The way a movie opens has a significant effect on the audience's expectations, their knowledge of the genre, the context of the story, and their decision to watch the entire thing or not. A compelling movie opener requires an appealing hook. Sound in movies has remained important as they transitioned from silent to vocal. Half a movie is made up of sound, which has a big impact on presentation and mood. Diegetic sounds include conversation, sound effects, and source music that are audible to both the audience and the characters. Non-diegetic noises include incidental music, voiceovers, and score—sounds that the audience hears but the characters in a scene cannot. Film production requires sound for a variety of occupations. Sound engineering was applied in analyzing the film opening of the 2014 film, “The Giver.”
Definitions and Examples
Word | Meaning and example from a specific movie |
Diegetic Sound | Diegesis, the world of the film, and everything in it. The visuals and everything you and the characters can see in a scene count as diegetic. EX: Dialogue (a spoken verbal exchange between two or more characters), internal diegetic (sounds coming from the mind of a character)/thoughts, and even someone screaming for help outside of a building.
A popular example of this is the 2000 psychosocial thriller, American Psycho, in which the main character, Christian Bale, appears as professional, proper, and normal to characters in the movie, but is then revealed through his internal thoughts to be a “bloodlust,” as he puts it. |
Non-diegetic Sound | Everything that only the audience can see or perceive. This could be scenery or imagery that is unknown or unseen to characters within a film and is unfamiliar or outside the world of the film. For example, incidental music is music made to intensify dramatic elements in a scene. Pulp Fiction has some skillful use of incidental music, “Son of a Preacher Man” is one of their best. |
Internal diegetic Sound | Sounds only a character (source of sound) and the audience can hear.
Ex: thoughts of a character. In the opening of “The Giver,” the main character, Jonas, speaks in his head about how he sees the world differently. |
Background Sound | Also known as Ambient/Atmospheric sounds; these sounds are not synchronized with the picture but indicate the setting (location, weather, etc.) to the audience. Ex: forest sounds, river flowing
In the hit movie Dune (1984), frequent symphonies can be heard throughout the movie from the Vienne Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Volksoper Choir, which enriched the futuristic atmosphere of this movie. |
Foley Artist | Devise and record the everyday sounds heard in media for post-production to enhance audio quality. Jake Hart and Ronnie Vander Veer are examples of Foley Artists. |
Foley Sound Effects | Sounds that are synchronized and recorded for the screen. For example, prop sounds or footprints from the 2002 movie “Scooby-Doo: The Movie” |
Sound motif | Sound is attributed and associated with something in particular. A classic example is the “shark theme” associated with Jaws. The repeated synchronized sound in the theme associated with Jaws became synonymous with imminent danger. |
Monologue | A speech given by a single character in a story. It is the vocalization of a character's thoughts. For example, in the Barbie movie, the character Gloria had a monologue about the struggles of being a woman, because of the crazy, unfair double standards. |
Sound Bridge* (EVERY MOVIE NEEDS TO HAVE SOUND BRIDGES!!!) | The sound of music carried from one scene to the next. It links two scenes together and keeps the audience distracted, while the scene cuts to the next. For example, in sitcoms, they use sound bridges to transition to the next scene.
An example from the 1999 cult classic movie, The Matrix, included a sound bridge of an alarm clock buzzing being carried between two scenes, as Neo (a character from the main cast) was in his room. |
Sound Design | It is the art of creating audio for a film. An example of sound design is using the combination of a film projector's motor hum, TV interference, and waving a mic in front of the speaker to create a "swooshing" sound of a lightsaber as used all throughout the Star Wars franchise. |
Sound Perspective | It is when the volume, tone, and pitch of a sound source indicate the apparent distance. For example, a dog barking in a city alley produces prominent barks with minimal echo as used in 1996 “101 Dalmatians”. The distance from the microphone increases the sound of the air or room, making the dog appear quieter and barking more. |
Sound Mixing | The process where the raw materials assembled in the sound editing process are combined and balanced into a coherent soundscape. For example, original mix and instrumental are sound mixing.
