Wednesday 5 June 2013

Post-Production Process in Film How Sound Drives Narrative in Film

The purpose of this blog is to analyze and explain the influence and impact of sound on film narrative and provide relevant theories. The invention of motion pictures developed by Eadweard Muybridge in 1872 sound in film has evolved from pleasure to a more narrative role whereby it helps creates a film’s identity (Dixon and Foster 2008, p.1). For instance, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s deep toned voice can easily be associated with his action films role such as (The Terminator 1984 and Commando 1985) because it matches his excessive muscular appearance.

Naturally in film, viewers are saturated with images hereby blurring out other elements that makes them distinct such as music. Stories create visual narrative in film while sound goes beyond visual experience to add more meaning to the motion pictures.  Goldmark, Kramer and Leppert stated in their book titled Beyond The Soundtrack that “Music has traditionally been regarded as a subordinate element in the standard film genres” (Goldmark, Kramer and Leppert 2007, p.2).


History of Sound in Film

Sound in film can be traced as far back as 1891 when Thomas Edison (an inventor) developed a device known as ‘Kinethophone’. His intention was to use the device to synchronize moving image with recorded sound but he was unsuccessful (Altman 2004, p.78-81).

      Kinethophone (3.bp.blogspot.com)

The film ‘The Jazz Singer 1927’ is recognized as the first film with sound ever made. Chion Michel stated in his book titled The Voice in Cinema, that, “The symbolic date of 1927, the year of The Jazz Singer marks the moment when the entire previous cinema was retrospectively declared silent” (Chion 1999 p.7). The 88 minutes film produced by Jack Warner was released on October 6th 1927 at Warner Brothers New York Theater (Ferris 2011). 

Break through of sound synchronization did not happen till August 6th 1926 with the invention of ‘sound-on-disc system of Western Electric, which was also the year ‘The Jazz Singer 1927’ was premiered (Ferris 2011). The one-year gap was an added advantage for Warner Brothers as they were able to improve the sound quality of their movie by replacing the initial substandard sound-on-disc system with the Western Electric’s sound-on-film.


Some critics condemned the development of sound in film. Rudolf Arnheim a German author and film theorist argues that the effect of playing music is less than that of showing people moving to that music and also added that suggesting sound through the image is more effective than producing the sound. In his book titled ‘Film as Art’ he stated that sound in film “did not lie on the path the best film artists were pursuing” (Arnheim 1932, p. 27). 

I disagree with both Arnheim and Fabe’s statements. Sound film is closest to reality, after all, we all communicate verbally not only through gestures. I support Erwin Panofsky’s proclamation that, “that cinema is basically a visual art with moving pictures, even when it has learned to talk still remains a picture that moves” (Panofsky 1974, p. 156).

Some issues regarding sound in film are the selectivity of the microphone, projection of sound on screen and sound scale. Alan Williams in a 1980 article stated that the device (microphone) selects the sound to be heard by the audience. He also added that the act of attention and listening is already performed by audio device while audience only needs to hear the sound (Williams 1980, p. 58-66). In addition, he said that in conventional Hollywood cinema, dialogue would be foregrounded at the expense of environmental noises. Williams gave an example a cafĂ© scene in a Godard film which omnidirectional microphone was used to record sound ‘democratically’ (Williams 1980, p. 62-63).

James Lastra a film theorist argues that original film sound can never be heard (Lastra 2000, p. 150).
Selection and modification of sound is done during post-production. Noises are filtered and soundtracks are added on the background of the film. The proximity of the camera from subject, scene and microphone affects the sound feedback in a film those changes audience perception of the film’s narrative. 

The narrative of a film is based upon a script conceptualized by scriptwriter(s) to be executed by actors, directors and other film crew. Mehring Margaret stated in her book titled A Blend of Film Form and Content that “Screenplay was originally called a scenario, or continuity script and consisted of a list of scenes that described the silent action and camera angles. Later, when sound on film was invented, words, sound effects and music were added” (Mehring 1990, p. 232). In other for audio device not to reveal itself, off screen sound must be accounted for in the narrative (Doane 1980, p. 165-167). 

Film is a process that has gone through 3 major stages. They are;

No sound era 1885 (Mark and Bruce 2001) - just visuals, no audio recorded. Such as recording of 
   cultural festivals or early technological invention.

Silent film era 1920s (Mark and Bruce 2001)– use of opera, symphony and commentary over 
   visuals. Such as Charlie Chaplin films and comedies. 

Sound era 1920s (Mark and Bruce 2001)– new age digital sound. Surround audio system, Dolby 
   and other modern audio recording technology. 

