Unit 38 assignment
Adam Edmonds
Unit 38 - Soundtrack production assignment
In modern-day film and television, sound is one of the most important elements of the entire production. Although many people would believe that the visuals that is shown on screen are the most important, if there wasn't any sound to correspond with the visuals, there would be very little effect on the audience and there would also be no way to build up tension (as it is generally done through the use of sound and music). The term "sound" can be split down into three different elements: Sound effects, spoken word and music. Sound effects are added in whilst in the post-production phase, to help accentuate and develop the scene. Spoken word is the speech that comes from the characters, however, in almost every movie it is recorded and added in post-production. On the other hand, a large portion of the documentaries that are filmed include on-set sound recording; they choose to do this due to the fact that it helps to increase the realism, and documentaries are all about finding out real information. Last of all is the music. Music is an exceptionally important feature in a film or television show, as it create a number of different things. The first thing what music does is that it sets the scene; depending on the type of music, the tempo, style, we can determine what upcoming events are going to occur. Additionally, there are specific songs that are played when certain characters enter the scene. This is rather significant because it allows the audience to understand the significance of this character.
I am now going to explore three different films, looking into the different type of sound that is included within them. Last of all, I will look at a documentary which includes on-set sound recording (diegetic sound). In each of the films and the documentary, I am going to analyse the three different type of sounds: Spoken word, sound effects and music. Then, evaluating why they chose to include those and what effect they have on the scene/audience.
Children of Men:
The first film I am going to explore is "Children of Men". Throughout the entirety of the opening scene, there are many types of sound that are used. These include: Sound effects, spoken word and music. All three different types of sound add up and help to create meaning, whilst also adding emphasis to key moments. The first type of sound that i'm going to be analysing is spoken word; quite simply, this means anything that is said by a character.
When we look at the opening scene of the movie, we're able to notice off the back that there isn't any conversation going on between the characters in the shop. This was done on purpose, as it was a good way to show how immersed and focused the characters were on listening to the news - moreover, it allowed us to be able to clearly understand the news. Another thing that the audience is made to notice is that in the first piece of dialogue that we hear is the sound of a news reporter speaking the current situation that the world is in, and that Diego Ricardo has now become the youngest person on the planet... this is important information as it sets the scene, and gives us (the audience) an idea of what's going on in the world. However, there is a couple of things that are said, and that is by Theo. They chose to make Theo say the only words as it portrays his as the main character. The dialogue that comes from Theo is naturalistic, as he's simply asking for a coffee. Although there isn't that much dialogue in the opening scene, the parts that we hear actually do have significant meaning; allowing us to get an overall idea of what we should expect in the upcoming scenes of the movie. Overall, it gives us the idea that we're in a Sci-Fi world, which is rather post-apocalyptic looking.
The next type of sound that we encounter in the first scene is the music. It's evident that music is used in films to help add meaning and emotion, and it's used in the same manor for this film. In the opening scene, classical music starts to play when the news reporters are talking about the death of Diego Ricardo (the youngest person in the world). Evidently, this is a sad moment, and the music was added to try and emphasize the emotions that the characters within the coffee shop were feeling. We can tell that the music that came on was diegetic due to the fact that it started when the reporters were talking about Diego, then faded out when Theo walked out of the televisions vicinity. To conclude, there isn't a large amount of music that is used in the opening scene, but the music that is used is used effectively as it helps to increase the emotion that we should feel.
Last of all, we have sound effects. These on their own have three different purposes when used in a movie: to simulate reality, to create something that isn't actually there and to create mood. When the scene opens, we can hear the sounds of a coffee machine in the background - although we can't see the coffee being made, we can tell what it is from the fact that Theo says "coffee please". This gives the audience the feeling that it's just a normal day for our protagonist, and he's just living his peaceful day-to-day life. Furthermore, we hear a plethora of vehicle engines outside in the street... these also help to create a more realistic and casual feel to the movie. Once Theo walks out of the coffee shop and out onto the street, there are a lot of synchronous sounds (sound that we can see within the scene) e.g. the cars, buses, motorbikes, helicopters etc. Finally, we come to the explosion. This part of the scene is truly something that catches everyone by surprise, and the intensity of it is amplified by the loud sound effect; if we just saw the bomb explode with no sound effect with it, there wouldn't be anywhere near as much shock to it as there is with the sound effect added to it.
