Glossary for sound in film

Glossary

Diegetic- Diegetic belongs to the world of film. An example of diegetic sound is dialogue. This is because it can be seen on the screen. It can be both on or off screen depending on the source whether it’s outside or inside the frame. Diegetic is also named as actual sound.

Non-Diegetic- non-diegetic is external is does not belong to the world of film, for e.g. voiceover, narration or music. It cannot be seen on the screen as the sound/voice is coming from outside the story space. Another term for non-diegetic is commentary sound.

(External diegetic- It is diegetic ad non-diegetic at the same time, It’s not in the shot but it is in the world of film. Which means it’s the part of the plot but it is not showed on screen not visible for the eye.)

Ambient- ambient sound can be anything you hear in the background examples of ambient sound can be a bird to indicate the time of the day or wind. Although wind can be useful as much as it can cause problems throughout the recording.

SFX- sound effects are created, for viewers to know what might happened within that scene or even something to happen unexpectedly, in other words to evoke a feeling. Foley sound is considered as sound effect as it is made after the scene was recorded. Foley sound can be hard to create because it perfectly has to match to the moving image to create the best outcome possible for the viewer.

Mood- using music can create an atmosphere and a mood for a film.

Tone- is a certain frequency that we hear. There are various frequencies that we can hear which are between 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

Genre- Different genres require different sounds, for e.g. horror and comedy are very different therefore different sound effects and music is needed. It all depends on the aim that the film wants the audience to feel or hear.

Theme music- Theme music is important because it can immediately give an impression to the audience. This again depends what kind of genre is the film. If the theme music catches the audience’s attention, which means they will want to watch the film.

Voiceover-   if there is a scene and you see an image and you hear one talking but you can’t see the person or character that is telling the dialogue.

Musical score- Musical score in this kind of environment means that the music was composed directly for the film to enhance the story as it builds up.  The musical score is usually instrumental in order to not overwhelm anything else within the film.

Synchronous sound- This kind of sound is sound that has to match to the occurring images in the scene for example footsteps, walking or running.

Asynchronous sound- This sound is the opposite of synchronous sound as it is not matched with what is visible for the eye on the screen. This can help the film to look more realistic, this can be reached by adding sounds that can tell the audience what happened without them seeing the visuals.

Contrapuntal- This kind of sound is when the image and the sound/music is irrelevant. If one is looking at a scene where one is being murdered and the music is happy it does not match that is called contrapuntal.

Silence- Silence is very important, because it can also evoke feelings and it can tell one that something is going to happen. This is usually very useful for horror or action films. Another term is use of presence that is when the room’s presence is recorded for no longer than you need it

Selective sound- Selective sound means removing some sounds to make other sounds more recognisable. For a dramatic effect, to identify with the character to hear what she/he is hearing. Selective sound can also be used to create an atmosphere, give a meaning or evoke emotions from the audience.

Sound bridges- Sound bridges are used in-between shots so it flows continuously, for e.g. when one shot ends the use of sound bridge can be used so it looks uninterrupted when another shot starts.