P1 - Understanding how sound elements are used:
Key words - Sound Elements and Terminology
-Diegetic
-Non-Diegetic -Dialogue -Sound effects -Music -Quotes -Tone of dialogue -Effect upon the audience -Wild track -Convey location -No dialogue -Enhance characteristics -Connote -EQ -Sound Motif -Musical foreshadowing -Trebble |
-Pan
-Sound Editor -ADR: Automatic Dialogue ReplacementSync -DTS- Dedicated to Sound -FLCA: Free lossless audio codec -Mood -Atmosphere -Conventions -Portray a feeling -Educate -Silence -Entertain -Make you feel -Locations -Layered sound effect -Gain -POP |
-Distortion
-Hiss -XLR Wire -High frequency -Low frequency -Foley Artist -Sound engineer -Sync -MP3: Moving Pictures -WAV: waveform audio file format |
Examples of Sound in media products:
Film -
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As soon as the trailer starts, the audio is intense, there are sound effects which portray an intense atmosphere. The use of a clock ticking builds up tension foreshadowing the upcoming explosion. After the explosion, all of the sound elements come together. Music and a voice over join the trailer with a mixture of Diegetic sounds. This creates an intense atmosphere. There is a voice over which has an echo/reverb effect - connoting the theme of DeJa Vu from the film, which is also accompanied with dialogue from the film. The Dialoge has a repetitive theme, the first line is "One Hour ago", then the next thing said is "Two hours ago", then "Three Days ago". Which continues the theme of Deja Vu. The voice over asks rhetorical questions to engage the audience in the sequence and want to find out the answer in the next scene or when they watch the film. This theme continues through to the end of the trailer. The music used in this trailer is almost theatrical as it uses large orchestral sound elements to emphasis the intensity of the film. There is also a large sound effects scape, which vary from explosions, gun shots, electrical sounds for equipment and water. These are all put together to create a realistic sound scape which gets the audience engaged in the product.
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TV Show -
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The trailer starts off with a loud sound effect of a match striking and then lighting a pipe. This will shock the audience as it causes you to jump. Also, it sets the theme for the sequence as it is a period drama, the sound effect of a match being lit with a pip connotes this. Music joins almost straight away, it starts with stringed instruments which build up the tension in the sequence. The next clip is the detective looking at the evidence board, where we are joined with a diegetic dialogue voice over. The music slowly increases in volume and speed (crescendo), to prepare the audience for the trailer. The next shot is of a female character walking down a cobble street in high heels, we can hear her footsteps getting louder and louder as the camera moves closer to her. There is a sudden loud sound companied with music, which is also joined by the female actor turning around. This makes the audience want to know what is behind her and why there is a loud noise. The music really plays with the atmosphere and enhances the characteristics of the actors and locations. The next shots have rain in them which is also accompanied with rain sound effects and thunder (these are likely to have been created with Foley), this helps with the dark theme of the trailer and overall sequence. Sound effects are used throughout the rest of the trailer to continue this theme of intensity and keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. Throughout the trailer, the music gradually gets more and more intense, increasing in pitch and tone, until it reaches the end, where we see the title of the trailer and actors in it.
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Radio -
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This radio show is a chat show between two people, the host and a guest. The show starts off with the host introducing the guest with a music bed underneath it. The music is loud and will attract the audience. Then the show gets into the main talk segment, which has a quite and simple music bed, with basic talking / discussion over the top. The show then cuts after 5 mins of discussion with a quick stab promotion for radio 1 then it goes into a song as a form of break for the presenter. Then after the song they start their discussion again, this time talking about a different topic which is comedic for the audience. After a further 5 minuets of discussion, they take a quick break. There is a music stab which promotes the station; saying "BBC, Radio 1", with musical background noise to enhance this audio element.Once this has finished, they go back into discussion again. At around 15 minuets into the radio show, there is a phone call with a member of the 'Im a Celebrity, get me out of here', and there is conversation between the radio station and the person on the phone. Finally, at the end of the discussion, the show ends with a goodbye to the guest and then a song comes on to finish it.