Unit 38 - Soundtrack production assignment
In modern-day film and television, sound is one of the most important elements of the entire production. Although many people would believe that the visuals that is shown on screen are the most important, if there wasn't any sound to correspond with the visuals, there would be very little effect on the audience and there would also be no way to build up tension (as it is generally done through the use of sound and music). The term "sound" can be split down into three different elements: Sound effects, spoken word and music. Sound effects are added in whilst in the post-production phase, to help accentuate and develop the scene. Spoken word is the speech that comes from the characters, however, in almost every movie it is recorded and added in post-production. On the other hand, a large portion of the documentaries that are filmed include on-set sound recording; they choose to do this due to the fact that it helps to increase the realism, and documentaries are all about finding out real information. Last of all is the music. Music is an exceptionally important feature in a film or television show, as it create a number of different things. The first thing what music does is that it sets the scene; depending on the type of music, the tempo, style, we can determine what upcoming events are going to occur. Additionally, there are specific songs that are played when certain characters enter the scene. This is rather significant because it allows the audience to understand the significance of this character.
I am now going to explore three different films, looking into the different type of sound that is included within them. Last of all, I will look at a documentary which includes on-set sound recording (diegetic sound). In each of the films and the documentary, I am going to analyse the three different type of sounds: Spoken word, sound effects and music. Then, evaluating why they chose to include those and what effect they have on the scene/audience.
Children of Men:
The first film I am going to explore is "Children of Men". Throughout the entirety of the opening scene, there are many types of sound that are used. These include: Sound effects, spoken word and music. All three different types of sound add up and help to create meaning, whilst also adding emphasis to key moments. The first type of sound that i'm going to be analysing is spoken word; quite simply, this means anything that is said by a character.
When we look at the opening scene of the movie, we're able to notice off the back that there isn't any conversation going on between the characters in the shop. This was done on purpose, as it was a good way to show how immersed and focused the characters were on listening to the news - moreover, it allowed us to be able to clearly understand the news. Another thing that the audience is made to notice is that in the first piece of dialogue that we hear is the sound of a news reporter speaking the current situation that the world is in, and that Diego Ricardo has now become the youngest person on the planet... this is important information as it sets the scene, and gives us (the audience) an idea of what's going on in the world. However, there is a couple of things that are said, and that is by Theo. They chose to make Theo say the only words as it portrays his as the main character. The dialogue that comes from Theo is naturalistic, as he's simply asking for a coffee. Although there isn't that much dialogue in the opening scene, the parts that we hear actually do have significant meaning; allowing us to get an overall idea of what we should expect in the upcoming scenes of the movie. Overall, it gives us the idea that we're in a Sci-Fi world, which is rather post-apocalyptic looking.
The next type of sound that we encounter in the first scene is the music. It's evident that music is used in films to help add meaning and emotion, and it's used in the same manor for this film. In the opening scene, classical music starts to play when the news reporters are talking about the death of Diego Ricardo (the youngest person in the world). Evidently, this is a sad moment, and the music was added to try and emphasize the emotions that the characters within the coffee shop were feeling. We can tell that the music that came on was diegetic due to the fact that it started when the reporters were talking about Diego, then faded out when Theo walked out of the televisions vicinity. To conclude, there isn't a large amount of music that is used in the opening scene, but the music that is used is used effectively as it helps to increase the emotion that we should feel.
Overall, the use of sound in the first scene has a humongous impact on what the viewer feels and how they react to different events. Spoken word is key as it allows us to gauge an understanding of their personality and what they're going to be like throughout the movie. Music also plays a big role, due to its way of allowing the viewer to know the surroundings/situations that the characters are in. Finally, we have special effects; possibly the most crucial type of sound in any movie. The sound effects help us to establish the type of area someone is in, can create an image of what the viewer cant see and also intensify the mood of the scene. Sound plays an extremely important role in movies, and most of them wouldn't be anywhere near the same if there wasn't any sound.
