Section B: American Film since 2005 (two film study)
Exam Key Showing Examination Exams Or Web Test
Q: Discuss how important cinematography is in creating a powerful response in the spectator. Refer in detail to at least one sequence from each film. [40]
Time allocated – 50 mins
This will be done in class with access to your chosen film clips.
You will have the equivalent of ONE lesson to prepare a plan.
Consider the question:
THINK: What do you think about the Question?
Are there any KEY words?
What do you think are the PITFALLS that you need to avoid.
Pre-mortem: A pre–mortem, or premortem, is a managerial strategy in which a project team imagines that a project or organization has failed, and then works backward.
Why might you FAIL at this task?
Consider Slides 3 of the Week 7 Power point.
Define Cinematography. (5 mins) Explain to someone.
EXAM BOARD SAYS… (REFER TO POWER POINT WEEK 7 – ‘Tackling an exam question’.
In band 3, responses will consider how cinematography might create a response in the spectator by close reference to sequences from the films studied.
In bands 4 and 5, analysis and evaluation of the importance of cinematography will be more precise, detailed and sophisticated.
In bands 4 and 5, responses will develop more complex explanations of how and why cinematography may, or may not be, important in influencing spectators’ responses and may question the idea of film ‘creating’ a response.
Responses in band 3 are likely to focus more on one film whereas responses in bands 4 and 5 will be more even and balanced in their approach.
Band 5 responses may recognise that spectators do not always respond in the way that they are encouraged to by the use of cinematography. They may discuss the complex interaction between film and spectator by providing sophisticated reasons for this.
Re- read Week 4 Powerpoint (Cinematography)
Go to the M-Drive and look for a sequence (a scene) which has enough in it to sustain about 3-4 points.
CONSIDER THIS from the Exam board:
-An analysis and EVALUATION of the importance of cinematography
-Remember that you can always argue against or debate the question
-A low level response would simply cite examples of the use of cinematography from both films.
Big close-up: As this shot is so close it gives the audience a distinct focal point to look at. She is breaking the 4th wall (looking straight into the camera) which makes the audience feel she is talking to us. I think the director purposely did tis shot as a big close-up because it makes see the character in a deeper way/level. As the shot is close up, we can see every emotion very vividly. Just looking into her eyes, you can see the panic or the unstable mentality.
Long Shot: This shot shows Chiron at the train station alone. The way he is shat in the middles with the whole of the city landscape behind him helps to signify he’s extremely lonely. I think the director has purposely done this to help this audience feel sympathy for him as he’s solitary. As an audience member myself, watching this scene showed me that there is the whole world, but Chiron still ends up alone.
Extreme long shot: This scene shows the area where Juan sells the drugs. The shot helps the audience consume all the different details about this location. It helps us see it’s run down and a quiet area; this signals that it could be a very dodgy area that is very unsafe.
Camera Angles-Moonlight
High Angle: This a shot taken of Chiron walking home from school. This high camera angle can direct the audience’s attention to the vulnerability he is in. It also makes him seem powerless with the shot, even though he is the only one in the frame he is alone which calls out he is alone. This is also followed on throughout the film as there are many other scenes where’s we see Chiron alone.
Low Angle: This low angle shows little looking up at Juan. The camera angle lets us see his whole face and reaction. As a viewer this angle could also signify that he is ‘little’ even though they are both sitting down the angle can help represent that his name signifies his height.
Eye-line Angle: An eye line angle helps us see the image in the frame at a ’natural’ position. In this case and in this scene, Black and Kevin are having a conversation. This angle can let the audience clearly see the two characters talking.
Camera Movements
Pan Right: This scene is when Chiron (black) is talking to his mum in her garden. The way the camera slowly focuses makes the viewer feel they are watching this scene from the background. It also clearly shows how closed off the characters in the location.
Pan Left: This scene is when Chiron is walking home from school and the camera instantly moves to Paula (his mum) and puts the focus onto her.
Track in- Track out: In this scene the camera slowly tracks onto little when he is in the field with his friends. The camera shows that he is feeling disconnected with his friends as it shows the viewer he is left out/alone even when he’s with his friends.
Extreme close up, this shot affects viewers as it makes the scene feel more intimate and as if we are there as the subject is shown so close. Additionally, the use of this close-up shot makes this scene more emotive as we feel the character is speaking to us as an audience directly which establishes emotional links between the audience and character leading them to feel more invested into the film. The close shot also draws the audiences’ attention.
