Film sound and music report

Tia Leoni Lewis
Nov 20, 2015
6 min read

Tia Lewis- 14097329 Date: 27/01/15

Introduction

What is film sound and music? Well this is where there is the dialogue or the sound effects of a sound. For example the effects of an animated film. This is all done by someone who makes and records sound effects for a film scene. This person is known as the sound designer. An example of a sound designer is Ben Burtt who is famous for creating the different sound effects that may not be in the real world we live in. he made the sounds for star wars. He was known to create sounds for the space ships and the noise of the light sabers for example. These are things he would have had to imagine what they would sound like and make up a sound to go with t. this would have been recorded and ten added into the scene in which it was needed. They may have added different tweaks to it to make it sound more realistic and part of the film. This way when you’re watching it you just think it is part of the film you don’t think about all the different noises in the film. Music will also be added into the film to add a certain mood for the scene that it is being inserted into. For example if you are watching a scene that is romantic then you will want to add romantic low soft music into the film. When I think of this I think of the saying setting the mood. With the romantic scene without the music you may just be looking at a normal emotionless scene. And you may not even notice it. But when you add in that music it just adds the emotion and without you realising that it is even there. Without music in a film then it may seem a bit bland and not have the emotion in a film that we are used to. Another great example is jaws for example. When they are out at sea and the shark starts to sneak up, you relate the music that is “dramatic” so to speak. This is where you associate that sound with the shark so you know what is coming. There are all types of different things that music is used for in a film. As I am going to mention in this report.

Film sounds

What are film sounds? Well to start off I am going to mention diegetic sounds and non-diegetic sounds. Diegetic sounds are sounds that are in the characters world. Such as; environmental sounds like car passing buy or birds tweeting. Other sounds are like coughing, snap of a twig, footsteps ect. Things that you may think that are in the real world (or characters world). Non diegetic sounds would be things that you may either have to design or are not known to be a real sound in the world of the character. This may also be something that the audience doesn’t see. For example the narration of a film, sound effects to add dramatic effect into the film or mood music. All of these things are important because it make you feel like you are in the film to you have a scene that it is real. Even though it may be a Disney animated film you still get the feeling you know the characters or that the sounds that may have been designed are real. Another great example for the designed sound is the Darasic park dinosaurs.

Other roles when making sound or composing music for a scene in a film is the orchestrator. The orchestrator takes a composition that has been made on a technical program and changes it to something that a musician or an orchestra can play. When this is done and the musicians can play it then you record that onto a program such as pro tools and mix it make it sound really good. Then after all of that has been done it is finished and ready to be put into the film where it is needed. So the orchestrator plays an important role while making sound for the film. However, the composer starts off by meeting up with the director of the film and asks what he/she wants for the film. Asking questions like, “what type of scene is it? What type of instruments would you prefer to be used? What kind of sound are you looking for?” questions as such will be asked to determined what type of composition the director is looking for in any part of the film. This is important because you can then have the best type of music for the right scene. If you didn’t know any of these things you might create something that the director may not have wanted and you may have to change it add things delete things or delete the whole thing and do it again. As well as the orchestrator you will also have an actor or actress for the dialogue.

Film scores and soundtracks

What is the difference between the film score and soundtrack? Well a film score is something that has been added into the script or the thoughts behind the film of what might be added and the type of sound they are looking for. Music for the film also does not seem to have a structure. They may have dramatic features to highlight the pace of something. Music may start off slow and build dup to get faster depending of the scene. You may also get music to determine the movement. In horror or thriller films this is famous because of the jump scenes. You will have music that will build up and then you are drawn so into that moment that the music gets tense and builds up to when something might jump out at you. Making you leap out of your seat. Sound tracks however, is music that has been used or borrowed from an artist (answers n.d.). For example I would use the film frozen. “Let it go” is written by Demi Lavato. Yes this is a soundtrack with a singer and music. This could be in both categories though as the song was written for the movie. So it was something that was planned for the film but was also still written by Demi Lavato and was sang. So this is in both categories but is still a good example.

Spotting

What is spotting? Spotting is where you have someone who watches the film and looks at the best scenes fort music or different sound effects. They spot where things would go. This is good because then you can tell the director that may have a composer/musician to create the music for them. Why use a musician? Well the reason that you might ask a musician because they can get in time more accurately they have the skills to do it well. They may have great skills in what sounds to put with what. They can also add things to instruments or take things away. They can play it in different ways, and maybe they can play it first and then write it in Cubase or reason because turning it to something a musician can play and then after that record it and mix it. They may also already have loads of ideas on what instruments would go with what kind of scene. For example what instrument would go with a romantic scene? You might have a piano. Something that sounds soft. You may also get a violin because they are also known as soft. Whereas fit a more dramatic sound in a horror or action scene you may use things like drums and synth or something that you can make a creepy scary jumpy noise with. BUT how do they use technology? They may use things like eq , compression , things that are done on the computer. Bernard Hermann used the computers and so did Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer was known to still write his compositions anywhere, such as on a plane going from location to location. This is a god advantage of doing compositions on the computer. You can travel and still get things done. Add things and maybe you get inspiration while you’re traveling.

What are guide tracks?

(wikipedia n.d.)A guide track is a recorded section of music or song. This can be known similar to a click track which guides you to the beat of the song. This could also be known as demo recording or demo track