Kingsman: The Secret Service:
My second choice of film is Kingsman: The Secret Service. This film include a substantial amount of sound, which really does have a big impact on the scenes. Personally, I believe that the sound in this film adds a large amount of meaning and emphasis. The scene that I will be analysing the sound on is the Church fight.
In the Church fight scene, although there is hardly any spoken word that we're able to hear; throughout the duration of the 3:36 minute scene, there are two parts of dialogue that have some importance. The first part is when we hear Egsy at 0:21 say "Oh fuck"; although this may not seem significant, it does holds some value. He knew that Harry was going into the church to check out the situation, but he had no idea that he was going to end up fighting the whole church. This line of dialogue signifies the element of surprise that hit Egsy. Moreover, from 1:17-1:21, we hear Valentine say "so everyone's been effected, whether they had a sim card or not. And we get the benefit of wiping out the Kingsman". This dialogue is simply spoon feeding the audience, most people will will already be aware of what's happening, but it's for those who may not be paying attention, it allows them to understand what's going on.
Throughout the entirety of the fight scene, there is music playing. This incidental music that accompanies the scene was used because of the fact that it brings an exhilarating mood, which raises the energy of the audience and makes them excited to watch what's going on. The song is "Freebird" by Lynryd Skynrd is the song that was used, and is non-diegetic; this means that it was added in and isn't in the actual scene, but is used just to help increase the energy.
Last of all is the sound effects. Kingsman uses a plethora of different sound effects throughout their film. Specifically, when we're talking about the church fight scene, we are made aware that sound effects have been very commonly used to enhance the sound/effect that the sound has on the audience. Throughout all of the fighting, sound effects were used to dramatise and enhance how loud each action was. For example, whenever someone is hit with a blunt object, the sound effects portray it to be much louder and more dramatic that it would be in real life. Overall, the use of sound effects in this scene makes a humongous difference to the scene, and have a massive impact onto how we perceive the scene. These sound effects dramatise the actions, and change the way that the audience reacts.
Fight Club:
The last movie that I will be analysing the sound on is entitled "Fight Club". Specifically, the scene that I'm going to evaluate the sound on is "The first rule of Fight Club" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC1yHLp9bWAand) lasts 2:40. Throughout this scene, all three different types of sound create a massive impact on the scene (especially the sound effects and spoken word). Sound in this scene has many uses and creates a multitude of different effects, whilst also making the audience feel a specific type of emotion whilst watching.
First of all, the use of spoken word within my chosen scene has an immense effect on what the audience is able to understand and take away from the scene. Dialogue is used constantly throughout this scene for a multitude of different reasons: informing the audience about something, establishing which characters possess the most power, to give backstory etc. The opening piece of dialogue that the audience hears is "every week, Tyler gave the rules that he and I decided"; even though this doesn't seem like much, we're already able to understand that Tyler, played by Edward Norton, considers the imaginary Tyler (Brad Pitt) to be of more importance that himself. Then, from 6 seconds to 55 seconds, Brad Pitt's Tyler speaks uninterrupted. Again, this shows that he is respected by all that surround him, and he is the dominant character in the scene. After this, we witness the real Tyler deliver a voiceover from 1:01 to 1:55. This voiceover includes him talking about his experience of Fight Club, and how it will effect the men that participate in it "A guy came to Fight Club for the first time, his ass was a wad of cookie dough. After a few weeks, he was carved out of wood". This description of the change allows the audience to visualize how much of an impact it has on their lives, and the sheer amount that it will toughen them up. Ultimately, the use of spoken word throughout this scene is of extreme importance. It plays a large role in allowing the audience to understand what fight club is, what happens there, Tyler's recollection of how it can change people and it also allows us to figure out which character holds the most power.