This long shot reflects how small Chiro is compared to Quan also showing how small he feels compared to others around him. The small size of Chiro shown in this shot also connotates innocence and is child-like causing the audience to feel sympathetic towards him.
Close ups give comparison to long shots, as well as making the characters appear smaller reflecting how small Chiro and Kevin feel compared to everyone else in their society. This also causes the audience to be more observant as there is more to look at compared to a long shot.
Camera angles
This low angle makes young Chiro appear larger while opposed to reality where he is very small also making him look vulnerable.
High angles are taken when the camera is looking down on the actors and setting while being above. They make the scene more dramatic as well as making the characters appear smaller and more venerable, which can show the audience how the characters feel in this scene.
Birds eye shots are taken directly above the character, they affect the audience by giving them a clear view of Chiro as well as highlighting his changes from adolescence.
Camera movements
In this shot the camera pans down. The effect of this is that it highlights the extend of Chiros injury’s and his mother’s drug addiction causing the audience to feel sympathetic towards Chiro and additionally helps us to build an emotional connection to the film.
The camera moves to the right in this shot and transfers from an image of the cleaner cleaning the floor and then Chiro sleeping rough in the station. This camera movement reflects the emptiness of the train station telling the audience how everyone has gone home after their work, but Chiro is unable too also highlighting his bad home life again making the audience feel sympathetic.
Here the camera is freely tracking Quan and Chiro. The effect of this is it makes the scene more immersive and makes the audience feel like they are there, not just watching them on a screen. It also adds an element of peace and tranquillity.
decides what sounds will be used in the piece. (i.e. sirens, dialogue, cars) they may also create these sound effects for the specific project.
decides when the sounds will be present. (i.e. if they fade in and out during scenes of stress) make sure that audio is up to the quality that is desired
The Shepard’s tone: A tone of music designed to unnerve the audience. It is constructed with three tones in different octaves that all play at the same time. The lowest and highest fading at different times to give the illusion that the sound goes on forever.
Diegetic sound: Sounds that appear to the characters in the universe can hear, such as dialogue and music played on radio.
Non Diegetic sound: these are sounds that cannot be heard by the characters on screen, such as the soundtrack and narration.
Sound Effects: these are sounds that are artificially made for the purpose of enhancing a scene. (emphasising a mood, action or feeling). used in all kinds of media (radio, theatre, film and tv.)
The Foley Artist: re-creates the sounds in a recording which get layer on top of the original clip. This may get done because the original audio was too low or not clear enough. Things they could re-create are walking, a character getting hit or a character falling, along with most sound effects in movies.
Leitmotif: A recurring piece of music that is present throughout a film or film franchise, they are guides. there are 4 categories character, setting, emotion and evolution. an example of character music would be something like Indiana Jones’ theme that plays throughout the movies. An example of setting would be the piece of music that plays in lord of the rings when in reference to The Shire, this could be when the characters are present in the shire, or when they reminiscing on it while out on their adventure. These can also be modified to show emotion about the setting, like having the music slow down or be played on a different instrument to signify that they miss the place. An example of Emotion would be in Up with the music associated with Ellie, it plays throughout the movie to signify Carl’s mental state and at the end to show how he has grown attached to Russel. For Evolution, you could use Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) as an example, as in the prequal movies, there is a slight part of the imperial march that can be heard in Anakin’s theme.
Sound Bridge: helps smoothen the transition from one scene to the next. can be referred to as a J-cut or an L-cut depending on if sound leaves before or after the image.
Voice over: a voice that narrates over the events of the movie, usually from a character present in the movie from the future. it may also be from the perspective of an ‘unreliable narrator’ which may be the views of one character, not the whole story. An example of voice over is at the beginning of the extended cut of lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring by the character Galadriel.
Score/Underscore: The score of a movie is pieces of music that are composed specifically for a movie. An underscore is a piece of music that is played underneath the dialogue and sound effects. it can be used to help amplify the mood or themes of a scene, for example ‘Concerning Hobbits’ from the lord of the rings is used to amplify the feelings of comfort and tranquillity that is in The Shire.
Synchronous: a sound that is matched with the actions that are being viewed, I.E when someone is talking or when you hear and see a match being struck.
Asynchronous: when a sound is not matched with the actions that are being viewed. I.E. birds off screen or cars.
Needle Drop: when a pre-existing song is put as the underscore in a movie. This can be used to enhance emotions in a scene through the association of these songs.
