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Announcements
 Thursday:
Sound and midterm
review
 Mid-term next Tuesday --review
in sections
Sound Technology and
Sound and Film
Sound with Picture
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Is sound secondary or supportive to vision in
cinema? It is less consciously perceived--yet
it is a very powerful factor.
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Our ears do a great deal of selective filtering.
So sound in cinema must be consciously
controlled: recorded, edited and mixed in a
very intentional manner.
Functions of Sound
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Another register of experience: complexity.
Affecting how we experience what we see.
Structuring or extend cinematic space.
Strengthen continuity, smoothing over edits.
As a cue—associated with a character, etc.
Information (voice, but also effects, ambient)
Spatial or temporal orientation (location,
environment, time of day, historical period)
Predictive (warning; off-screen or imminent)
Conveying mood or character’s emotions
Setting the pace of scene
Sound Stems
1. Sound effects
2. Voice
3. Music
4. Ambient sound
(5.) Silence
The Conversation, by Francis
Ford Coppola, 1974
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Sound and space
The Graduate, Mike Nichols,
1961
M, Fritz Lang, 1931.
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Selective use of sound and silence
Sound and the Story
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DIEGETIC = from the world of the film: voices of
characters, sounds made by objects in the story, music
represented as coming from instruments in the story space (
= source music). May be on screen or off screen
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INTERNAL DIAGETIC = thoughts of characters on screen
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Non-Diegetic = outside of the film: narrator's commentary,
sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect, mood
music
Playing with relationship of
Sound to Image
Playtime, Jacques Tati,1967
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Perception/confusion and the
representation of sound
Foley effects
Rhythm and Motion
Delicatessen, Jean-Pierre
Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1991
Hiroshima Mon Amour,
Alain Resnais,1959, 86 min.
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Modern use of sound
Daughters of the Dust, Julie
Dash, 1991
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Narration of unborn child
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Dialogue spoken in the Gullah language
Qualities of Sound
Volume
 Pitch
 Timbre
 Rhythm
 Fidelity between sound and image
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Frequency and Amplitude
Slow moving wave - low frequency, low
pitch
 Fast moving wave - high frequency,
high pitch
 Wave with great disturbance of
molecules - greater volume
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Altman The Material
Heterogeneity of Recorded
Sound (its complex make up)
Altman and Sound
Sound is vibration in a medium over time.
Most of what we call sounds are complex events of
multiple sounds
The sound envelope
 Attack
 Sustain
 Decay
What is / where is the medium?
Altman and Sound
Since sound reception differs from moment of sound production,
sounds is necessarily spatial nature.
Variables: space, distance, directionality, reverberance
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Moment of creating sound (carries spatial signature)
Moment of recording sound (technical stamp)
Moment of playing sound (amplifying / reproducing)
Moment(s) of reception (subjectivity, cocktail party effect)
Altman (cont.)
Altman discusses the difference between audio as
representation vs. reproduction
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Representations are never reproductions: they are
always symbols and things in themselves
Becoming more conscious of the resonance between
the two
We are already extremely attuned to this difference
and this is central to communication
Altman (cont.)
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Communication is about patterning (signal and noise,
modulation, difference and sameness, identity and
difference)
You already are, if unconsciously, extremely engaged
and attuned to subtle variations in sound and the
ambiguity between representation and materiality—this
is fundamental to communication. By becoming more
conscious of this—more reflexive— you can be
productive in new ways.
Types of Audio Recording
Equipment
 Analog
 Digital
Audio Recording Techniques
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Boom or Lavaliere
Audio Recording Choices
 Digital
or analog
 Pick up pattern for microphone
 Type of microphone / transducer
 Stereo, mono
 Multi-channel recording
 Field or studio
Microphone Choices
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Hand held, Boom, Lavaliere Mic,
Pick up pattern for microphone:
Directional / cardiod
Super-cardioid or shotgun
Omni-directional
 Type of microphone / transducer:
condenser or dynamic
 Stereo, mono
 Field or studio
Microphones
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Directionality / Pick up pattern: Omni,
Uni, Cardiod, Hyper cardiod, shotgun
Microphones
Transducer: Convert molecular
disturbances into electrical energy.
Dynamic Mic
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Magnet and coil of wire converts sound
waves into electrical energy.
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Rugged, can tolerate high temperature
changes and humidity.
Condenser Microphone
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Requires battery or
power from external
source.
 Two plates with
voltage between
them.
 One plate acts like a
diaphragm, vibrates
thus changing the
voltage.
Condenser Microphone
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Output audio signal is weak - requires amplification
 Power can come from a battery or through the cable
= Phantom Power
 Can be very small - lavaliere microphones
 Sensitive to high and low frequency sounds