Music in this scene is kept to a minimum, due to the fact that they want you to pay full attention to the dialogue and sound effects. However, there is background music that is played when the fighting starts and then throughout the rest of the scene. This music is very basic, repetitive and is rather quiet; the editors chose to include this incidental music because it helps to add a tense atmosphere, but also allows the listener to focus on the other sounds of the scene due to its simplicity. Overall, music isn't really of much importance in this scene; its main importance is to simply help to build up tension.
Sound effects are the last type of sound that I'm going to explore in the scene, but they are tied with dialogue on their importance. The sound effects during this scene were increased so that they could dramatise the visuals, making them a lot more violent and hard for the audience to watch. Moreover, the majority of the sound effects in this scene were synchronous sounds, used to increase the reality and harshness; this made the scene a lot more authentic, whilst also harder to watch. An example of a sound effect which is constantly being used in this scene is a human body being hit with punches. These hyper-real sound effects were used to create a visual realism so strong, that the listener was supposed to believe that this scene was actually real. To re-create the sounds of a foley punch, the sound designers ended up putting walnuts inside of chicken bodies and would hit them - this is how they managed to obtain these realistic punching noises which make the audience shudder and squeal when listening to them. Nearly all of the sounds that we hear within the scene were added in whilst in post-production editing, and had to be individually recorded. To conclude, sound effects play one of the most important roles in this film/scene, to make sure that it is as believable as possible and has the most effect on the audience.
Stacey Dooley - Britain's digital drug dealer:
Finally, the last scene that I'm going to analyse is not from a movie, but from a documentary. In this documentary, Stacey Dooley goes undercover and is tasked with investigating Britain's digital drug dealers. Within this documentary, the most crucial sound is spoken word, but music is also a key feature as it helps to create a specific type of mood. Sound effects are less common, and therefore have less of a purpose/effect. The scene that I will be analyzing is the opening 55 seconds (the introduction to the documentary) and how the three different types of sound have an impact.
Spoken word is the most common and necessary thing within this documentary. There are voice overs where Stacey talks over the visuals, and there is also live location sound (this can be found within a large majority of documentaries. The purpose of live location sound is to both make the scene seem more spontaneous, and also to make it as realistic/life-like as possible. The opening 55 seconds of this documentary are filled with Stacey Dooley doing a voice over to allow the audience to understand what the documentary is going to include "Britain's drug trade is going through a digital revolution. Up and down the country, dealers are now using social apps to sell their gear". This opening statement is suggesting that the market for drugs has changed, and now most of the drugs in Britain are sold online through social media. Due to the fact that this is the opening statement, it's an effective method to draw in the listener, as they are immediately interested in what is being said, and want to learn more. She then goes on to tell the audience that she's "going undercover to get face-to-face with this new breed of dealer" - from listening to this, the audience is made to feel a sense of fear, as we're not sure what she's going to uncover and what impact that could have on her, but also intrigued due to the fact that we're curious as to what she may discover.
There is light background music that is playing throughout the introduction of the documentary; even though this music isn't particularly loud, it sets the tone for the documentary. This music is non-diegetic (meaning that it wasn't in the scene and was added in in post-production) and gives off a party-vibe to it. Although the topic is serious, they have decided to add this type of music in; this suggests that the journey Stacey is about to embark on is going to be a rush of excitement. Overall, the music that has been implemented in the opening scene realistically only has two purposes: to add some texture to the sound (making sure that there is always something to listen to when the dialogue cuts) and to create a specific mood for the audience.
Sound effects aren't common at all in this documentary, and there are almost none that have been included. The reason behind this is because of the fact that sound effects are typically used within films to increase the effect of something that happens on-screen. However, these sound effects are usually noticeably unrealistic, making the scene seem more dramatized and unrealistic. This isn't what is supposed to happen in documentaries, due to the fact that they're supposed to review a real-life issue. Because of this factor, it means that throughout the entire documentary (and the opening scene) most of the sound that we hear is synchronous, and is usually recorded live on location whilst filming. Due to the fact that there is a large amount of dialogue and sound that is recorded live, it increases the believability of what is happening and what is being said.
