Diegetic Sound in the Joker  

When Arthur is at the Murray show we can hear applause. Arthur and Murray, along with everyone else, can hear this applause as it is in response to something someone has said. This is diegetic as the characters as well as the home viewers can hear it  

NON-DIEGETIC SOUND IN FILM  

When Arthur was dancing on the stairs while wearing his joker makeup.  

WHAT IS A SOUND AFFECT?  

Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express an action, mood, or feeling.   

FOLEY ARTISTS 

Foley artists re-record sounds for film in soundproof rooms. Once they re-create the sounds, they then layer it over the scene.  

LEITMOTIF 

A leitmotif is a recurring musical phrase associated with a theme, subject, character, or setting.   

1. AMERICAN BEAUTY  

2.  APOCALYPSE NOW.  

3. THE DARK NIGHT 

4. LORD OF THE RINGS 

SOUNDBRIDGES 

L-Cuts and J-Cuts are both sound bridges, J-cuts carry music from a previous scene into a new one and L-cuts carry music in

VOICE OVER/ NARRATION  

Voice over and narration often give the audience extra contextual information about characters. Sometimes we have unreliable narrators who deceive the audience and change the audience perspectives of certain characters.

SCORE/UNDERSCORE

The score is music specifically written, and recorded for one film. The underscore is the music that plays under dialogue and carries the mood for certain scenes.

SYNCHRONOUS / AYNCHRONOUS 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. 

NEEDLE-DROP

Needle-drop is popular music used in film which either enhances the mood or creates an ironic atmosphere to add further to the film.

SOUND PERSPECTIVE

•Sound perspective refers to the apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch.

Steven Spielberg Munich

in Steven Spielberg’s Munich he uses ambient sound and plays with shot distance in context to sound.

FAVOURITE FILM SOUNDTRACK

My favourite film soundtrack is the use of the song “The End” in the film Apocalypse Now, I like how symbolic it was when used with the first scene when bombs are being dropped in the jungle. And the usage of it when Willard meets Kurtz is very interesting, because as the song reaches its climax we see Willard kill Kurtz and as this happens the scene cuts to the Cambodian tribe sacrificing the water buffalo. The killing of the buffalo represents the brutality of war and the usage of “The End” is smart because it was a popular song during the Vietnam war among soldiers. composer is Jim Morrison/the doors. Song is considered acid rock/hard rock.

Sound editors work in post production, they sync and ensure all of the films dialogue, music and sound effects systematically come together and sync.

Sound mixers record high-quality audio for the film, they enhance the continuity of the films audio, they are the leaders of the sound production.

Diegetic and non diegetic sound

Diegetic sound is heard by both the audience and character such as dialogue whereas non diegetic sound is only heard by the audience like background music.

Diegetic sound, in this scene we can hear both the voice down the phone that Arthur is speaking to in addition to the New York city traffic outside the window, the use of this makes the scene more immersive as the sounds involved would be heard by the characters but are normally not heard by the audience.

Non diegetic sound, in the closing scene of Joker we can hear music that has been edited over the scene in post production as an outro for the film, however the Arthur cannot hear this as he solemnly walks away from the camera.

Synchronous and asynchronous sound, synchronous sound is sound that has been matched with the action/ movement being shown on screen, asynchronous sound is not matched with a visible source of sound on screen, it is most commonly used when the director creates tension, because we can hear a sound but not its source. This adds an aspect of apprehension, or sometimes the audience cannot hear the sound the character does on screen.

Needle drop moments are when music that is not from the world/ pre existing song is used to underscore a scene. This can either enhance the mood or juxtapose it, for example Joker or American psycho. The emotions and associations had with a particular song can also be carried over so we create the emotions and associations with that scene too.

Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds used to emphasise and express an action, mood or feeling. Foley artists create sound effects, they’re filmed in a sound proof studio to prevent background noise to get a clear sound, these sounds are then edited in post production.

Leitmotifs are a reoccurring short musical sound, they condition the audience and prepare them for the intervention, arrival or action of a particular element of the film. There are leitmotifs for characters (Star Wars and Darth fader), settings (Harry Potter and the wizarding world), emotions (Up and love) and evolution of characters

Sound bridges are a type of sound editing occurring when sound carries over a visual transition such as L-cuts and J-cuts. L-cuts happen when the audio from the previous scene carries over, then the visuals shift. J-Cuts occur when the next scenes audio plays before the image changes. They help with the flow of the film.

