Sound

Film sound is as important and as carefully controlled as the visual elements of a text. Although sound is often recorded on set, most film sound is added in post-productionFilm sound will be mixed very carefully to ensure that important sounds are emphasised and that the correct atmosphere for a sequence is maintained

Selective sound is: used to emphasise key sounds.

Ambient sound is: used to create the atmosphere of a place.

Other elements of sound design to look out for:

Sound bridges – the use of sounds help transition between sequences to pass more fluidly.

Sound effects – used to create a sense of realism or to create psychological impact or effect.

Sound can be either: Diegetic – that is, it exists within the world of the film or Non-diegetic – that is, it emerges from outside the world of the film, e.g. film

soundtracks

Diegetic Sound Non-Diegetic Sound

Any sound represented as coming from within the film world.Voices of characters.Sounds made by objects.Music represented as coming from instruments in the film.This can either be shown on or off the screen.

Anything that is put there afterwards.Sound effects.Musical effects, musical score.

Film sound can be either:

Synchronous – When a sound effect is matched with another technical event or action that influences/ reinforces the effect.

Asynchronous – When a sound originates from outside of the diegetic reality of the film (Musical score)

Contrapuntal – Noise or sound effect that doesn’t match the visuals, often juxtaposition to create alternative meaning.

Other elements of sound design to look out for:

Voiceovers – This is a voice of a character. The voice often guides or informs the external audience but can be used to push them in the wrong narrative direction.

Theme music – When a character has a specific piece of music to go with their action.

Musical Score – Soundtrack. Can be used to create atmosphere between shots.

Silence – No noise, used to build tension and provoke an action from the audience.

Sherlock Holmes Sound

The sound is Sherlock Holmes is predominantly asynchronous since the musical score plays for most of the scene. For example when Sherlock Holmes is running the music goes with him, this can be called theme music since Sherlock’s music is set to when he is doing anything heroic while Lord Blackwood who is another main character has evil menacing music that suggests that he is Sherlock’s nemesis.