Kingsman: The Secret Service:
My second choice of film is Kingsman: The Secret Service. This film include a substantial amount of sound, which really does have a big impact on the scenes. Personally, I believe that the sound in this film adds a large amount of meaning and emphasis. The scene that I will be analysing the sound on is the Church fight.
In the Church fight scene, although there is hardly any spoken word that we're able to hear; throughout the duration of the 3:36 minute scene, there are two parts of dialogue that have some importance. The first part is when we hear Egsy at 0:21 say "Oh fuck"; although this may not seem significant, it does holds some value. He knew that Harry was going into the church to check out the situation, but he had no idea that he was going to end up fighting the whole church. This line of dialogue signifies the element of surprise that hit Egsy. Moreover, from 1:17-1:21, we hear Valentine say "so everyone's been effected, whether they had a sim card or not. And we get the benefit of wiping out the Kingsman". This dialogue is simply spoon feeding the audience, most people will will already be aware of what's happening, but it's for those who may not be paying attention, it allows them to understand what's going on.
Throughout the entirety of the fight scene, there is music playing. This incidental music that accompanies the scene was used because of the fact that it brings an exhilarating mood, which raises the energy of the audience and makes them excited to watch what's going on. The song is "Freebird" by Lynryd Skynrd is the song that was used, and is non-diegetic; this means that it was added in and isn't in the actual scene, but is used just to help increase the energy.
Last of all is the sound effects. Kingsman uses a plethora of different sound effects throughout their film. Specifically, when we're talking about the church fight scene, we are made aware that sound effects have been very commonly used to enhance the sound/effect that the sound has on the audience. Throughout all of the fighting, sound effects were used to dramatise and enhance how loud each action was. For example, whenever someone is hit with a blunt object, the sound effects portray it to be much louder and more dramatic that it would be in real life. Overall, the use of sound effects in this scene makes a humongous difference to the scene, and have a massive impact onto how we perceive the scene. These sound effects dramatise the actions, and change the way that the audience reacts.
Fight Club:
The last movie that I will be analysing the sound on is entitled "Fight Club". Specifically, the scene that I'm going to evaluate the sound on is "The first rule of Fight Club" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC1yHLp9bWAand) lasts 2:40. Throughout this scene, all three different types of sound create a massive impact on the scene (especially the sound effects and spoken word). Sound in this scene has many uses and creates a multitude of different effects, whilst also making the audience feel a specific type of emotion whilst watching.
First of all, the use of spoken word within my chosen scene has an immense effect on what the audience is able to understand and take away from the scene. Dialogue is used constantly throughout this scene for a multitude of different reasons: informing the audience about something, establishing which characters possess the most power, to give backstory etc. The opening piece of dialogue that the audience hears is "every week, Tyler gave the rules that he and I decided"; even though this doesn't seem like much, we're already able to understand that Tyler, played by Edward Norton, considers the imaginary Tyler (Brad Pitt) to be of more importance that himself. Then, from 6 seconds to 55 seconds, Brad Pitt's Tyler speaks uninterrupted. Again, this shows that he is respected by all that surround him, and he is the dominant character in the scene. After this, we witness the real Tyler deliver a voiceover from 1:01 to 1:55. This voiceover includes him talking about his experience of Fight Club, and how it will effect the men that participate in it "A guy came to Fight Club for the first time, his ass was a wad of cookie dough. After a few weeks, he was carved out of wood". This description of the change allows the audience to visualize how much of an impact it has on their lives, and the sheer amount that it will toughen them up. Ultimately, the use of spoken word throughout this scene is of extreme importance. It plays a large role in allowing the audience to understand what fight club is, what happens there, Tyler's recollection of how it can change people and it also allows us to figure out which character holds the most power.
