History of Sound in Cinema and Recording Techniques

By TJAY

Table of Contents

Table of Contents........................................................................................................................

!ntroduction................................................................................................................................" Silent #ilm $ra % An !ntroduction to Sound in #ilm..................................................................& 'nderstanding Sound (roduction for #ilm................................................................................) Sound *esign Technique ........................................................................................................1+ Sound $diting in *etails...........................................................................................................11 Sound ,aradigms for film ,roduction -Analog . *igital/.........................................................1" Sound recording de0ices and functions....................................................................................11 'nderstanding S.2.(.T.$ Timecode........................................................................................1) 3TSC and (A4 format.........................................................................................................15 Sound Style for #ilm............................................................................................................15 Sound and #ilm 3arrati0e........................................................................................................16 (sychological sense of time and s,ace.................................................................................16 Silence and im,act . meaning in film................................................................................... + Sound $ffect on #ilm 7enre................................................................................................. 1 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ " Reference.................................................................................................................................. &

Introduction The sub8ect of cinema has ,rogressed a long 9ay right from its ince,tion during early +th century. :ith the in0ention of Thomas $dison;s <inetosco,e and the re0olutionary achie0ement of 4umi=re Brothers> cinema has become the most common form of entertainment. $arlier cinemas 9ere silent in nature. But 9ith the due course of time and ?udos to ra,id technological ad0ancement> the mo0ie ma?ing business has ta?en a ne9 height. The culture of cinema introduced the conce,t of film stars and moreo0er it ,a0ed a ne9 9ay from the sociological 0ie9,oint. 2a?ing mo0ies in earlier times 9as a challenge because of lesser resources. :ith the due course of time> ad0anced a,,lications came in limelight thereby ma?ing tal?ing mo0ies a reality and moreo0er the ne9er systems also eased the entire ,rocedure. The ,ur,ose of this re,ort is to lay do9n a detailed analysis behind the ince,tion of silent mo0ies and the ,rogress that ga0e birth to sound along 9ith a mo0ie. 2a?ing a mo0ie does not only mean ca,turing the moment and ,resent it to the audience. !n fact> it requires a lot of 8oint effort to edit the recorded sound and mo0ies> and synchronise them ,ro,erly to ,roduce the final format for ,ublic 0ie9ing. The re,ort thus also deals about the technical as,ect of mo0ie ma?ing and it is antici,ated that the reader 9ill get an o0erall idea behind the total idea of this mo0ie ma?ing business.

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Silent Film Era An Introduction to Sound in Film !n order to understand the use of sound in cinema> let us first eye to9ards the silent film genre and its origination. The credit behind the introduction of film does not go to one singular ,erson in ,articular. The credit indeed goes to many in0entors that contributed to films in different 9ays till the definition of a standard. Ho9e0er> to categori@e 0arious related in0ention on the basis of their im,ortance> the first credit goes to 4umi=re Brothers -Auguste and 4ouis 4umi=re/> 9hen in 1561 they ,ro8ected 4a Sortie de l;'sine 4umi=re A 4yon -B:or?ers lea0ing 4umi=re factoryC/ creating a brea?through in 0isual arts. Though 4umi=re became a household name as the founder of cinema> the ,rimary credit still goes to Thomas $dison as an in0entor of the first motion ,icture camera in the year 1561 9ith the <inetosco,e -*yer/. His eD,erimentation inculcated many early 9or?s> most notably using the conce,t of 2agic 4antern> 9hich is an early 0ersion of slide ,ro8ector 9here images are ,assed through a lens 9ith the use of light. The magic lantern 9as common in earlier days as it 9as mainly used for entertainment 0alues> such as B(hantasmagoriaC sho9s during 1)6+s in $uro,e and is also considered as a ,recursor of horror mo0ies. The early mo0ies 9ere ,roduced 9ith no sound and they are referred as BSilent 2o0iesC> since all those mo0ies -li?e Cabinet of *r. Caligari> 3osferatu etc./ 9ere all silent in nature. (rogression of in0ention has defined a 9ay to create a fullElength mo0ie but still the idea to miD sound 9ith cinema 9as still a mystery. !t 9as finally during the year 16 5 the first sound mo0ie that came in s,otlight and re0ealed by audiences 9as FJa@@ Singer; released by :erner;s. The release of this mo0ie had cemented the ,ath to modern definition of mo0ies 9here sound and images go along each other. !t is true that FJa@@ Singer; 9as internationally

