages and even the sound of walking in snow.

Here are 2 examples of how they got the dinosaurs roars:

Velociraptors – Tutorise

Tyrannosaurus rex – The key element of the T. rex roar is not a full-grown elephant but a baby elephant.

In the TV show ‘Wednesday’ voice-over narration is used to move the story along whilst also giving audience insight into Wednesdays thoughts as she goes into girl-detective mode (Wednesday narrates the voice-over).

A leitmotif is a “short, recurring musical phrase” associated with a particular person, place, or idea. For example, the music that plays when the shark in Jaws is coming to attack someone. It creates tension as the audience know what is about to occur.