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1 THE SOUND.
Traditionally, sound used to be considered only as a background, and, consequently, it was a secondary creative function. Until the 60s in the credits only appeared the head of sound of the studio. However, due to the fact that the soundtrack is built separately from the images and, therefore, can be manipulated independently converts sound into an element of great importance. Some of the reasons that make sound a fundamental element:
Create a different way of perceiving. Visual attention is accompanied by auditory attention (perception that was already created in the silent cinema in which the projections were made with orchestral or piano accompaniment).
Sound can condition what we perceive while watching a film (sound can even anticipate the image, “guiding” us to where we should look, generates expectations)… Even, sound endows the silence with a new value.
The sound designer is the responsible of the general sound of the film, in charge of coordinating the performance (selection of microphones, editing and mixing…)
2.MEANING OF THE SOUNDTRACK.
Contributed to the cinema a series of possibilities:
It contributed to increase the feeling of “reality”, the image gained with the sound in “authenticity”.
It liberated the image of a necessarily explanatory function that could since then be limited to its expressive function. Even the word could be replaced by visual representations.
The possibility of juxtaposing and / or contrasting sound and image allows the creation of all kinds of symbols and metaphors.
The existence of sound created the possibility of including silence (dramatic scenes).
It helps narrative continuity because the soundtrack is usually less fragmented than images.
It includes music, certainly an expressive tool that will make a huge role in the film.
The existence of sound also helps in ellipsis with expressive effects.
It can help to date the images (Scorsese, for example, in his film “Goodfellas”, emphasizes the passage of time by including songs in the soundtrack of different years).
3. ELEMENTS OF THE SOUNDTRACK.
·The WORD.
Its most frequent use is the dialogue. Other applications such as “voice over”, (speech in the third person and without the presence of the narrator in the image). It is also present in song’s lyrics, which can have a purely decorative function, play a decisive dramatic role or because they advance the argument (American musicals of the 40-50s.)
The dramatic use of dialogue will change depending on the genre or the plot. For example, than in a western of large open spaces and where the images can clearly express the action. We can distinguish two large noise groups: natural noises like wind, water, animals, thunder… or mechanical noises created outside of nature: airplanes, machines, street noise, engines …
These noises are rarely direct reproduction of real sounds. The expressive effects of the noises can go from the use of them in a realistic way, incorporating all the sounds that would reproduce the reality of the scene, or can be used as a counterpoint, it is as a metaphor (“Miracle in Milan”, the words of two capitalists who argue over the ownership of a piece of ground, gradually become a bark).
·The MUSIC
TYPES OF MUSIC.
-Original / adapted. The music could be composed expressly for the film, and then we speak of ORIGINAL music. But you can also use music that was not originally created for the cinema is called ADAPTED music.
-Diegetic / Extradiegetic. Music in cinematographic discourse may arise from the action; then, the music is called DIEGETIC or narrative. In general, it uses to have a realistic role, whose function is to recreate the environment of the characters or deepen their personality, although it can also be used as a dramatic resource.
•voices of characters
•sounds made by objects in the story
•music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)
Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film’s world.
When the music is inserted in the soundtrack to achieve certain aesthetic or functional effects, it is called EXTRADIEGETIC or incidental music (that is to say, we hear the spectators, but not the characters)
•narrator’s commentary
•sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
•mood music
FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC :
¡Rhythmic function.
-replacing real noises
-highlighting a movement or visual rhythm
-speeding up or slowing down the pace of action (sequences of persecutions)Dramatic reinforcement function.
Music explains the image in an emotional sense: It can help to create a certain atmosphere.Metaphorical function; used as leitmotiv (melody or theme that is identified with a place, thing or person). symbolic of an idea, an obsession, identification of something or someone.
Lyrical function, reinforcing and intensifying strongly lyrical moments, replacing unnecessary dialogues (love, hate, fear … can be manifested through music, without the need for dialogue).
Link function, Consists mainly of joining different planes or sequences. The music, then, is incorporated into the film to emphasize the action, being a counterpoint to the images, integrating in the general, dramatic and aesthetic tone of the cinematographic work, J-cut, L-cut, etc.
THE SILENCE:
The discovery of the sound allowed the sound mixer to incorporate one of the most suggestive “noises”, the silence, which correctly used can acquire great dramatic effectiveness. It can also be used, used autonomously, if it is considered that “the images speak for themselves”.