Narration/voiceovers tell the audience what content we need to know in order to follow the story, however they can commonly be unreliable as if from a characters perspective their narration can be bias. Voice overs are a sound device where the audience hears the voice of a character/ narrator speaking but the character itself is not speaking on screen. Narration is first person.

Score/underscore the score for a film is the theme music that has been composed specifically for the specific film and enhances the mood/themes of what we see on the screen, the underscore for a film is the music played underneath the sequences on screen often mixed with sound effects and dialogue, the underscore also enhances the mood. In the film Casablanca there is prominent underscore of an orchestra, mainly violins that play over the scene of the realisation only one would be on the plane. This has a strong effect on the audience as it creates a prominent mood of romance and sadness while additionally making us feel sympathetic towards the characters.

Sound perspective refers to the perceives distance between the audience/camera and the sound source through its volume, timbre and pitch. The concept of sound perspective is prominent in the film Munich as the climax of the film itself is told only through sound affects. We can tell what is happening in the scene singlehandedly from the sounds we hear and without looking at the screen. This is because in the background we can hear police sirens telling us that what the characters are doing is illegal, while the more prominent sounds of the daughter of the man who is trying to be killed and the cars driving past.

My favourite film soundtrack is from the film 10 things I hate about you, the song is called “Bad Reputation” and it opens the film. The song itself is a rock/pop song that was very popular around the time the film was made and released (1999). Its my favourite because the music is not specific to the film but whenever I hear the song I always think about the film. Additionally, the song fits in very well to the protagonist in the film as well as the story line as the movie is a coming of age teen movie which the song reflects well.

Sound Designer

Sound designers find, create (foley) and edit sound to be used in the film. This includes sound effects, diegetic noise, score, etc.

Sound Mixer

Edits and balances the dialogue, sound effects and the other sounds.

Diegetic sound in Joker

An example of diegetic sound in Joker is the people laughing in the comedy club when Arthur is watching the comedian

Non-Diegetic sound in Joker

An example of non-diegetic sound in Joker is the creepy orchestral score during Arthurs weird interpretive dance after killing the people on the train

A needledrop is when a licenced song is played in a movie, and it is used to create tension, comedy, and/or emotion for the audience, or set the tone e.g “That’s Life” in Joker, “Cry Little Sister” in The Lost Boys or “Stuck In The Middle With You” in Reservoir Dogs

Sound Effect:

Sound effects are artificially created/edited sounds that are used in film to emphasise an action or create mood and feeling

Foley artists would create sounds like glass breaking, footsteps, walking in sand or snow, impact sounds etc. by creating and using objects to make the sound effects.

A leitmotif is a short, recurring musical phrase associated with a character, like the theme from Jaws, a setting, like in Lord Of The Rings, emotion, like in Stand By Me, or a character’s evolution, like Darth Vader in Star Wars.

L Cuts and J Cuts are “sound bridges” that make the transition from one scene to another smoother

Voice Over is a sound technique where the audience hears the voice of a character or a narrator speaking over shots where the character or narrator isn’t speaking or on screen. Examples of films that use this are Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas, The Crow and Stand By Me. Voice over can also be utilised with an “unreliable narrator”, where the audience is given the information from the biased perspective of the narrator.

Score/Underscore

The score of a film is music composed specifically for use in the film to enhance emotion and themes of what is happening on screen. The Underscore is score that is played under sequences, usually mixed with dialogue and/or sound effects.

Synchronous sound is sound matched with actions being viewed, Asynchronous sound is not matched with what is happening on screen, which can be used to create tension by giving the audience a noise that they can’t match with a source, or giving the audience sound that a character in the film can’t hear.

Sound Perspective refers to the apparent distance of a sound source emulated through volume, pitch and timbre. In Spielberg’s film Munich, sound perspective is used through emphasising sounds to bring attention to important points of the scene, such as the target’s daughter’s footsteps being the dominant sound when she runs back into the building the assassins were going to bomb or silence being broken by the noise of a phone box’s metal dial to create danger and tension.

A soundtrack is music used in and/or made for the film

My favourite film soundtrack is The Crow (1994), as it utilises a lot of bands that I really enjoy to create the grungy, industrial, dark and gloomy setting the film produces. It works so well as it sounds good in the context of the film and is a good soundtrack by itself. There are so many scenes in the film that are elevated by the music, like the iconic scene where Eric puts on his makeup set to The Cure’s Burn, or the scene where he fights the room full of gangsters when After The Flesh by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult plays.

the difference between a sound design and a sound mixers is a sound mixer mixes multiple different audio’s and adjusts them to creates a sound atmosphere that fits the tone of the scene. They also adjust the quality of the audio so its easier to listen too.