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Animation -
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This animation starts off with some simple music and a voiceover which introduces the setting for this animation and the main character. In the beginning, there are a few sound effects used (most likely recorded as foley), these are footsteps and rotating doors. There are also mechanical sounds as he is creating he inventions. All of the music in this sequence is Non-Diagetic, which means that the characters can't hear it. The sound used in this sequence is very minimal, this is because the creation of this animation seems to be quite low budget, this is because there are very few visual elements and there are only two parts of a voice over. The voice over sounds very professional and is perfect for this sequence, which means that the animation sounds quite professional, however, as there are few sound elements it shows that there wasn't an extremely large budget for this project.
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TV Advert -
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This advert starts off with the mechanics creating the 'new' mini, you can hear sound effects of them working on the car, tools and cranking of gear systems. Then we hear someone say, 'John, this will never work". The music starts to build up after this is said (Non-Diagetic), then we cut to the race sequence, where we can hear the cars reving their engines and the crows murmuring in shock about the car. We can also hear the flash of the cameras taking pictures of the cars ready for the race. The quote "this will never work" is repeated throughout the entire advert which gradually gets softer and slower as the car gets better throughout the race. There is an intense thud as the race starts, which helps to represent the fear of the race. As the race goes on, there is another repetitive voice over, saying "Big Dreams with small chances", which again represents the stakes at hand with this race. Throughout the advert, the music gradually gets more intense, in a form of crescendo. There are also audio cuts from reports on the race, talking about what is happening, thus making the advert and race more intense. At the end of the advert, the new mini overtakes the old one, with enhanced audio of the engine, which then fades out to intense warped synths till the end of the advert.
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Computer Game -
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This game starts off with intense music, and sound effects. The characters are escaping and being shot at, so we can hear the gun shots and people shouting/screaming. Also, the music gradually gets more intense throughout this segment. The sounds used are again very minimal, so the player focuses more on the action and the story/words being said. There is a small section of dialogue where all the sound elements apart from the voices get softer and quieter. There is also soft music which shows the sadness of this scene. Gradually the sound elements come back but the music gets louder too, we really get to understand the characters panic and sorrow as this happens. Then the title sequence comes in, which is mostly music, we here subtle sound effects where the inc is being slogged. Also warping sounds are heard as the camera transitions between the shots. The music gradually gets louder and more intense. Then the music settles down until the end of the intro.
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Notes from lessons:
All things needed to create the musical piece:
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Terminology:
Matt Groening - Simpsons Theme Generated ideas by listing to previous theme tunes and created their own. All ideas put together on a mixtape. |
Sound Compression:
Sound compression; Compression is sued to make things louder meaning you can use it to lift levels in the mix without overwhelming everything else. Most sounds are very “peaky” to begin with, with lots of contrast between the lightest and softest notes. Compressors automatically turn down the lowest parts of the sound and as a result make the average level more consistent. So, you can turn the overall level up in the mix without distorting it or “sticking out”.
Sound compression; Compression is sued to make things louder meaning you can use it to lift levels in the mix without overwhelming everything else. Most sounds are very “peaky” to begin with, with lots of contrast between the lightest and softest notes. Compressors automatically turn down the lowest parts of the sound and as a result make the average level more consistent. So, you can turn the overall level up in the mix without distorting it or “sticking out”.
Unit 16 - Techniques, ADR & Technical Output
ADR - Automatic Dialogue Replacement
Automated dialogue replacement (ADR) is the process of re-recording dialogue by the original actor after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes (also known as "looping" or a "looping session”).
Sync - Synchronisation
FLAC - FREE LOSELESS AUDIO CORD
ADR - Automatic Dialogue Replacement
Automated dialogue replacement (ADR) is the process of re-recording dialogue by the original actor after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes (also known as "looping" or a "looping session”).
Sync - Synchronisation
FLAC - FREE LOSELESS AUDIO CORD