Sound Perspective: Its volume, how far away it could be from the source. this could be utilized, by having a scene with no dialogue and having the sounds of the setting taking the foreground. For example, in Spielberg’s Munich, there is a scene that has almost no dialogue and does all of its story telling through the sounds of the scene. These sounds are raised and lowered throughout the scene to heighten the tension.
Film Score: my favourite Film score is the score for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the ring. I feel that Howard Shore does a great job of world building for the first movie of the franchise. It makes each area of Middle Earth well known to the viewer, this is done by using different instruments for all the important areas that are shown in the first movie that will be reoccurring throughout the franchise. By having them all represented by different instruments, it is able to world build and introduce the audience to the areas of Middle Earth without having to say anything. For example, when Frodo wakes up in Rivendell, the music is very regal and the viewer immediately knows this is a place of importance and will be a place of safety for Frodo and the Hobbits. This regal sound is continued throughout the entire time they stay in Rivendell, this creates a connection of importance to the elves in the viewers mind.
Sound editors are responsible for the finished sound in movies and television shows unlike the sound mixer who is the leader of the production sound crew, responsible for recording high-quality audio on set and location for film and television productions.
Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in Joker:
Diegetic sounds:
The scene in the joker where he and Murray were in a different together room, and they could hear an applause from the audience.
Non-diegetic sounds-
The famous scene in the joker where he is dancing down the stairs is non diegetic as you couldn’t see speakers, so it was probably in his head.
Sound Effects-
Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express an action, mood, or feeling. Sound effects were initially used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today om podcasts, theatre, films and television shows.
Foley artist
a Foley artist is when people recreate the sounds that were missed when filmed. they use props and try make it as believable as possible.
Leitmotif
a short word or phrase that is associated with a particular. Normally its a song that’s associated. ‘leitmotifs are guides to emotion.’- Richard Wagner. A film that uses leitmotifs is Up by Disney, the well known song is changed into different songs with slower or faster melodies or even played with different instruments eg the piano.
L-Cut and J-Cut
A sound bridge is a type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film.
A J-Cut is when the sound is in the scene before as if a voiceover then in the next scene you see the sound being made.
A L-Cut is when the sound is being made in the first scene and the sound carries onto the next scene with seeing the sound being made.
Voice over/Narration-
often informs the audience with all the information they need about a certain character or event, this can sometimes be presented as ‘unreliable narration’ meaning the viewer does not get all the information straight away.
Musical score-
pieces of music specifically made for a film/specific scene.
Underscore-
music playing ‘under’ the dialogue between characters, usually quite quiet.
Synchronous sound-
is sound that is matched with the action and movements being viewed.
‘Needle Drop’-
a version of recording that has been transferred from a vinyl record to digital audio or other formats.
Asynchronous sound-
used when the director wants to create tension as the viewer can hear a sound but cannot see its source. Sometimes the audience cant hear the sound that the character inside the film can hear.
Sound Perspective-
Refers to the apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch.
For example Spielberg uses only camera work and sound perspective when the man is about to be killed to show the ambience of the scene. The sound in the distance was the mans footsteps and the dominant sound was the found ringing.
Favourite Film Soundtrack-
my favourite film soundtrack was rocky as it had the iconic theme song which everyone will always associate with rocky. the composers were Bill Conti and Carol Connors. The original song was only 90 seconds long as it was created fir the montage.
Sound Editor: The sound editor selects, polishes, and assembles three primary elements—recorded dialogue, sound effects, and music—into a complete, integrated soundtrack.
Sound Mixer: The leader of the production sound crew, responsible for recording high-quality audio on set and location for film and television productions.
What’s the difference between the role of the a Sound Editor and a Sound Mixer? The difference between the two roles is that the Sound Editors find the resources and the Sound Mixers “mix” them all together.
Diegetic: the sound that the audience but also the characters CAN hear in the film.
Non-Diegetic: The sound that only the audience can hear and the characters CAN’T.
The diegetic sound in this scene is when the Joker pulls the trigger of the gun. The audience can hear the gunshots as well as Arthur and his mum. As well as the gunshots there is the tv playing in the background which gets turned up louder after the gun is shot. However his mum also starts shouting wondering what just happened.
The non-diegetic sound in this scene is the music playing over the top of the Joker on his way to the Murray Show. This music is up beat but also capturing.
Synchronous: is a sound that is matched with the action and movements being viewed.
Asynchronous: is not matched with visible source of the sound on the screen.
what is it meant by needle drop? needle drop is when a popular song is added into a movie to set the scene. Juxtaposition to the sound, to the image. It can either relate to what is happening in that certain moment or can completely go against it.
