Understanding Music for Film & T.V

Understanding Music for Film & T.V | Phillip Collins & Olly Sellwood

Diegetic Sound:
Diegetic sound is the music or sounds that the characters in the film or t.v show would be able to hear. For example, a radio in a car, plane engines or a bath running. All these things would be able to be heard by the characters in this film. This may have been recorded live when shooting the particular sequence or they could have been recorded in the studio but mixed in to create a live feel so the actor can act around it.

This is a good example of diegetic sound because it's used in a comical way. In this short sequence all you can here is non-diegetic until the comical moment. The director and producer have cleverly used the two different types of audio to create a larger comical moment. At the point 'Nick Frost' falls through the fence the sound turns from non-diegetic to diegetic to make the moment of comedy greater. 

Happy Gilmore has used diegetic sounds whilst they were at the crazy golf. This is diegetic in two ways. Firstly the music being played in the background at the fair. Secondly the sounds of him using the putter and hitting objects with it and hearing them break is a good use of diegetic sounds. 

Non- Dietgetic Sound: Non-diegetic sound is the music or sounds used in a film or t.v show that the characters can't hear. For example, the music scored by the composer or artist used for the film to build the mood of the sequence in shot. Another example of non-diegetic sound would be a voice over or narration usually telling the story. This would have been recorded after the film had been shot and the production company will have almost completed the basic edit of the film. The actors do not need to be able to hear this while acting as they won't be able to hear it in the final edit. It is a very commonly used technique in film as it's becoming increasingly easier to do.

Example of Non-Diegetic Sounds. The song played in the background is non-diegetic sounds. 'Michael J Fox' cannot hear the song played in the background. On the other hand he would be able to hear the sound of the traffic going on around him. This is a good use of non-diegetic sounds as this is an exciting sequence of the movie. 'Marty McFly' is late for school and this song is used to show the crazy rush and exciting journey he takes to school to get there on time. The song is only played while he is going to school but once he is there, there're only diegetic sounds. For example the cars driving past.In many films the director will use a technique combining both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.

In 'The Inbetweeners' the use of non-diegetic sound is used through voice over which the main character 'Will' talks to the audience as if the other characters are not there. This is non-diegetic because the actors cannot hear this, It is added after in post production. He is describing the situation in the scene while there are images of the characters changing scene - usually used for comical effect.

Wild Tracks:

A wild track is an audio track that a film producer or director will decide to use in the their film, commonly used in documentaries to add a layer of ambient sound to create an atmosphere and a vibe to help create a more realistic feel for the viewer that goes with the images/pictures. This is a very common technique recorded with a microphone to pick up the ambient sounds. This type of sound doesn't need to be in sync with the images or footage as it's not usually any specific sound being heard. It's usually a crowd of people or the sound of wildlife in the jungle or on a mountain.

Composite Track/Soundtrack

A sound track/composite track is a track of all the audio in a film. This would include music, dialogue and sound effects. This is the audio part of a motion-picture film that has all the audio from the film in it. The film frames would be located above it usually.

This is not my work, picture taken from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USN16mmSoundtrack.jpg

Foley Sounds

Foley sounds are exaggerated sounds that have been added to a film or sequence to give more reality and depth to the scene. This can be used for any kind of sequence, fight chase, gestures, objects moving and every day sounds. These sounds are added in the studio in post production after the producers have finished the basic cuts especially for chases or long sequences. Foley sounds are recorded by 'Foley artists' who act alongside the sequence being played on a monitor. This has to be exactly in sync otherwise the sounds wouldn't match the movements in the footage. Foley artistry is a dying art as it requires a huge amount of skill and sometime physical strength.  The actors will have all the items they need to make the sounds so they can create a realistic match to what the viewer would see. Sometime they use items that you would think they would need to make the sound required. For a punch sound they would often use a slab of meat to punch. This is a very unusual practise now as sound effects are mainly digital and computer based making this a lot easier to create.

Temp Track

A temp track is the track that the director will put together once the basic edit for the whole film is complete to give the composer something to work towards and know the style that the director is looking for. The reason this is done after the basic edit has been complete is so the director can make the temp track and composer can write the music at the right length, start and finish at the correct times and put accents in the right places. The music is heavily influenced by the way the film is cut. '2001: A Space Odyssey' there was a temp track made for this film that was then passed on to the composer 'Alex North' who then wrote a whole film score. The director 'Stanley Kubrick' wasn't happy with the score that he had written and the original temp track was used in the film. By using this version it give a big sounding intro that draws in a viewer. The music used in introduction is perfect for the type of film that it is used for and paints a picture to the viewer and gives them an idea of what is about to come next.

Hedley Marks