Music in this scene is kept to a minimum, due to the fact that they want you to pay full attention to the dialogue and sound effects. However, there is background music that is played when the fighting starts and then throughout the rest of the scene. This music is very basic, repetitive and is rather quiet; the editors chose to include this incidental music because it helps to add a tense atmosphere, but also allows the listener to focus on the other sounds of the scene due to its simplicity. Overall, music isn't really of much importance in this scene; its main importance is to simply help to build up tension.
Sound effects are the last type of sound that I'm going to explore in the scene, but they are tied with dialogue on their importance. The sound effects during this scene were increased so that they could dramatise the visuals, making them a lot more violent and hard for the audience to watch. Moreover, the majority of the sound effects in this scene were synchronous sounds, used to increase the reality and harshness; this made the scene a lot more authentic, whilst also harder to watch. An example of a sound effect which is constantly being used in this scene is a human body being hit with punches. These hyper-real sound effects were used to create a visual realism so strong, that the listener was supposed to believe that this scene was actually real. To re-create the sounds of a foley punch, the sound designers ended up putting walnuts inside of chicken bodies and would hit them - this is how they managed to obtain these realistic punching noises which make the audience shudder and squeal when listening to them. Nearly all of the sounds that we hear within the scene were added in whilst in post-production editing, and had to be individually recorded. To conclude, sound effects play one of the most important roles in this film/scene, to make sure that it is as believable as possible and has the most effect on the audience.
Stacey Dooley - Britain's digital drug dealer:
Finally, the last scene that I'm going to analyse is not from a movie, but from a documentary. In this documentary, Stacey Dooley goes undercover and is tasked with investigating Britain's digital drug dealers. Within this documentary, the most crucial sound is spoken word, but music is also a key feature as it helps to create a specific type of mood. Sound effects are less common, and therefore have less of a purpose/effect. The scene that I will be analyzing is the opening 55 seconds (the introduction to the documentary) and how the three different types of sound have an impact.
Spoken word is the most common and necessary thing within this documentary. There are voice overs where Stacey talks over the visuals, and there is also live location sound (this can be found within a large majority of documentaries. The purpose of live location sound is to both make the scene seem more spontaneous, and also to make it as realistic/life-like as possible. The opening 55 seconds of this documentary are filled with Stacey Dooley doing a voice over to allow the audience to understand what the documentary is going to include "Britain's drug trade is going through a digital revolution. Up and down the country, dealers are now using social apps to sell their gear". This opening statement is suggesting that the market for drugs has changed, and now most of the drugs in Britain are sold online through social media. Due to the fact that this is the opening statement, it's an effective method to draw in the listener, as they are immediately interested in what is being said, and want to learn more. She then goes on to tell the audience that she's "going undercover to get face-to-face with this new breed of dealer" - from listening to this, the audience is made to feel a sense of fear, as we're not sure what she's going to uncover and what impact that could have on her, but also intrigued due to the fact that we're curious as to what she may discover.
There is light background music that is playing throughout the introduction of the documentary; even though this music isn't particularly loud, it sets the tone for the documentary. This music is non-diegetic (meaning that it wasn't in the scene and was added in in post-production) and gives off a party-vibe to it. Although the topic is serious, they have decided to add this type of music in; this suggests that the journey Stacey is about to embark on is going to be a rush of excitement. Overall, the music that has been implemented in the opening scene realistically only has two purposes: to add some texture to the sound (making sure that there is always something to listen to when the dialogue cuts) and to create a specific mood for the audience.
Sound effects aren't common at all in this documentary, and there are almost none that have been included. The reason behind this is because of the fact that sound effects are typically used within films to increase the effect of something that happens on-screen. However, these sound effects are usually noticeably unrealistic, making the scene seem more dramatized and unrealistic. This isn't what is supposed to happen in documentaries, due to the fact that they're supposed to review a real-life issue. Because of this factor, it means that throughout the entire documentary (and the opening scene) most of the sound that we hear is synchronous, and is usually recorded live on location whilst filming. Due to the fact that there is a large amount of dialogue and sound that is recorded live, it increases the believability of what is happening and what is being said.
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