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identified as the modern form of the mo0ie but that doesn;t lea0e the eD,eriments behind> 9hich 9ere carried out to miD sound and mo0ies together -Thom,son/. !t is also a common notion that America 9as the ,ioneer of this in0ention. But the matter is far from truth> since there $uro,eans that had already im,lemented mo0ies 9ith sound and images earlier. Auguste Baron> in the year 156G synchroni@ed sound 9ith ,icture and ,resented the same in an eD,osition in the year 16++ sho9ing Hamlet featuring Sarah Bernhardt. 2ean9hile> other researchers li?e $ugene 4auste and 4ee *e #orest 9ere 9or?ing on a better mechanism to incor,orate sound 9ith 0ideo but 9ith their ,rocess> they could only ,rint sound ,hotogra,hically in the ,ictures. !t 9as later the in0ention of ,hotocell by Hert@ in the year 155) and the FAudion; 0al0e by *e #orest in the year 16+) arri0ed as a trium,h and the ,ossibility to dis,lay film sound became finally ,ossible in a large auditorium. !n the year 16 "> ADel (etersen and Arnold (oulsen also demonstrated sound in film at a theatre named (aladis Cinema in Co,enhagen> *enmar? -Thom,son/. 2o0ing 9ith the ,rogress> in America> the famous mo0ie ,roducer #oD initiated securing rights to TriE$rgon sound on mo0ie system from 7ermany. But> ultimately> they ado,ted Theodore Cases system called 2o0ietone. :ith this ado,tion> #oD released se0eral short films in the year 16 G. !t 9as during the same time they released F:hat (rice 7loryH; % a comedy drama by 2aD9ell Anderson that became a critical success running for a long time in Broad9ay. :arner Brothers on the other hand 9as lagging behind since they do not ha0e their o9n theatre to screen their ,roduction. !t 9as then 9hen they decided to go ahead 9ith tal?ing ,ictures by signing 9ith :estern $lectric -Iita,hone Sound $ffects/ and released F*on Juan; in the year 16 G> ,remiered in 3e9 Yor?. !t 9as in fact the first full length featureEfilm

directed by Alan Crosland and acted by John Barrymore and 2ary Astor. The follo9ing year> 9ith the screening of FJa@@ Singer;> the future of sound mo0ies finally mar?ed the ,ath of modern feature film. Sound on *isc 9as first considered as a successful commercial system but it lasted for a short s,an of t9o years getting re,laced by F2o0ietone; system. 3o matter 9hat system the theatre chooses> they ha0e relied on am,lifier and s,ea?er horns to deli0er sound to the theatre. !n this ,rocess> Bell 4aboratories and :estern $lectric became a common name in mo0ie business. Besto9ing all these ,rogress> the mo0ie industries did not lea0e ,ursuing better method to define cinema to a ne9 le0el. They 9ere on the loo?out of stereo sound and in the year 16"1> Columbia Studio 9as the first to set such an eDam,le. Alan Blumlein> an $nglishman and an $lectronics $ngineer by ,rofession> started eD,erimenting on stereo sound. He used the conce,t of t9in micro,hone technique to record stereo signal on to a film a,,lying in the same area as it 9as for the standard mono o,tical trac?. 'nfortunately> the eD,eriments 9ere left unfinished 9ith the outbrea? of the :orld :ar and follo9ed by his demise. Ho9e0er> during that time in America> :alt *isney and RCA 9ere ,ursuing similar research for their most notable film F#antasia; and the disco0ery of this ne9 sound method came to be ?no9n as F#antasound;> using o,tical sound to record three trac?s on a se,arate ,iece of film running in sync 9ith the ,icture. A fourth trac? on the sound film 9as de,loyed to gain control for the three sound channels. The F#antasound; became quite ,o,ular as it 9as installed in fourteen theatres. But again the outbrea? of the 9ar marred the ,rogress. The coming of #antasound actually ga0e rise to 0arious im,ortant inno0ations li?e clic? trac?> ,anE,ot> control trac? le0el eD,ansion> dis,ersionEaligned louds,ea?er system 9ith

