The importance of sound in a movie

                     The importance of sound in a movie

The importance of sound is often neglected by film audiences, as film is often seen as a visual medium, however all it takes is one click of the mute button to make the viewer realize how much films depend on sound to transmit emotion. There are many reasons why sound is so vital in film making and they are;

Identifying the tone and genre of the movie

Sound is a great way for the director to introduce the tone and genre of a movie as viewers have come to associate specific music types to certain genres. Action, for example, usually contain a fast-paced opening song with the sound of vehicles or someone running. The audience will instantly know what type of film they are watching and immediately become more familiar to the movie. This was also the case in the film 'X-men: Days of Future Past' where the music was very fast-paced and present was a slicing sound that was very effective in impling that the movie is of the Action genre,

Provides Narrative Cues

In addition, sound also provides narrative cues. This is because the sound we hear in movies is often relatable, as we have often come across it before. The sound of a bass thrum for example, a sound we hear in almost every movie, it's so common that we would be able to identify it anywhere. It's most commonly used when the antagonist is about to do something that the audience isn't going to appreciate. This sound along with any clip shown on the screen would create a sense of fear and danger, foreshadowing that something unfavourable is going to happen. This sound has become popular in the movie 'Jaws' and when the bass trum was heard, the audience knew who's coming (The shark), building a moment of tension.

Simulating Reality

Sound in movies is also used to simulate reality, meaning that it is used to enhance the audience's viewing experience and take it to the next level. Highly used in action and thriller, layered sound is used to place emphasis on a specific action. In horror movies often when someone is walking, the loud footsteps the audience hears are not actual footsteps but instead a sound effect which is used to either foreshadow that something terrifying is about to happen or to establish any other message the director is trying to put across. In action movies, however sound effects are commonly used during a fight scene when characters hit each other violently and a loud punching noise is heard, that's also a sound effects to place emphasis on the hit and demand a reaction from the audience.

Suspending Disbelief and Manipulating Emotion

The sound we hear in a movie, we often don't pay attention to, however you would be surprised to see how stale a movie is when it has no sound. A wide range of sound techniques are used to maintain the audience's interest and help a specific scene convey a certain emotion to the audience, demanding an emotional reaction. In the film 'Fast and Furious 7' the ending was phenomenal, it told a story and demanded a reaction from the audience, even if you didn't enjoy most of the movie, the ending would have still got you in tears. There wasn't much dialogue, however the ending song, along-side the final scene was put together very effectively and although the clips were evoking some emotions, when the song came on, it took the ending to an entirely new level.

Film Sound Key Terminology:

Wild Track- an audio recording intended to be synchronized with film or video but recorded separately.

Ambient Sound- background sounds which are present in a scene or location, e.g. wind, water, crowds.

Diegetic Sound- sound whose source is visible on the screen, e.g. characters' voices.

Non- diegetic sound- sound whose source is visible on the screen, e.g. sound effects.

Score- original music written specifically to accompany a film.

Song- music reformed in the movie.

Voice-over- piece of narration, not accompanied by image.

Dialogue- conversation between two or more characters.

Dubbing- mixed recordings added onto the original soundtrack.

Foley- everyday sound effects which are added to the film.

Synchronous-sound matched to the movement in the scene.

Asynchronous- sound contrasting the image on screen.

Sound Bridge- sound connecting two scenes together

Sound motif- sound associated with a particular character, setting or situation.