A sound editor makes sure everything sounds perfect and makes sure that the dialogue music and effects all sync together well for the specific scene. They also polish off any sounds or audio and add in sound bites ( short audio clip taken from a larger audio clip) where needed.

diegetic – joker

this scene is diegetic since the sounds you can hear in the scene e.g. the crumpling paper and the TV in the background actually exist and you can see them. Therefore all of these sounds come naturally from the movie and isn’t ‘added’ in separate from the world in the movie

Non-diegetic – joker

This is an example of a non diegetic scene because in this scene the background music doesn’t actually exist in the world of the film and the joker cant actually hear the music but as the audience we can

what is a sound effect

sound effects are usually artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used inartistic work to emphasize or express an action mood of feeling. sound effects were initially used in radio dramas but can be observed more often today in podcasts theatre films and television shows.

Needle drop and why we use it

A needle drop in film is when a pre-existing song syncs up with a scene making the scene unforgettable, the song doesn’t need to be made from scratch or be original for it to sync and create a certain mood or display an emotion.it can also be used to create irony by having a song played in the background that gives the opposite feel to what’s happening in a scene.

Needle drop are used to enhance emotions in the scene by using songs we are familiar with to underscore the scene.

asynchronous sound is no matched with the visible source of the sound on screen and is used when the director want to create tension as the viewer can hear the sound but not where its coming from.

synchronous is sound that us matched with the action and movement being viewed

Sounds that would be made by a Foley artist

A Foley artist finds creative ways to mimic sounds that need to be added and synced into a scene post production. These can be any sounds including animal noises e.g. a horse running or a dog walking. It can also be movement sounds like a fight scene or someone skiing down a hill. its normally recorded in a sound proof studio and then that audio is layered over

Leitmotif

leitmotifs condition the audience emotionally for the intervention arrival or actions of a particular character. is can also relate to the character and make the audience relate a specific song with a character or a scene/ location

Leitmotif can be use to show how the character develops over time , for example in star wars darth vaders theme song is used throughout the time we see him including when he was young and while he’s dying.

Leitmotif also shows us when a character related to the song is about to come in, for example in jaws we rarely ever see the shark but we know its there from its catchy song that we relate to the shark.

sound bridge

a sound bridge occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film

A J cut and and L cut are two good example of this

Voice over

a voice over is a narration over the the film and its often to give context of the film or scenes while they are happening. Narration is usually in the first person or from ‘gods perspective’

narration often tells the audience what we need to know for context, however they may not always be reliable

score/underscore

the score for a film is the theme of the music composed especially for it to enhance the mood/themes of the visuals which appear on he screen. The underscore music is played under the sequence to enhance the mood and its often mixed with dialogue/ sound effects.

in the movie Casablanca the underscoring in the final scene adds sadness to the mood which shows the character emotion through the music, the music also starts when she finds out she’s going to be separated from the man and has to go on the plane alone which adds to the shock with the sudden music.

sound perspective

refers to the apparent distance of a sound source evidenced by its volume timbre and pitch. The sound in a movie isn’t always aligned with where the camera is which makes the sound an important aspect of a movie.

For example in the movie Munich the sound in the scenes are so powerful you don’t need to be watching the movie to understand what is happening, like when the assassins are planting the bomb, you can hear the ambient sound of the city changing as the assassins are working.#

favourite film sound track

my favourite film sound track is the frozen sound track. This is because its one of the most memorable Disney movie sound tracks and is used through all the different movies which ties them all together. Its also one of my earliest memories of film and the sound in the film is still I’m my memory after years of the films release.

A sound editor focuses on selecting, creating, and editing audio elements like dialogue and sound effects, ensuring they fit the project’s narrative and visuals. They prepare the audio for the next stage.

On the other hand, a sound mixer works on the final audio balance. They adjust levels, panning, and effects to create a polished mix that enhances the overall experience. So, while the sound editor sets up the audio, the sound mixer brings it all together for the final presentation.

The Shepard Tone

The Shepard tone is an auditory illusion that creates the impression of a continuously ascending pitch, even though it ultimately doesn’t go anywhere. This effect is achieved by layering several sound waves that are separated by octaves. As one tone fades out, another fades in which maintains the perception of rising sound.

This technique is often used in film and video game soundtracks to build tension and excitement. Hans Zimmer famously employed it in Dunkirk, creating an intense feeling of urgency and momentum throughout the score. The Shepard tone can effectively manipulate the listener’s emotions, making it a powerful tool in sound design.