s?e9edEhorn> o0erdubbing of orchestral ,arts> simultaneous multiEtrac? recording and de0elo,ment of multiEchannel surround system -<ellogg/. Ho9e0er> the fatalities of the 9ar had shunned the gro9th of ne9 in0ention and eDuberance sho9ed by film industries and in0entors. !t 9as after a ,rolonged 9ait of ten years that cinema lo0ers eD,erienced hiEfidelity stereo sound in cinema. The first of its form 9as Cinerama system in0ented by #red :aller and 9as screened at Broad9ay Theatre> 3e9 Yor? in the year 161 . The Cinerama system de,loyed three "1mm ,ro8ectors in sync to create high definition ,icture co0ering 0ie9ers; 9hole field of 0ision. 2oreo0er> it also uses "1mm magnetic film stri, co0ering se0en channels of audio> thus ,ro0iding a surround sound. Though the conce,t of Cinerama did not last for long because of its cost and com,leDity> but it surely defined the ,ath that high quality sound and ,icture is feasible to obtain. Jn the other hand> :arner Brothers 9ere busy finding ne9 dimension in stereo images 9ith the form of "E* -they termed it as 3atural Iision/ and the first film 9ith this ne9 technology 9as FB9ana *e0il;> released in the year 161 . Thus> 9ith the ,rogress of cinematic qualities> the quality of sound enhanced along 9ith it gi0ing rise to *olby *igital sound at later stage. Understanding Sound Production for Film Sound is an integral ,art of a film. :ithout sound> a mo0ie may become boring to many or at times become im,enetrable 9hen the content is com,leD. The early silent cinema lac?ed the use of sound> 9hich e0entually restricted a lot of ,rogress. Ho9e0er> 9ith the due course of time> the in0ention of sound as a ,art of ,icture> re0olutionised the entire scenario. (roduction houses and film directors as 9ell as actors became more confident dealing 9ith com,leD sub8ects and 0ie9ers found it easier to gras, the content com,ared to a silent one. The role of sound in film can be broadly categorised in t9o ma8or rolesK *iegetic and 3onE )

*iegetic. *iegetic sound refers to those sounds in a mo0ie that come from natural sources such as dialogue> sound of footste,s> slamming of doors> etc. The 3onE*iegetic sound> on the other hand> refers to those sounds that are artificial in nature. This means certain ty,e of sound> 9hich is not a0ailable in real life and one has to create that music to define an ambience. To sum u,> follo9ing are different ty,es of sound in film essential to ma?e a mo0ieK 'se of s,eech % !t is referred to dialogue> monologue and o0er 0oice. 'se of music % This refers to the recorded music> bac?ground music etc. 'se of sound effects % This refers mainly to hard or BcutC effects> #oley sound effects> ambience and design sound effects. Use of Speech % The role of s,eech in mo0ies is one of the most fundamental as,ects of modern mo0ie ma?ing. :ithout s,eech> a modern mo0ie may seem unrealistic or audience may fail to gras, the mo0ie content. *ialogues in film are ,rimarily of three ty,esK onEset dialogue> 9ild lines dialogue and synchroni@ed dialogues. The onEset dialogue refers to the dialogue carried during the actual shoot> 9hile 9ild line dialogue refers to the recording of dialogue after shooting> ,ossibly in a similar ambience. The 9ild line dialogues are often used later during sound editing ,rocess because of their better quality. The synchroni@ed dialogues are usually recorded in ,ost,roduction and are aimed for different ,ur,oses -FJa@@ Singer; is the first ,icture to use synchroni@ed recording/. Use of Music: 2usic 9as indeed ,art of the film -se,arate or integrated/ right from 0ery early times. Ho9e0er> the use of music in early days 9as solely for the ,ur,ose to o0ercome the noise of ,ro8ectors or creating an ambience. Ho9e0er> 9ith the ad0ancement in musical technologies 0arious methods are ado,ted to create the bac?ground score for a mo0ie. !t is the

