Theme: Most films have their own theme sound which allows you to identify the film or programme in the production. For example James bond which is a film series that has been going on for many years and you’re able to identify the James Bond 007 theme song whenever you hear it. There could also be faster tempo or different beats once a movie has been able to establish themselves for example James bond.
not to mention theme songs are very common as they are catchy which they are able to do what they set out to do and that is to engage the audience, this is usually done in moving animation for example family guy, the Simpson, Phineas and Ferb which are a few to name.
Phineas and Ferb
The Simpson
Family Guy
The music that is used sets up an atmosphere so the audience are sitting at the edge of their seats with excitement not knowing what might happen next. The director ”Marc Foster” used the soundtrack of “David Arnold – time to get out” from 0.33 you can hear different types of instruments such as clarinets, guitars and pianos which the tempo of the music intensify’s which you’re able to sense that something is on the verge of happening but you don’t exactly know when which directors of bond movies tend to do very well.
The sound in quantum of solace starts with a quiet non-diegetic orchestral sound which you can hear from 0.36 seconds till 1.02 which entices the audience to wanna watch the movie, from 1.02 it cuts rather quickly to a loud engine which is now a diegetic sound which I can suggest is that this automatically has the audience excited with the prospect of a typical James Bond chase where you get to see James Bond trying to escape the havoc that just erupted. After 3.37 you can hear the orchestral music slowly coming back which clearly suggests that he got away safely from the “bad guys” when he’s driving away it’s almost as if he’s escaped the world of havoc now with the orchestral music slowly entering it’s reflecting another stage where he’s now calm and collected so the transition of music was perfectly placed as you’re able to tell what mind state mr bond is in.
Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound: The diegetic sounds that are heard when the water’s pouring on the ground which also intensify’s the punches and creates a big stage for the audience to keep their eyes peeled as they are not sure what’s going to happen this also allows the audience to build a relationship with batman as you can see he’s struggling to take out Bane.
Non-diegetic sounds start to slowly creep into the scene when you start to hear slow mysterious music which sounds like a violin is being played which they normally symbolise calmness,serenity so by this instrument being played shows a different state of mind of banes. Banes clearly wins the first fight so it seems as if the director done this to show that banes was superior in this occasion
internal diegetic sound:
Internal diegetic is somewhat different to diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, internal diegetic sound is sound that the character is letting meaning sound that’s in the characters mind,head. a great example is when a character is listening to music in his headphones and you can hear it, then when the character takes of his headphones you can no longer hear the music in the Misè en scene. so when you see this done that’s what you call internal diegetic sound.
What is foley sound:
foley sounds are created in a studio with a foley artist .Foley sounds are used in the fighting scene as they exaggerate the punches and you can hear the way they overemphasise each hit bane lands on batman which causes an illusion of reality which is normally typical of a batman movie and against the batman costume to me it seems as if it’s causing a ‘ripple’ effect.
Foley sounds are used a lot in quantum of solace to exaggerate the effect on the crashes and when James Bond’s being chased by the villains the first time we get to hear the foley sounds come into play is at 1.00 when we get to hear a very loud engine accelerating which intensify’s chases, footsteps its enhances the audio. foley sounds tend to go unnoticed as when it’s executed correctly it creates an illusion of reality to the scene. below is a video of how foley is used.
foley sounds are created in a studio with a foley artist
the video shows you how they make the noises at 1.55 you get to have an insight on how they create the desired effect and what you get to see is one character picking up a pole and the way the other character dragged the pole across the floor and he was able to project the noise of the pole. secondly at 2.16 you get another insight on how they carry through fights, as you see the characters punching and kicking equipment which yet again whilst creating the sound they have to ensure that they are in sync with what is taking place on the scene not to mention while they are planning on how to make the noises realistic they also have to ensure that the audios in sync with what is taking place on the scene. if not they then have to cut and restart the scene which you see at 3.11. They do this so that the foley sound compliments the footage.
The difference between sound recording and Location recording:
The difference of recording sound in a studio and recording on set are very different, recording in a studio has its advantages and not to mention disadvantages for example, recording in a studio is normally used as the studios silent as opposed to recording on set/location however there could also be noises in the studio if the rooms big it could add echoes. However recording on location allows you to create realism which allows you to engage the audience. The disadvantages of recording on location is that you are more likely to hear birds and even the wind.
What is leitmotif:
A leitmotif is a recurring piece of music (or at least melody) that represents a character, action, or theme. This is a well-established technique used in almost every medium that involves music and story.One powerful function of leitmotifs is to indicate someone or something that is present in the scene but not visible in the frame.
a leitmotif will sometimes be played to suggest a character, place. that is not physically present in the scene but is being thought about or somehow has an impact on the current scene. In the godfather, one of the most famous scene in which a movie producer wakes up to a find a battered horse’s head in his bed, we hear leitmotifs associated with the Godfather, which suggest that the godfathers request was successfully answered.
Voiceovers:
voice overs are used in a few movies such as Shawshank redemption, voice overs are when you would hear the character speaking about a situation that a character is going through or even himself, but you don’t have to see the character in the footage. voice overs are a brilliant technique because the character can express his feeling which allows the audience to emphasise with the character for example this was done in Shawshank redemption.
Mise en scene: means anything that you can see or hear in the scene which includes stuff such as characters,props and sounds are all things that are included when we’re talking about Mise en scenè.
The second movie I am going to speak about is the fighting scene between batman and bane in dark knight rises, the movie was directed by Christopher Nolan. What we get to see in their first encounter when banes and batman are fighting there’s no audio which to me suggests “Christopher Nolan” wanted to highlight the seriousness of the rivalry between batman and banes.
Justin Grant.
Justin Grant 