Diegetic Sound & Non-Diegetic Sound

Diegetic Sound: This is sound that originates from within the story world. Characters can hear it, and it contributes to the environment of the scene. Examples include dialogue, footsteps, sound effects (like a door creaking), and music coming from a radio in the scene.

Nondiegetic Sound: This sound comes from outside the story world and is not heard by the characters. It often serves to enhance the emotional impact or provide context to the audience. Examples include the film’s score, voiceover narration, or sound effects that aren’t tied to the action on screen.

Needle Drop:

•Synchronous sound is sound that is matched with the action and movements being viewed. 

•Asynchronous 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.

Sound Effects: They are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express an action, mood or feeling. Sound effects are initially used in radio dramas, but cam be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films and TV shows. A famous sound effect is the lightsabre by Ken Butt.

Foley Artists: They record sound over the film by using props to find the perfect sound that would fit into the movie scene.

Leitmotif: A leitmotif or leitmotiv is a “short, recurring musical phrase” associated with a particular person, place, or idea. Leitmotifs condition the audience emotionally for the intervention, arrival, or actions of a particular character.

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 Design:

In films, sound design helps make everything you hear more engaging. Here are the main parts:

Sound Effects: These are sounds added to make actions feel real, like a door slamming or an explosion.

Dialogue: This is the speech of characters. Good sound design ensures you can hear and understand what they’re saying clearly

.Ambience: These are background sounds that create a mood, like city noise or birds chirping.

Foley: This involves making specific sounds to match the action on screen, like footsteps or rustling clothes.

Music: The soundtrack adds emotion and helps tell the story.

Favourite Sound Track

My favourite sound track in a movie is in All Quiet On The Western Front where there is a deep orchestra. The song is called Remains. It is played when a signifying event is happening in the movie. The composer Volker Bertelmann.

Sound Editing and Sound Mixing

A sound mixer is the leader of the production sound crew. They are responsible for recording the high-quality audio on set. Their job is to set up wires, affixing lapel mics, operating the sole boom mic and also mixing on a mobile controller.

Then, the job of a sound editor is to make sure all the sounds that come together in post-production are in sync and run smoothly. This includes stuff like the three primary elements: dialogue, music and other sound effects. They are sometimes known as track layers.

A good sound editor enhances the quality and continuity of the audio, and can really carry the storyline being played out on the screen by raising the tension or the comedic value.

What is a sound effect?

A sound effect is artificially created or enhanced sounds that can be played throughout the film to emphasize artistic or other content of films. For example the creator of the iconic lightsaber sound from Star Wars is Ben Burtt.

Examples of non-diegetic and diegetic sound

In this scene there is non-diegetic sound. While Arthur walks up the stairs there is a melancholy sounding song in the background.

In this scene the sound is diegetic because you can hear the sound of the rain and the Joker can also hear the same, therefore it exists in the world.

Synchronous and Asynchronous Sound

Synchronous sound is sound that is matched with the action and movements being seen. Such as the sound of a water flow near a bank of water, punching sounds during a fight scene, and also character dialogue.

Whereas Asynchronous sound is sound that is not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen. This type of sound can be used when the director wants to create tension (as the audience can hear the sound but not see it). For example when a character on screen is walking down a hallway and they hear a dog barking, yet there is no sign of a dog in the frame.

“A needle drop” in film refers to when a pre-existing song that is usually quite popular is used in the underscore for a certain scene. An example is “Where is My Mind?” in Fight Club.

The Foley Artist

This is a form of creating sound effects using an arsenal of props. They record in a sound-proof studio to produce a clearer sound, and they then layer it on top of images.

Leitmotif

This is a “short, recurring musical phrase” that is immediately associated with something. For example: setting– the Harry Potter theme, character– the Imperial March for Darth Vader, emotion- The Shire Theme in Lord of the Rings (when the characters are thinking of the Hobbiton), evolutions of character- the infamous Up theme (evolution from young life, to then an older life)

Sound bridges

A sound bridge is a type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film.

Two examples of this is the L-Cut and the J-Cut:

Voice over / Narration

A voice over is a sound device where you can hear the voice of a character and/or narrator speaking but you cannot see them talking while being shown on screen. Narration can be first person, or “voice of god” style. In some cases, this narration and voice over can be unreliable, leading to interesting plot devices.

An example of this in films is The Shawshank Redemption, Taxi Driver and American Psycho.

Score and Underscore

The score of a film is the music specifically made and composed for a certain film. It is designed to match with the story of the film and has to make sense. This defers to a soundtrack which is music from other places chosen to appear in the film.