com,oser> sound engineer and sound editor that are res,onsible to define the music. Ho9e0er> the first ,rocess lies in identifying the ty,e of music that goes as ,er the theme. This is ?no9n as s,otting 9here the com,oser goes through the mo0ie to note the areas 9here music should be ,resent and ho9 it 9ill be. The neDt role comes to the music editor as they add the music ,ieces in the ,icture> as and 9here s,ecified. The ard EffectK The hard effect refers to the sounds> 9hich are generic soundsL i.e. the

normal sounds li?e sound of footste,s> o,ening.closing the car gate> chir,ing of birds and so on. These sounds are not ca,tured during shooting and they are miDed by sound editors during editing. The sounds are obtained from soundEeffect libraries and are added to the ,icture as and 9here it fits in. At times> these sound effects are combined to create ne9 sound effects. This is mainly accom,lished by s,eed change> elongating by mechanical electronic loo,ing and ,itch shifting. Fole! EffectsK #oley sound effects refer to the sound effects that are made in studio. They are also ?no9n as #oley Stage. Here> a #oley artist 9atches the ,icture and tries to ,erform in synchronisation 9ith the ,icture. The best eDam,le to illustrate this is the sound effect of footste,s. The #oley recording ,rocess 9as in0ented by Jac? #oley at 'ni0ersal Studio. #oley sound effect is one of the most im,ortant as,ects of mo0ie ma?ing since it gi0es a realistic eD,ression on a film. #oley ,ro,ounded the thought by ,ro8ecting the mo0ie image in a sound stage and recording sounds in synchronisation 9ith the mo0ement of an actor and by using different surfaces and a 9ide range of ,ro,s. Ho9e0er> 9ith modern in0ention> #oley effects are no9 ,erformed 9ith multiEtrac? recorder so that different records can be used to add layers or effects> thereby defining the full effect. The best eDam,le of this sort 9as in the mo0ie B7odfatherC> released in the year 16)& 9here sound engineer :alter 2urch recorded the effects in s,aces> thus du,licating the real s,ace in the scene.

Ambience: Ambience refers to the bac?ground sound in a mo0ie. These sounds are ,resent on the location or set. Ambience consists of more or less continuous sound and it ,lays a ma8or role in the mo0ie. :hen an ambience is ,resent constantly across a ,icture it im,lies continuation of a scene> and 9hen the ambience changes> the audience can reali@e the change of scene. Sometimes ambience is often o0erla,,ed on transition of a certain scene. This is essentially used to create an effect in a sequence. "esign Sound EffectsK This ty,e of sound effects normally doesn;t a,,ear in real life and is im,ossible to record in real life. These sounds are usually used to hold a high emotion in a mo0ie. Jne such eDam,le of sound effects 9as in the first mo0ie of B<ing <ongC in the year 16"". Sound "esign Techni#ue The ,rocess of sound designing in film or tele0ision in0ol0es the follo9ing main ste,sK Recording 2iDing Synchronisation $diting

All the aforesaid ,hases in0ol0e a lot of com,leDity and the sound engineer team should be 9ell acquainted 9ith all the ,rocesses in0ol0ed in the same. The follo9ing section 9ill ,ro0ide a brief o0er0ie9 on each of the aforesaid ste,s. $ecordingK The ,ur,ose of recording is to record the sound that 9ill be used in synch 9ith ,ictures. !t has to be ensured that the quality of recording should be of higher quality> other9ise> final ,roduction may not come out 9ell. The quality of recording is mainly

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de,endent u,on the ty,e of a micro,hone. *irecti0ity of the micro,hone is another ,ertinent ,roblem> 9hich also needs to be ta?en care of. A better directional micro,hone ends u, 9ith higher ratio of direct to diffuseEsound field. (ositioning micro,hone in the shooting is also an im,ortant as,ect and it has to match the camera angle in each shot. Mi%ingK 2iDing refers to sound miDing in ,roduction and that in0ol0es recording> micro,hone and synchronisation. All these factors directly im,act the editing. Thus> miDing is a ,rocedure to dynamically mani,ulate the le0el controls of the micro,hones during recording ,rocedure and ,roducing the desired sound. S!nchronisationK The ,rocess of synchronisation refers to t9o ma8or ,artsK A ,rocess that enables to ?ee, the sound and mo0ie at the same ,hase and moreo0er> allo9 synchronous mo0ementL The second ,rocess in0ol0es recording of dialogue and sound effects in a studioL