In this essay, no sound and silent films are considered as the same, since they both do not contain proper dialogue and diegetic sound.

Before sound in film, acting involves body language, facial expressions that go beyond mere gesture.   
Example of silent film: Police 1916 - Charlie Chaplin 



This gesture style is in line with Rudolph Arnheim’s statement that “the universal silence of the image, the fragments of a broken vase could ‘talk’ exactly the way a character talked to his neighbor” (Arnheim 1969).  One of the problems with gesture method which sound in film has corrected today is the issue of cultural diversity. 
Culture is so complex today such that some gestures are considered taboo, miss-interpreted and miss-understood by different culture. The ability to record sound and not rely on gesture resolves any issue of such miss understanding. A sound theorist Michel Chion mentioned in his book titled Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen that, “the public notice different things in the same images. However, when accompanied with different sounds we notice insignificant elements of the image” (Chion 1990 p. 27).

The structure of the film is also affected. A script for silent film will be more descriptive as little or no dialogue is involved while sound scripts include characters’ dialogue. Silent films tend to reduce the film’s creativity. The ability of sound films to use nonsynchronous technique whereby sound is detached from the visuals on screen is a major difference that has led to more creativity and enhanced filming experience. A simple explanation is the use of cut-a-ways and non diegetic sounds. 

A French film director Rene Clair gave an example of a film with excellent use of nonsynchronous sound in his book titled, Film Art and Aesthetics. In his book, he analyzed a sequence of the film ‘The Broadway Melody 1929' by Harry Beaumont as thus; “as the camera holds on the anguished face of Bessie Love, whose lover has just departed, the off-screen sound of his car door shutting and the car driving away is heard on the sound track. The combination of the actress’s face and the sounds made by the departing car create a far more poignant expression of sorrow than if the director had cut to the images of the lower shutting car door and driving away which would have been necessary if the film were silent” (Clair 1972).

In our everyday life, we are surrounded by sound. Hence silent films with not translate our version of reality. 

Here is a short clip by voice over talent Travis that explains the essence of sound.


  An Essay on Sound by Travis


Marilyn stated in her book titled Closely Watched Films: An Introduction to The Art of Narrative Film Technique that; “a well-written line of dialogue can convey information which silent filmmakers could only express in an intertitle or through an often torturously ingenious series of explanatory images, both of which techniques awkwardly slows down the story. Sometimes, a word can be worth a thousand pictures” (Marilyn 2004, p. 62). 

Rudolf’s point of view is better understood though the explanation of formalist and realist film theory.


Formalism 
Formalist theory simply regards film as an art. The idea of a formalist film is to represent the artist vision. It basically encourages creativity. A very good example is Star Wars by George Lucas. 


Realism 
Sound is an element that can help to achieve realism in film. This Realism theory expects that a film must be authentic so that viewers can relate to it. 

SOUND ANALYSIS IN FILM
Sound in film can be categorised into three major parts. They are diegetic, meta diegetic and extra-diegetic (Claudia Gorbman 1987).  Further research revealed that non diegetic should also be included, however it is similar to meta-diegetic. 

Diegetic Sound:
This is any sound recorded on set during a shoot. It is usually recorded with a boom mic or directly into the camera. It is also referred to as ‘source music’ that is part of the film’s narrative (Goldmark, Kramer and Leppert 2007 p. 3). A good example is the dialog of actors in a film. 

Example: Beautiful 2011 by Tijani A. Umar

Non Diegetic Sound:
This is sound added to a clip during post-production. They are most special effect sounds added to enhance specific actions in a film. They include: bomb sound, background music and sound effects. 

Link to a film made entirely of non diegetic sound: Round Pound 2012 by Tijani A. Umar

Extra Diegetic Sound:
This refers to ‘source-underscore’. It is a ‘constructed discursive form that disengages from the realistic presentation” (Goldmark, Kramer and Leppert 2007 p.4). An example is the commentary of a soccer match, whereby the commentator’s words are altered by the actions on the pitch. His voice will fluctuate and pitch will change frequently.

Example: England vs Brazil 2-1 Official Goals and Highlights 2013 by The England Football Team 


Meta Diegetic Sound:
It is a form of non-diegetic sound that captures the attention of a character in a film. “Meta-diegetic sound is simply sound imagined or perhaps hallucinated by a character”(Gorbman 1987).  A good example is a scene in ‘Drag Me to Hell’ where Christine was having vision of a witch knocking on her table. 