Sound Effects: are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express an action, mood, or feeling. Sound effects were initially used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films, and television shows.
Ben Burt created the lightsabresound.
Which film genres do you associate them with? Horror, Science Fiction.
Foley Artists: A foley artists layers sounds onto a film (post-production). They film in a soundproof room and use anything they can to make the sound realistic. They usually enhance the sounds that are happening in the scene e.g a person wearing high heels and walking.
Leitmotif: A leitmotif is a short musical phrase that helps the audience understand who’s appearing or what’s happening in the scene. They include character ,setting, emotion and mood. An example of a character leitmotif is the avengers every time they are in one big group music is played which sounds demanding and strong.
Lcutand Jcut: •A sound bridge is a type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film. A L-cut is when you see the video/film image with the sound, and the sound then follows through to other shots. A Jcut is is when you can hear the sound in one scene and then it switches to where the sound is from.
Voice Over: Often tells the audience what they need to know but also could be unreliable e.g. film noir, Shawshank redemption.
Score/Underscore: The underscore/score helps distinguish what the mood is and also helps create an atmosphere. the underscore is just music quietly playing underneath the dialogue.
Sound Perspective: Refers to the apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch.
Sound Design: Sound design is when the sound designer creates a layer of sounds in the scene. In Munich the build up to the big climax was silent, when the build up was happening one at a time each background sound was taken away leaving the audience to hear nothing.
My favourite soundtrack in a movie is ‘Anyone But You’. i like this soundtrack because it has modern songs in it such as Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield’s. As they used a well known song it made the movie more engaging. Having a song that is made in the 2000s also helps show the age of the characters and how they relate to this song. The songs are mostly upbeat however, some are ballad.
A sound mixer ensures audio is recorded at a good level for each take., they decide when in films sounds are necessary.
a sound editor tracks the layers of sound in film and ensure they all blend well together.
The Shepard’s Tone– this makes views/ listeners believe pitch is always going up higher and lower creating a jarring contrast to make the audience believe something is intense.
diegetic– when it is in side the characters world eg a car horn
non-diegetic– when a sound is playing that the character cannot hear and is outside their world eg music playing.
examples in joker –
diegetic:
The radio, car horns, chatter and footsteps in the background, Arthurs character can hear therefore it is diegetic.
non-diegetic
The melancholy violin music playing in the background the therapist and Arthur cannot hear therefore it is non-diegetic.
sound effects-
•Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express an action, mood, or feeling. Sound effects were initially used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films, and television shows
film genres usually associated is horror action and si-fi films. Where the soundscape is enhanced to increase dramatic tension
Foley artists- a Foley artist layers sound over the film once it has finished production, the sounds are created by random objects to perfectly replicate natural noises.
light motif- a specific set of music to distinguish and establish a specific franchise. you can have it for character as a theme tune eg jaws, setting in the lord of the rings to tell viewers where the characters are, emotions can be used by slowing down or speeding up a song to create meaning eg the UP theme tune.
L & J cut- bridges a visible transition.
Voice over- gives consumer a idea as the what’s happening in the plot, but can be unreliable eg- Shawshank redemption, Ferris Bulers day off.
underscoring- to establish the mood and atmosphere and almost the characters thoughts possibly to tell the audience what’s coming.
Synchronous sound- when a visible action is matched with a sound.
asynconous sound-is used when the director wants to create tension as the viewer can hear a sound but cannot see its source. Sometimes the audience can’t hear the sound that the character inside the film can hear.
needle drop- popular song dropped into a film and usually sets the mood. eg- Garry glitter song n joker steps sequence.
sound perspective-refers to the apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch.
sound design- the use of sound in a film to carry the narrative along, which is crucial for the viewing experience that has a lot more of importance then we know. The use of sound creates depth, the most dominant sound in the scene and how it creates meaning for the story eg- the little girls footsteps going through the apartment to highlight her innocence.
My film with my favourite film sound track is “Call Me By Your Name” directed by Luca Guadaginino. I like the soundtrack as I not only love the songs in it regardless but it also relates to the films genre, romance and drama. The film has a distinct Italian feel to it and the soundtrack backs this up with it being mostly calm and slow melodic songs. The songs within this slowly paced soundtrack are melancholy at times signifying the heartbreak within the film which i believe to be very powerful to crate meaning and feeling for the viewers.
Difference between a sound editing and sound mixing: Sound editing is the process of manipulating sounds post-production to receive the desired outcome. This can be to remove background sound or mistakes.