EditingK This is actually the final ste, 9here all the recorded results get the final miD of the mo0ie. *uring this stage all the sounds that 9ere recorded are combined together to ,roduce the final soundtrac?. The sound editor in this section mani,ulates the recorded sound 9ith 0arious ty,es of cuts and transitions. The cuts used in sound editing are either 0ertical or diagonal in nature. Iertical cut im,lies the ,rocess 9hen the audio 9a0e forms are cut off and are used in a situation 9here sound am,litude is at le0el @ero. *iagonal cuts> on the other hand> use crossfade time of one ,erforation on the film trac?s> 9hich is about 1+ms and are used in the situation during smooth transition. Sound Editing in "etails !n order to understand sound editing ,rocedurein detail> 9e first ha0e to identify 0arious stages that are in0ol0ed in creating a soundtrac?. The reason the sound editing ,rocess falls in

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the middle of ,icture editing ,rocess and sound miDing. The initial source sound and media are edited 9hat 9e refer as cut units or elements -9idely ?no9n as trac?s/. #ollo9ing are the issues that affect 9hen the sound is ,lacedK The first factor lies in arranging the sounds that in0ol0e the recording ,rocess. This means grou,ing all the sounds li?e dialog> music and sound effects. ',on grou,ing> sounds are further categori@ed in 0arious le0els as ,er the detail. The sounds are then assigned to the indi0idual trac?s for editing. Here in this section> the ,rimary as,ect is to ,ut the trac?s for miDing. Care should be ta?en not to cut the sounds on too many trac?s since that ,oses a ,roblem to the miDer> as they ha0e to ad8ust the changes on e0ery cut. The sound editor thus cuts the trac? ,ro,erly to ma?e it much easier for the recording miDer> ,re,aring the cue sheets and further transferring the trac?s to a s,ecific medium of choice and moreo0er> cue sheets to enable the first stage of miDing. The units are further miDed into ,remiDes -also ?no9n as ,redubs/. Ho9e0er> it is im,ortant to note that during the ,remiD ,rocess the ideal solution is to ma?e one ,remiD at a time. All these ,remiDes are further combined together to create the final miD -Holman/. The final miD is further di0ided into miD stems such as dialog> music and sound effects and each of them are multichannel. This essentially reflects the direction such as left> centre> right> left surround and right surround. The final ,rocess then in0ol0es combining as many trac?s as ,ossible to finally arri0e to a deser0ing number containing all the sounds that are required> minimi@ing the number of trac?s to retain sim,licity and ensuring to ?ee, the ,arts se,arately that are needed later. This ,rocess is also referred as (rint 2asters. <ee,ing the

trac?s in se,aration is one crucial as,ect since there are changes that can be incor,orated do9nEtheEline. #or instance> u,on com,letion of the miDing> the director intends to change some ,arts and this is only ,ossible in an easier fashion 9hen the trac?s are ?e,t se,arate. Ho9e0er> at the end of miD the sound engineer de0elo,s series of ,rint masters such asK 1.1Echannel $nglishElanguage digital stereo masterL Echannel $nglishElanguage 4T RT matriDed stereo masterL 1.1Echannel 2M$L Echannel 2M$L -Holman 11&/

!n conclusion> follo9ing are the editing ty,e that essentially goes on in mo0ie ma?ingK Jriginal source recording or library effectL Cut units> also called elements or trac?sL #inal miD> com,osed of miD stems such as dialog> music> and effectsL (rint mastersL J,tical soundtrac? negati0eL (rints. -Holman 111/

Sound paradigms for film production &Analog ' "igital( There are t9o ty,ical 9ays to re,resent sound as audio. They areK Analog and *igital form. Though digital technique is much more ,referred in the current times> still there are areas 9here analog is still considered in use. Ho9e0er> to ,ro0ide a clear cut conce,tion on the same> let us define both the instances.

