Sound Terminology

In this lesson we talked about how sound can create a meaning in a film/ tv show. Some of the things that was said were:

• It creates emotion and can also create tension within the audience.
• It can sometimes help you understand the film/ tv show more.
• Sets the time period.
• It can make the film more interesting to watch.
• It can show the emotions of the characters.
• Parallels the action (e.g. fast music in action scenes and slow music in romantic scenes).
• It can help with the character representation/ identification.

We also learnt about the meaning of key words to do with sound terminology.

Soundtrack- this is the recorded sound element of a theme.
Theme music/tune- A recurrent melody.
Sound effects- Sounds other than dialogue or music added artificially.
Ambient sound- buzz and/or surrounding sounds.
Dialogue- speech.
Voice over- narration in a film not accompanied by a synchronised image of the speaker forming the words.
Direct Sound- when characters speak directly to the camera i.e. the audience.
Diegetic Sound- any sound that has an on screen source and belongs to the world of the film.
Non Diegetic Sound- any sound that does not have an on screen and characters on screen do not hear it (voice overs, music)
Sound Bridges- sound/s that continue from one shot to another. They help create a smooth transition from one shot to another. In this way the sound is said to be enhancing the continuity of the film.
Parallel sound- sound that complements the the image track. Sound and image seem to reflect each other.
Contrapunctual Sound- sound that does not fit with the image track (e.g. insidious and tiptoe through the tulips)