Unit 38- Soundtrack production

Soundtrack is one of the most important components of a film, but is one of the most overlooked components by student film makers, this can result in fantastic visuals being dragged down by poor sound design, simply having a good looking and engaging film is not enough, thats just 90% of the work, and that 10% can be the difference between a professional piece and an amateur one, the same amount of time should be spent on visuals as soundtrack allowing both to be at the same professional level. Soundtrack doesnt however just include music, other forms of sound such as foley and voice overs should be taken into consideration.

Foley sound is the process of recording sounds off set, this can be due to specially required sounds such as gun shots and other sounds that have to be added later, this allows the film maker to get imaginative, thinking of what will make a convincing replacement for the sound, money may not be available to get a real gunshot sound and so other things must be used. Foley isn't jst used for sounds such as gunshots, problems during filming such as a loud set resulting in poor sound will also require foley sounds, it is common for footsteps to be recorded separately, this requires someone to mimic the running or walking of the actor who was being filmed.

In this blog i will analyse 2 examples of soundtrack, one from film and one from television, for film I decided to go with what I believe to be one of the greatest soundtracks in film, Lord if the Rings.


The Lord of the Rings has one of the most epic soundtracks ever devised, being built up from nothing to giving the impression a war is taking place and the camera is right in the middle of it, this is done through the inclusion of many types of sound, utilising diegetic and non-diegetic sound, diegetic sound is sound that can be heard by characters in the scene such as dialogue and sound effects caused in the scene this could be a door closing or a car engine starting. Non-diegetic sound is sound that is not heard by characters in the scene, like background music and commentaries. In this scene non-diegetic sound is used alot, an example of this is the music played in the background, this is used to create the mood of the scene, in this sense this mood is the build up to glory, the music also gives the impression of a much larger scale, this is most likely filmed on green screen and so the mountains and apparent scale are digitally created, this music assists the visual effects in putting across the impression of a much larger scale. External diegetic sound is sound in the scene that could be heard in the scene by characters such as environmental noises such as wind and rain, these sounds can also be produced by people such as footsteps, in this Lord of the Rings example a external diegetic sound is the sound of the horses running, this is simply done by filming the horses playing out the scene. Another form of diegetic sound is Internal digetic sound, this is usually coming from within a characters mind such as a thought, the character can hear this and so can we but other characters cant, another exam. The use of non-diegetic sounds in this example such as the clinking of swords on hundreds of characters at once, this increases the scale of the scene adding depth and realism.

This scene relies heavily on diegetic sounds, particularly the sounds of the elephants and the sound of people being stabbed and slashed, without this the scene would lack depth, it would feel very boring and flat, these sound effects provide the base line for delivering a believable battle, creating a sense of violence and action. One of the most noticeable uses of non-diegetic sound in Lord of the Rings is the music used in the background, the music varies dramatically depending on the scene and the emotion, in this scene in particular the music is being used to portray overcoming an obstacle, giving a sense of victory, this is done through a slow build up and change in the music, to begin with the music is quiet during preparation for the battle, giving the feeling of being in the battle, pulling the audience in. Although non-diegetic sounds are used alot there're still alot of diegetic sounds being used, most dialogue and natural noises in the scene are being recorded during the scene is played out, these sounds are usually used to create realism and believability of the scene.

All these types of sounds are also implicated into Television programs, I will analyse the use of different sounds used to create emotion and generate an atmosphere to entertain the audience. In this particular scene non-deigetic sound is used alot to put across the danger the characters are in through background music, high notes are used to create tension and suspense, this paired with the diegetic sound and visuals of stumbling zombies creates a very real, believable scene, the music is however used best when not played at all, it creates a heart in your mouth feeling, creating alot of suspense. Use of digetic sounds is common in this scene, mainly for the zombie sounds, these sounds are used to give the illusion of zombies within the scene, paired with different zombie noises the illusion of a herd of zombies is created, without these digetic sounds the world would appear set up and not believable. A major form of digetic sound is the characters dialogue, this is important in this scene as the characters have to be quiet but when talking they must still be heard over the music, zombie sounds and other environmental sounds. The timing of the music flows with the visuals, constantly adding to what is happening on screen even when events suddenly occur, such as in my example when the zombie spots and begins to chase Sophia, the music used quickly changes from suspenseful to full blown panic and fear, this combination when paired with the zombie sounds, dialogue and general environmental sounds the scenes construction makes for a believable in depth scene utilising sound and video combination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-1hYIsRBKw -The Walking Dead Season 2 episode 1