P2: Describe how the sound elements are produced
I carried out research into wild tracks, ambient sound and room tone. Below are my findings.
Wild tracks:
Wild tracks are a type of audio recording which is unmatched with the visuals and is intended to be synchronised later on in post production. It is mainly used as a contingency incase other microphones on set don't record what they were meant to record or don't do so to a good standard. It is also often used to add 'room tone' to the video which is the background noise in the video in order to make it more immersive.
Wild tracks can also be used to achieve the following:
Ambient sound:
Ambient sound in audio terms refers to any background sounds you can hear in the scene, this creates an atmosphere and an environment for the viewer which he can immerse himself in. Ambient sounds include but are not limited to wind, cars driving, background chatter or rain. However sometimes there are unwanted ambient sounds which can be recorded by accident when shooting on location, these are often removed in post production.
Ambient sound is also used to achieve the following:
In order to record ambient sound you need to use a microphone which is fairly sensitive and in most cases people choose to use a non-directional microphone so that they can record sounds coming from all directions. Below are the microphones often used for ambient sound recording:
I also did research into theme and incidental music. I have found that theme music was first performed in Italian stage performances and was an aid in the visual story telling. Later on it was also used in silent cinema in order to have some sort of sound as the technology was not advance enough to record sound for movies. There would often be a man at a piano by the side of the screen who would play music that would vaguely match the action being shown on screen. Theme music is effective for creating an atmosphere and mood and signifying to the audience the nature of a scene or a whole movie. This is effective in story telling as it allows the film makers to show more with explicitly telling the audience what they should feel. One of the most famous theme songs would have to be "The Eye of the Tiger" that was created for the film "Rocky".
As for incidental music, I have found that it serves the film in a very similar way. However incidental music is more ambient than theme music which is more prominent. Incidental music is not meant to distract you from the scene of the movie but instead add to it and make it more immersive. We can see an example of this in a scene from "The Time of the Gypsies" where we hear music that the character also hears but it is actually from the sound track of the film and adds to the ambience of the bar scene that we see. I have attached a clip of this scene below.
Wild tracks:
Wild tracks are a type of audio recording which is unmatched with the visuals and is intended to be synchronised later on in post production. It is mainly used as a contingency incase other microphones on set don't record what they were meant to record or don't do so to a good standard. It is also often used to add 'room tone' to the video which is the background noise in the video in order to make it more immersive.
Wild tracks can also be used to achieve the following:
- To obtain Sound for where no image is required
- To get sound when it is too difficult to film and record sound at the same time
- To get sound from a visually good scene where the sound was underwhelming
- To obtain sound for censored versions of the video
Ambient sound:
Ambient sound in audio terms refers to any background sounds you can hear in the scene, this creates an atmosphere and an environment for the viewer which he can immerse himself in. Ambient sounds include but are not limited to wind, cars driving, background chatter or rain. However sometimes there are unwanted ambient sounds which can be recorded by accident when shooting on location, these are often removed in post production.
Ambient sound is also used to achieve the following:
- Creating continuity between shots
- Removing unnatural silence when silence is not intended
- Creating or adding to the mood intended in the video
In order to record ambient sound you need to use a microphone which is fairly sensitive and in most cases people choose to use a non-directional microphone so that they can record sounds coming from all directions. Below are the microphones often used for ambient sound recording:
- Shure VP88
- Rode NT4
- DPA Microphones
- Schoeps
- Neumann
I also did research into theme and incidental music. I have found that theme music was first performed in Italian stage performances and was an aid in the visual story telling. Later on it was also used in silent cinema in order to have some sort of sound as the technology was not advance enough to record sound for movies. There would often be a man at a piano by the side of the screen who would play music that would vaguely match the action being shown on screen. Theme music is effective for creating an atmosphere and mood and signifying to the audience the nature of a scene or a whole movie. This is effective in story telling as it allows the film makers to show more with explicitly telling the audience what they should feel. One of the most famous theme songs would have to be "The Eye of the Tiger" that was created for the film "Rocky".
As for incidental music, I have found that it serves the film in a very similar way. However incidental music is more ambient than theme music which is more prominent. Incidental music is not meant to distract you from the scene of the movie but instead add to it and make it more immersive. We can see an example of this in a scene from "The Time of the Gypsies" where we hear music that the character also hears but it is actually from the sound track of the film and adds to the ambience of the bar scene that we see. I have attached a clip of this scene below.
After looking at theme and incidental music I also went ahead and researched foley artists and their work. I have found that foley is certain sound effects which get their name from Jack Foley who was the first foley artist. Foley sound is generally categorised as any diegetic or ambient sound that is reproduced off of the set. This ranges from things like footstep sounds all the way to bones breaking and glass shattering. These sounds are all created in a sound studio with foley artists who use various unrelated objects in order to make the desired sound. An example of this would be breaking celery and recording that and using it as a sound effect for breaking bones. I think foley is very important as it adds to the ambience of the movie.
I believe that it would be very difficult to record these detailed sounds on set for two reasons. The first reason is that there can be too many things happening at once when shooting a film and it might be difficult to get an isolated sound that you're trying to get. The second reason is that the sound might just not be there. There are several reasons for this too. One of them is that you can't actually record something like a bone breaking without breaking something and actors aren't abused in such a way that they can have their bones broken for a sound effect. I also believe that sometimes when certain props are used that aren't real, they just won't make the same sound effect that you can achieve in a studio. Below I have attached a video of foley artists creating foley sounds.
I believe that it would be very difficult to record these detailed sounds on set for two reasons. The first reason is that there can be too many things happening at once when shooting a film and it might be difficult to get an isolated sound that you're trying to get. The second reason is that the sound might just not be there. There are several reasons for this too. One of them is that you can't actually record something like a bone breaking without breaking something and actors aren't abused in such a way that they can have their bones broken for a sound effect. I also believe that sometimes when certain props are used that aren't real, they just won't make the same sound effect that you can achieve in a studio. Below I have attached a video of foley artists creating foley sounds.
I also decided to look into ADR which stands for Automated Dialogue Replacement. I found that this technique is often used for replacing the audio for a foreign audience. By creating a dubbed over version of a film for another country the film is more prone to having better sales in that particular country as a wider audience will be able to understand it. ADR can also be used to re-record audio that couldn't be recorded when shooting a scene in person due to conditions like weather or equipment malfunctioning. Lastly, I believe it is also used to dub over dialogue in scenes where it is impossible to record the audio. An example of this could be a very wide shot of two actors speaking to each other where there is no way to have a microphone and not have it in the shot. I think that ADR is not a very convincing way to replacing the dialogue and shouldn't be used unless necessary because it breaks the audience's immersion in the film as it is not very realistic. Below I have attached a video of a sound expert explaining the uses of ADR.
Lastly, I went ahead and researched the use of voice over and scripted speech in audio-visual products. I have found that this technique is very popular in documentaries as it allows for a narrator to explain what is visually being shown. This is effective for a documentary because the audience may not otherwise understand what is being shown to them if it is not explained. Voice over is also very popular in TV adverts where a product is being shown and a narrator talks over it trying to sell it to the audience. This can be scene in almost any advert on TV right now and I think it is effective because it allows the audience to see the product as well as be informed about it which I think is an effective selling tactic. When looking at scripted speech it became clear to me that it is almost exclusively used in animated kids films and just general animation where there's not actual people being recorded. This is so that the visual narrative can also have dialogue behind it. I think it is effective because it allows for the dialogue to be recorded quickly as the actors can have their scripts in front of them and don't need to learn them. Below I have attached a video of artists doing voice-overs.