The Effect of Sound in Films

All sorts of sounds references to something or someone in a film. For example a word, in horror films they use this particular effect to make different scenes more dramatic, edging the audience to suspense. Sound is used in films to heighten particular moods, provide us, as the audience with information about the location of a scene, the advance in the plot, and tell us about the characters in the story.

There are two different types of sound in film. This are Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sounds. Diegetic Sound refers to audio elements that come from sources inside the actual scene we see on the screen, including dialogue, doors slamming, footsteps, etc. Whereas Non-Diegetic Sound refers to audio elements that come from outside of the fictional story we can see on screen, including the musical score and sound effects, like for example, the screams in the shower scene in Psycho.

The Effects of Sound:

In modern day films, special sound effects have been added to movies in order to heighten the audience’s film experience. Many of these sound effects, including explosions, phaser blasts, wind, and animal sounds are drawn from computer sound effects libraries or created by a foley artist, the sounds are then added to the scene of the film after the movie has been shot. Besides creating louder and more dramatic movies, these effects have tended to draw more attention to movie sound. With advancements in surround sound, sound effects have developed a more “directional” element, appearing to come from a specific place or direction. This directional quality of sound, which alongside elements such as echoes, enhances a three-dimensional sense of space in the movie, making the audience feel that they are apart of the film.

These sound effects can be used to add mood or atmosphere to a film by creating a soundscape that accents or adds another layer of meaning to the images on the screen. For example, to emphasise a sad scene in a movie, directors would lower the volume of the background sound and add higher pitch sounds which are slow to fit in with the mood. Pitch, tempo, and volume may be altered to indicate how the filmmaker expects the audience to respond to a given noise. For instance, high-pitched sounds, including screams or squealing tires, help to create a sense of anxiety, while low-pitched sounds, including the sounds of waves or the swinging of a door, can be used to create a sense of calm or mystery. An interesting use of sound in a movie is silence, even though it is not technically sound, it draws the attention to a specific mood or person/object. At key points in a film, directors may use silence in a similar way to how they would use a freeze frame. Both tend to arrest the audience’s attention to highlight some action or change in story direction. Silence can be used to build up a scene’s intensity or to foreshadow a character’s fate.

The Effects of Dialogue:

In addition to giving voice to the characters in a movie to communicate to one and other, dialogue in a film can be used in different ways, dialogue can also shape a film through voice overs and by providing the audience with context on what is happening in the scene.

Voice-overs are typically used in documentary films, although they occasionally turn up in fictional films such as Deadpool, they do this to provide background to a story or to help move a story from one set of events to another, for example, in Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds’ character creates a base for the story, telling the audience the order of events which leads us to the currents events as to what his character is doing.

The Effects of Music:

Music can be used for a number of effects in a movie. The most obvious way music is used is to guide the emotional response of the audience. They provide clues and in most cases, huge hints. The music tell the audiences how the filmmaker wants them to react to a given scene.

Music can also provide a kind of voice over, but voice over for emotion within the scene. Music is used as the backdrop and for the opening credits. An example of this is the memorable theme music composed by John Williams for Star Wars is one famous example of having music to create an atmosphere in a film.

In some instances, directors use music to foreshadow upcoming events. In horror movies, for example, music is often used to build up tension and suspense just before the monster attacks one of its victims.

Music can be used to shape the ethnic or cultural context of a film. An example of this is in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, when the main characters enter India for the first time, the director shows different shots of India, showing different areas of the culture, putting a festive song in the background to emphasise the vibrant energy in the country.

Music is in a way one of the most most peculiar conventions in movies. No one questions that music should be a part of movies because we, as a generation, have all grown up to the idea of music being used in films. For example, in a movie, when two people kiss, we should hear calm embracing music in the background. No one has a soundtrack which accompanies them through life, but through film, we as an audience demand it in films, as these songs represent special parts of a film such as love, anger, sadness, the fall of something and so on. In my opinion, with having music in films, I feel that I can connect better with the film and characters as it heightens my mood in those specific scenes of the film.