Clip from Drag Me To Hell 2009 by Sam Raimi

 Drag Me to Hell 2009 - Nose Bleed scene (source movieclips youtube channel)

How does sound actually impact the narrative of a film?

Tomlinson Holman in his book title ‘Sound for Film and Television’ stated that sound has a “subliminal role” (acts on audience subconsciously) and “grammatical role” (remains constant for continuity) on its audience. He further added that visual objects and subject are the main focus of audience and not the sound (Tomlinson Holman 2010).

Sound can be manipulated in various ways and just tiny changes make huge difference. Such as tones, pitch, volume etc. For instance; volume is used to indicate proximity. A higher volume denotes closeness while lower volumes indicate distance.

In film, during post-production sound editing is the most delicate aspect. It is the part when meaning are lost or gained in a film. Audience can be more forgiving for un-clear visuals. After all, we sometimes watch grainy visuals on Internet or old documentaries such as World War 2 and others. However, if the sound is bad and unbearable we are likely to change the TV station or close the web page.

Sound adds life to visuals. The main reason why film genres are appealing today is largely because of sound. Williams Allen stated in an article that, “the difficulty for sound theory is that the film image is considered to be a representation of the pro-filmic space-time, whereas sound is considered to be a reproduction of the sonic materials selected for the film” (Williams1980, p. 51).

For instance, I recently watched Peter Jackson’s film titled ‘The Lovely Bones 2009’. This is a movie about a little girl that was murdered and how she returned to life to fight for justice. The look and feel of visuals in both life and after life where most times the same. The only difference was the eerie music; swoosh sound and other non-diegetic sound that depicted notion of after life. I have watched the movie thrice and I reached a conclusion that the success of the film is because of the non-diegetic sound. 


Effective use of sound in film: Analysis of The Love Bones 2009 
Watch Richard Davis's full lecture 

I feel filmmakers use sound to manipulate audience. “Like images, sound can be used subjectively to express the impressions or state of mind of a character in the film. An example is a famous scene in Blackmail by Alfred Hitchcock, in which the words knife, knife, knife', are repeated in a frightened girl's mind” (Ralph Stephenson and Jean Debrix, 1965, p. 198).

I refuse to accept Ola Stockfelt’s claim that “film is constructed by viewers not filmmakers” (Stockfelt 2006).  Audience are like soccer fans that go to stadium to watch live soccer but they don’t know what to expect, whether their team will be victorious or not. For instance, sometimes in films, images and actions do not correspond. A man might be sitting and reading a newspaper. If audience hears eerie sound, they might feel he is in danger but if it is slow paced music, then they might feel his wife or girl friend is near by. 

Other functions of sound in films include;
Information: certain sound is peculiar to certain environment and it helps inform audience about the
  culture. For instance traffic sound in Cities, trumpet sound in African or Asian films etc.

Emotional: sound helps capture audience emotion.

Descriptive/ Deceptive: such as a character looking towards a windows and a sound of train in heard. That gives a perception that he is near a train station.

Continuity: creative filmmakers use sound as a tool of transition between two different locations. For instance, a character can teleport himself from traffic in New York to traffic in London and a continuous background sound of car horns will be heard.

Sound is a major contributing factor that makes all the difference in film genre. For instance drama, comedy and romance movies are very similar in visuals, after all, they do not require visual special effects unlike action or horror however their sound effect makes all the difference. One of the main characteristics of film genre is how it makes audiences feel. 

Rick Altman stated that film sound always has double spatial narrative, he also added that sound recordings always carry a spatial signature of the recording space acoustics, choice and placement of microphones and the perception of the recorded sound when played back is always determined by the spatial arrangement in which this takes place such as large hall, living room etc. (Altman 1992 p. 22-27).

Romance, action, thriller, horror and other genre’s narrative are carefully driven with sound to make major impacts. For instance, when we watch a movie that involves aliens, we are able to relate certain sound to them and in some cases; the sound is what differentiates them from robots. ET and I-Robot are good examples.

According to a presentation made by Richard Davis (a lecturer at Berklee College of Music), he stated that “sound and music is usually written to suit different scenes in particular film” (Richard Davis). One of the elements that differentiated Steven Spielberg’s film Saving Private Ryan and other war films is the use and manipulation of sound. At some point in the movie, I felt I was in the war front and I could feel to a large extent what the soldiers were going through. Spielberg used great sound depth and silence as well as close up shots to create such impact. 

Altman stated in his book titled Sound Theory Sound Practice that, “sound recordings always carry a three-dimensional picture of the recording space and the perception of the recorded sound when played back is always determined by the spatial arrangement in which this takes place” (Altman 1992, p.48). 