An underscore is when the music is played “underneath” sequences to enhance the mood of the scene or to dramatize something. Usually it is blended in with dialogue or other sound effects.

Sound Perspective

This refers to the apparent distance of a sound source, so when sound is being heard from a different perspective than what the “main” character can hear. It can be the sound in the foreground, and is a different sound than the one that is dominant.

My favourite soundtrack is from the Harry Potter movies because it is nostalgic and I think it fits really well into the universe of the movies- they all have a fantasy aspect to them and are all instantly recognisable, which is a sign of how iconic it is. In particular, I’m referring to “Hedwig’s Theme” which appears in all eight of the movies. The composer of this theme is John Williams.

The sound editors find the sound sources whereas the sound mixers compile them all together to create a cohesive soundtrack/piece.

The Shepard Tone – Named after Roger Shepard, is a sound consisting of a superposition (a technique where two or more separate images or sequences are layered over each other to create a single frame) of sine waves separated by octaves. When played with the bass pitch of the tone moving upwards and downwards, it’s referred to as the Shepard Scale.

Diegetic Sound – Sounds which the characters on the screen can hear/are aware of.

Non-Diegetic Sound – Sounds which the characters on screen can’t hear but the audience can.

Examples of diegetic/non-diegetic sounds in ‘Joker’:

(diegetic) In this opening scene, we can hear a distant radio chatter playing as Arthur is posing in the mirror at his workplace. This audio is also heard by the characters in this scene, it acts as a narrative device, setting the world which ‘Joker’ is set in.

(non-diegetic) This is a good example of a non-diegetic scene as there’s music playing over the scene as he’s dancing down the stairs.

Sound Effects

Sound effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds that are used in artistic works to emphasize or express at action, emotion or feeling. Sound effects were initially used in radio dramas, but can be observed more often today in podcasts, theatre, films and television shows.

Foley Artist

A Foley Artist adds in (foley)sound effects to the movie in post-production. It is recorded in a sound proof studio, then the audio is layered over top of the images.

Leitmotif

A leitmotif/leitmotiv is a short, recurring musical phrase associated with a particular person, place, evolution of a character or idea. It conditions the audience to subconsciously recognise a character/idea/place even when it’s not in frame, solely due to a specific sound.

“Leitmotifs are guides to feelings” – Richard Wagner

For example, leitmotifs can be used to demonstrate a characters evolution, as shown in Star Wars with Anakin Skywalker, and his descent into evil as he becomes Darth Vader – the theme song is automatically linked with his character whenever the audience hears it.

As for setting, an example of this leitmotif can be found in Lord of the Rings, specific musical pieces are assigned accordingly to certain settings and how they’re supposed to make us feel.

For a particular person/thing, Jaws successfully represents the shark with a simple theme song, so we know it’s there before we even see it (which we hardly do) – the music makes its presence known, which is effectively unsettling.

Sound Bridge

A sound bridge is a technique which aids the seamless transition between two clips/scenes. This is done by using L-Cuts (the audio from the 1st clip carries over to the 2nd clip) and J-Cuts (the audio from the 2nd clip begins near the end of the 1st clip).

Films that use voiceover: Lolita (1997). I think it was used a lot in this film to emphasize the fact the Humbert is a very unreliable narrator.

Voice overs are typically used to narrate what is occurring, but it’s often only from one perspective – therefore, may be unreliable.

Score/Underscore

A score is the theme music composed especially for it to enhance the mood/themes of the visuals that appear on screen.

Underscores is the music which plays beneath the dialogue in the scene.

Synchronous/Asynchronous Sound

synchronous sound is sound that is matched to the action being viewed.

asynchronous sound is sound which is not matched to the actions and movements being viewed.

Needle Drop: when a pre-existing song is used in a film to underscore a particular scene.

Sound Perspective

The apparent distance of a sound source, evidenced by its volume, timbre, and pitch. In the clip from Spielberg’s ‘Munich’, where you can hear Daniel Craig’s character singing even though he’s not in the shot (yet), this automatically puts the audience in a perspective.

Film Score

My favourite film score is from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, composed by Angelo Badalamenti, and being co-written by David Lynch himself, is a jazz/ambient soundtrack. I love this one because of its ominous and beautiful composition, which is very fitting for a David Lynch psychological horror film; it manages to lure in the audience into the world of Twin peaks, and in this case, especially the character of Laura Palmer, adding to the haunting storyline of her character, as we already know what happened to her in Twin Peaks (TV show).