Sound mixing involves mixing individual tracks to create a convincing soundscape. This is done by adjusting levels to create an effect that conveys emotion to enhance the story.
The Shepard Tone – a sound illusion of sine waves separated by octave, with the bass tone ascending in pitch.
Diegetic and non-diegetic sound in Joker: Diegetic: at 47:10, Arthur dances with his mother, Penny, to the music playing on the television. This ends at 48:08, which is when the show ends.
Non-diegetic: music begins at 31:36, when Arthur is on the train. This continues until 33:20, when it slowly fades out.
Synchronous sound: sound that is matched with the action and movements being viewed.
Asynchronous sound: sound not matched with a visible source of sound on the screen.
Needle drop: when a pre existing song is used in a film to underscore a particular scene. This is powerful as emotions and associations we have with a song can enhance a particular scene. For example, they play Come and Get Your Love by Redbone in Guardians of the Galaxy as the main character, Peter Quill, dances.
Sound effects: artificially created or enhanced sounds – used in artistic works to emphasise or express an action, mood or feeling, e.g. Ben Burtt created the iconic sound for the lightsabres in Star Wars. Sound effects were originally used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films and television shows.
Foley Artist: Adds sound effects post-production by recording in a sound-proof studio and layering it over the top of the scene.
Leitmotif: Musical score that is designed to condition the audience’s emotions towards certain characters. Leitmotif is used for characters, emotion, settings and evolution.
Characters: Jaws theme tells the audience when the shark is near without explicitly showing it.
Emotion: Married Life represents Carl’s emotions in Up.
Settings: There are different themes in Lord of the Rings to suggest where the characters are.
Evolution: Different versions of the Imperial March are used throughout Star Wars to show the evolution of Darth Vader’s character.
Sound Bridge: When sound carries over a visual transition in a film to bring the viewer seamlessly into the next scene.
Narration: often tells the audience what they need to know, but they can sometimes be unreliable. Unreliable narrators may be lying or not telling the whole story.
Score: the score is music composed specifically for the film to help enhance the mood and themes of the visuals.
Underscore: music that is played under the sequences to enhance mood and support the score – often mixed with dialogue and/or sound effects.
Sound perspective: the apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch.
My favourite soundtrack is Pulp Fiction because I think the music really fits the general style of the film and helps to convey the emotions of the film.
The difference between the role of a Sound Editor and a Sound Mixer
The sound editor finds the sound sources. They are responsible for the finished sound in Films. Th process involves selecting, polishing, and assembling three primary elements – recorded dialogue, sound effects, and music- into a complete, integrated soundtrack. The sound mixer is the process where the raw materials assembled in sound editing process are combined and balanced into a coherent soundscape. The sound mixer takes the edited products and hones it during post- production.
The Shephard Tone
A Shephard Tone is a sound consisting of a superposition sine wave separated by octaves. When played with the bass pitch of the tone moving upward or downward, it is referred to as the Shepard scale. This creates the auditory illusion of a tone that seems to continually ascend or descend in pitch, yet which ultimately gets no higher or lower.
Diegetic vs Non – Diegetic Sound
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.
In this scene, Arthur and Thomas Wayne are having conversation. This is an example of Diegetic sound as they can both hear each other while being on the screen. You can additionally hear the bathroom door swinging open and shot which creates the sense of the audience knowing what is happening in this scene not just the characters
In this scene, where Arthur is on the bus. This is an example of Non – Diegetic sound as there is a background music ( composed by Hildur Guonadottir ) creating an intense emotion within this scene. This is Non- Diegetic sound because the character on screen cannot hear it however the audience can hear it.
Needle Drop
Synchronous sound is sound that is matched with the action and movements being viewed
Asynchronous sound is not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen.
A needle drop is when a pre-existing song is used in a film to underscore a particular scene. This can be a powerful tool for filmmakers, as the emotions and associations that we have with a particular song can enhance the emotions and associations that we have with a particular scene.
Sound Effects
Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasise or express an action, mood, or feeling. Sound effects were initially used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films, and television shows
Many genres of films use sound effects but the main genres are Science Fiction, Horror, Action and Adventure genres where the soundscape is enhanced to increase dramatic tension.
A Foley Artist
A Foley Artist adds in sound effects to the movie in Post-Production. They make the sounds in a sound studio. They make sounds like the sound of breaking bones, creaking floors, squeaking doors, footsteps, falling bodies, fire and basically any sound that is not dialogue or music, is Foley
Leitmotif
A leitmotif or leitmotiv is a “short, recurring musical phrase” associated with a particular person, place, or idea.