The above quote shows that for realism and greater impact of films the placement or arrangement of sound is essential. 
Christian Metz, a film critic categorized sound in film into codes, which are: semic code, proairetic code, hermeneutic code and cultural code (Metz p.76). 

Semic Code – also referred to as connotative. These are keynote sounds that are usually attached 
    to a character.  This is common mostly in Chinese and Indian films, whereby an actor that plays 
    hero always have a unique sound whenever he appears on screen.

Proairetic Code – this sound is used to denote an action. Such as a moving vehicle. 

Hermeneutic Code – it is quite similar to proairetic. However, this style creates narrative suspense 
   whereby audiences are left guessing what the characters action will be. 

Cultural Code – some cultures have peculiar type of sounds such that those used in Hollywood 
   scenes will not fit into the narrative of their film even if the genre is similar. For instance, music in 
   Indian movies reflects the use of voice manipulation while  many Hollywood music portray 
   natural voice.

Other elements of film sound are dialog, foley, ambience, sound effects and musical score. As an editor, I am most interested in sound effect. With the help of high power microphones, diegetic sound in most cases do not require much editing unlike sound effects. 

I love going to cinema to feel the loud surround and depth of sound effect, which is beyond acceptable levels in most homes especially in UK.


Sound Effects in Film

Sound effect is basically enhanced non-diegetic sound added to film for dramatic impact. One of the sound effects miss-use that I notice was in a film called ‘Hotel Rwanda’. There was a particular scene when an old rusty jeep was driven yet the engine sounded like that of a modern jeep.  Many audiences do not pay attention to sound effect unlike the general audio while the story line and visuals carry some away.

Based on my experience as an editor one of the reasons why filmmakers are able to produce low budget films is because of their sound library. I observed that in many films, some scenes are replaced with sound. One of them is CSI: Miami shown on ‘5 USA’ Channel 31 on free view in UK. CSI: Miami is an investigative TV series where incidents happen and investigated upon. Most of the car crash scenes in the series are sound effects. Close-up shots of the driver(s) involved are shown and then fade-to-black followed by a tyre screech sound and a loud metal bang.  

Sound Editing: Mechanical (Past) Vs. Digital (Present)
Mechanical Sound Editing

Sound editing is the responsibility of sound editors or sound designers. The process of sound editing started as far back as 1990s with the use of magnetic tape. Edits were done by physically cutting the tapes to remove unwanted part and glued neatly with the wanted half.

Round magnetic tape is played on a device called ‘reel-to-reel’ recorder. As the tape plays, a grease pencil is used to mark points when needed.

This mechanical process does not only affect the synchronization of the visuals and sound, it also produces poor quality sound. However, it was not an issue at that time. The use of tapes enabled sound editors to overdub. Overdubbing is the process of re-recording sound on the tapes. 


Digital Sound Editing

This process is sometimes referred to as ‘digital audio workstation’ (DAW). It is a post-production process that involves the use of computers to edit or modify sound for media production. 
One major advantage of digital sound editing is the graphical representations of sound. This helps sound designers to make accurate adjustment unlike mechanical were editors have to rely on their sense of hearing. 

The use of sound software allows editor to do some automatic edits and tweak with-in minutes. Such as synchronisation  pitch and pace modifications. Endless multiple audio channels as well as wide audio formats and ability to share and download files are part of the strong points of digital sound editing. 

Digital sound editing has made it possible to filter out noise and replace film sounds with ones in a library dedicated for the film. Companies like Dolby and Sony have transformed the world of cinema to what it is today.


Conclusion

Sound surely drives narrative in film. Certain theories especially those created long before the era of sound in film did not take into consideration the remarkable development and enhancement sound has made to film. Without sound in film we all might not be able to truly understand films hundred percent. Meaning of a film is not always the meaning found by viewers. Sound film relates to society conventions, which are cultural products. They do not only influence the way films are made, they also influence audiences expectations. Elements such as; ambience sound, voice depth, tone, dialogue are capable of altering the a film’s narrative. Although we sometimes do gestures to communicate, most of our communication is verbal. Bordwell and Thompson stated that, conventions are unavoidable because filmmakers live in history and society and necessarily relate their work to existing works (Bordwell and Thompson 2001, p. 43). 

Many enjoyed the silent film era especially the ‘Charlie Chaplin’ films but that does not rule out the remarkable influence sound has made in film. 

Sound in film is here to stay and will always remain. Just as 3D visual effect tends to project images towards us, I am anxiously awaiting similar development in film sound.












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