In the Oscar-winning movie Gladiator (2000), sound mixers Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, and Kate Wenson capture a significant part of the film's atmosphere of vigorous battles of the Roman Empire. |
Stings | It is a short musical phrase. For example, “dun dun duuuuun” could be indicated to create suspense. |
Melodic Sound | Melodic sounds will have positive and pleasing connotations. It will be uplifting/mellow and sweet sounding. Connotation: All is well in this world. An example of this is the opening of Ex Machina. |
Discordant Sound *Could be used for the movie to bring out humor* | When a sound is harsh and unpleasant to listen to. It will provide negative connotations. An example is the sound of a fire alarm, which is a displeasing noise. |
Contrapuntal Sound* (Used for comedy) | Sound/music that strongly contrasts with the mood or tone of the scene. For example, a happy upbeat song playing while a crime scene was discovered. A movie example is the movie “Pulp Fiction,” which uses the song “Comanche” during an infamous scene. |
Room tone | A recording of the sound in the space of a shoot – may be used as a part of the soundscape to provide depth and atmosphere. It is a type of ambient effect. For example, the sound of silence when no one is talking in a room. You can hear the AC blowing, or the refrigerator making noise. |
Walla Sound *Will need this for our movie* | A sound effect illustrates the murmur of a crowd in the background. It is often used as subliminal aural communication and sets a mood or tone. For example, students talking in a classroom. In the movie “Rhubarb |
Synchronous Sound | A sound that matches the onscreen visuals- there is a visible source from the source. An example is a scene of a river, where you can hear the river flowing. |
Asynchronous Sound | A sound that does not match the onscreen visuals – there is no visible source for the sound. It includes any noise that you cannot see. For example, an owl howling or a train whistling in the back. |
Direct Sound | All sounds recorded at the time of filming. An example of this is in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, you can hear background noises like popping gum noises. |
Parallel Sound | Sound that matches the mood or tone of a sequence. For example, in the film "Untouchables," the song "Fly" by Ludovico Einaudi plays in the background as the protagonists struggle to leave their troubles and become free. |
Loudness | The volume or level of the sound. For example, the sound of traffic. You can hear cars honking their horns. |
Silence | Lack of audible sound or presence of sounds of low intensity, often used in film for dramatic effect or to give the audience a breather after climactic scenes. An example of this is in Whiplash, where the main character (Andrew) is in the middle of his unexpected solo. In the middle of this performance, the sound of the drums fades away as the camera focuses on his face. |
Crescendo (MUST USE!) | A gradual increase in loudness in a piece of music. For example, when the background music starts low, it gradually gets louder. Like John Williams – “The Imperial March” (Star Wars). |
Rhythm | A reoccurring beat forms a pattern. Rhythms may be rapid or slow, regular, or irregular, producing different emotional effects in the viewer/listener. Ex: Katy Perry’s “Hot N’ Cold”
In the Squeakuel of Alvin and the Chipmunks (2009) the Chipettes, who were the Chipmunks rivals at the time, sang Katy Perry’s “Hot N’ Cold” while competing against the Chipmunks in a singing contest. |
General analysis of film opening
Opening of the Giver
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What is the film about? | -This short film portrays the perspective of a boy named, Jonas, who lives black-and-white, futuristic society (called The Ruin), where everything and everyone is controlled by government facilities, where they cannot lie, differences are not allowed, no losers, or winner, no pain, no contentions, no fame, no complete control or independence, and all memories of the past were erased. Jonas points out he is the only one in this society who can see things differently than everyone else. | ||
Production Company/Companies | TWC Productions, and Walden Media | ||
Director | Phillip Noyce | Sound Engineer (s) | Automated Dialogue Replacement Mixers:
Automated Sound Dialogue Replacement Recordists:
Sound Recordist:
Sound Mixer:
Boom Operators:
Re-Recording Mixers:
Supervising Sound Editor:
Foley Artist:
First Assistant Sound Editor:
Audio Description Narrator:
Foley Supervision:
Trailer Sound Designer:
Assistant Sound Editor:
Sound Designer-Trailer:
Supervising Automated Sound Dialogue Editor:
Sound:
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Genre (s) | Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopian, and Futuristic | Movie release | August 15, 2014 |
Audience (s) | Young Adults from ages 12-18. | ||
Original music titles from the soundtrack. (Only from the opening.) | Ordinary Human by OneRepublic | ||
Music (List 3 words used to describe this music) |
| ||
Sound Effects (List 8 effects) | - Children Laughing - The food machine beeping - Bike bell ringing - Bike tires on pavement - Wind blowing the trees - Government drones zooming to monitor citizens - Soccer ball falling into grass -Sounds of a medicine machine button being pushed, and dropping medication, and its automated message saying, “injected.” | ||
Dialogue (List the most important line in the movie and why? 3 sentences to describe information. | Line: “I always felt like I saw things differently, saw things other people didn’t.” | ||
Explanation: These lines are significant because they describe and explain Jonas’ perspective of his life and the world around him. In the shot where this line is spoken, Jonas is shown to see the colors of trees above him, which implies that others in this society cannot see things such as color. This observation could signify a difference in perspective in the main character in comparison to the black-and-white community he lives in. | |||
Analysis 2
Diegetic Sounds (Dialogue, Music, and Sound Effects the audience and characters can hear.) | Non-diegetic Sounds (Everything that only the audience can see or perceive. Can be scenery or imagery unknown or unseen to characters within a film.) |
Dialogue: monologue, direct sound.
Alarm Clock: Ambient sound, foley sound, loud, synchronous.
| Sound Effect: Thunder: Ambient sound, foley sound, loud, asynchronous.
Music: Headphones playing “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley, incidental music, foley sound, crescendo, asynchronous.
|
Reflection
Work Cited
J. (2018, August 19). The Giver - Intro. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDVEH9mOKrk
Kaplan, I. (2014, August 2). OneRepublic Leads <em> The Giver</em> Soundtrack With Dark New Song. Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2014/08/72115/one-republic-giver-soundtrack
FILM SOUND AND MUSIC. (2011, September 27). College Film & Media Studies. https://collegefilmandmediastudies.com/film-sound-and-music/
The Giver credits. (n.d.). Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-giver/credits/
Frater, J. (2022, April 4). Top 10 Moments of Silence in Movies. Listverse. https://listverse.com/2022/04/04/top-10-moments-of-silence-in-movies/
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