There is a leitmotif for settings, emotion, Character , evolution Settings – Harry Potter shows when they are going back to Hogwarts and the surrounding there. Emotion – In UP the musical phrase changes within different emotions Character – Jaws, you know when Jaws is coming as the musical phrase is heard whenever the shark is near. Evolution- Imperial march from star Wars.
Jcut & Lcut
A sound bridge is a type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film.
Voice over/ Narration
Sound device where in 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.
Score / underscore
Score – the score for a film is the ( theme ) music composed especially for it to enhance the mood / themes of the visuals which appear on screen. Underscore – the underscore is music which is played ” under ” sequences to enhance mood and this often mixed with dialogue and/ or sound effects.
Sound Perspective
Sound Perspective refers to the apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch. If we didn’t know the sound of things we wouldn’t know the climax of the story.
Activity 8
My favourite soundtrack is Mamma Mia 2 as it help brings the emotions more to life when adding the sound to the film. Sound helps the movie shift between emotion through the music and sound effects. Sound helps establish a reality within the film by making it seem more intense and
Difference between a sound editor and a sound mixer
The difference between a sound editor and a sound mixer is that a sound editor finds the sound sources, whereas the sound mixer decides when they should come in, how loud they should be etc…
Examples of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in Joker
Diegetic sound – any sound that the character or characters within the world of the film can hear.
Non-diegetic sound – any sound that the audience can hear but the characters within the world of the film cannot.
An example of diegetic sounds in Joker would be the opening scene, as the characters would’ve been able to hear all the sounds of the atmosphere, the black man playing the piano, the cars in the street, the people hurrying to work. The example of the black man playing the piano is actually trans-diegetic, as the piano appears to be part of the score, so non-diegetic, but then is revealed to be in the scene. This is an early example of how Arthur contains music and experiences within his own deteriorating mind.
An example of non-diegetic sound in Joker is the minimalistic, harrowing cello that plays as Arthur dances in the bathroom, after he has killed the ‘Wall Street Guys’. This element, along with other in the scene, signifies Arthur’s transition to the ‘Joker’ personality.
Synchronous/Asynchronous Sound
Synchronous sound is sound that is matched with the action and movements being viewed. Asynchronous sound is not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen and is used when the director wants to create tension as the viewer can hear a sound but cannot see it source. Sometimes the audience can’t hear the sound that the character inside the film can hear.
Sound effects
Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express an action, mood, or feeling. Sound effects were initially used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films, and television shows. A famous example of a sound effect is Ken Burtt’s lightsaber sound effect.
Foley Artists
A Foley Artist adds in sound effects to the movie in Post-Production. The sound effects they make are physical and using real-world objects.
Leitmotif
A leitmotif or leitmotiv is a “short, recurring musical phrase” associated with a particular person, place or idea. The purpose of one is to condition the audience emotionally for the intervention, arrival, or actions of a particular character.
Leitmotif are usually associated with 4 things: theme, subject, character or setting. Setting motifs are used heavily throughout Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ to encapsulate the feeling an area has or too link a scene to a particular setting. The most iconic character motif is the one heard in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ and it is very effective as you never actually see the character early in the film, and the shark’s theme indicate that the shark is there.
Sound Bridge
A sound bridge is a type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film.
Voice Over
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.
Score/Underscore
The score for a film is the (theme) music composed especially for it to enhance the mood/themes of the visuals which appear on screen. The underscore is music which is played “under” sequences to enhance mood and this is often mixed with dialogue and/or sound effects.
Sound Perspective
Sound perspective refers to the apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch.
Sound Design
Sound Design is used in film to further convey the message, or thing that the director wants to show, which is shown through the images shown. Usually the sound that is in the foreground, is the thing that the director wants to draw your attention to. For example, in the film Munich by Steven Spielberg, a car driving past suddenly becomes louder in the mix and shoots over Daniel Craig’s intimate singing. He does this to presumably bring the viewer’s attention to this car.
Favourite Soundtrack
My favourite soundtrack is the original, ambient synth score by Vangelis from 1982’s Blade Runner. The reason it is my favourite is because I feel it adds to the amazing futuristic atmosphere and ambience that Ridley Scott builds through her use of creative sets and stunning shots. It also helps the climatic scenes throughout the movie, such as the emotional rooftop ending. During the Roy Batty’s emotional speech as he’s approaching his death, the synth surges to much the emotional surge of his words and his wanting to be rembered.