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Analog $ecording: The analog method 9as first in0ented by Thomas $dison in the year 15)). He used a sim,le mechanism to store the analog 9a0e in a mechanical 9ay. As in the original ,honogra,h of $dison> he used the conce,t by using a dia,hragm that directly controled the needle and 9ith it the needle scratched the analog signal on a tin foil cylinder. The needle is the ,rimary thing as it is an analog 9a0e that signifies 0ibration generated in 0oice. 7ramo,hone is a ty,ical eDam,le of the analog method. "igital $ecordingK The digital recording is 9hat 9e hear on C* -Com,act *isc/ 9here the ,rimary goal is to create hiEfidelity recording and aim at ,erfect re,roduction of sound. !n order to accom,lish the same> the digital recording con0erts the analog 9a0e in the form of numbers and records those numbers instead of recording the 9a0e. This is referred as analogE toEdigital con0erter. 3o9 9hen music is ,layed> the series of numbers are con0erted to analog 9a0es by digitalEtoEanalog con0erter. This 9a0e is further am,lified and goes to the s,ea?er to create the sound. Both the sound system -analog and digital/ ha0e their ad0antages and disad0antages. #ollo9ing is a table that ma?es a critical com,arison bet9een both formsK Ad)antages and "isad)antages of Analog Sound Ad)antages Analog recording can be stored directl! once recording is performed Produces )er! natural sound The ta,es that are used to store are eD,ensi0e and moreo0er they are 0ulnerable of damage *etter audio band+idth ,imitations in editing do not allo+ constant tin-ering and audio change Analog ta,es are 0ery hard to get these days !t uses linear format 9hich means the ta,e must 9ind.re9ind in order to hear the recording "isad)antages Contains a lot of noise.hiss and distortion

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Audio editing is quite a difficult ,rocedure The ,rocess to synchronise is quite a daunting tas? in analog mode Co,ying the sound reduces the quality

Ad)antages and "isad)antages of "igital Sound Ad)antages Produces better sound on an ine%pensi)e e#uipment Contains less noise'less or distortion In)ol)es non.linear operation *ata corru,tion !t is necessary to archi0e data 9hen the dri0e becomes full Eas! to access the recording from an! of its part #uite easil! There are )ast range of editing tools a)ailable +ith digital recording Eas! to cop! data +ithout losing #ualit! The output files can be transferred o)er computer net+or-s The files can be easil! integrated into other applications li-e +ebsite/ "0"/ games etc1 The range of formats and recording systems are confusing at times (oor multiEuser interface "isad)antages 4oss of data if the storage de0ice fails

Sound recording de)ices and functions There are fe9 ty,es of micro,hones that are used in sound recording for film and 0ideo ,roduction. Jf all of them> condenser micro,hone is used eDtensi0ely. They are in nature quite sensiti0e and moreo0er an eD,ensi0e tool. The condenser micro,hone uses ca,acitor circuit to generate electricity from sound and they do need ,o9er su,,ly for o,eration. The 11

,o9er can be obtained from battery located at the micro,hone case> at the cable or at the recorder itself. The electric condenser micro,hones> on the other hand> ,ossess ,ermanent electric ca,acitor. They are chea,er com,ared to the condenser micro,hone and do not need ,o9er su,,ly. Another ty,e of the micro,hone> a dynamic or mo0ingEcoil micro,hone> is used mainly in musical concerts. They are far sim,ler and less sensiti0e com,ared to condenser micro,hones. They are e0en designed for rough use and are quite ca,able to handle noise. 2oreo0er> it does not require any s,ecial ,o9er su,,ly or batteries for o,eration. $0ery micro,hone in use 0aries 9ith the ,ic?u, ,attern 9hich means direction configuration in s,ace and sensiti0ity to sound. They are mainly referred asK Jmnidirectional micro,hone Cardioid micro,hone Bidirectional micro,hone

The omnidirectional micro,hones can res,ond to the sounds from any direction> 9hile the cardioid micro,hone sho9s more sensiti0ity to sounds and the direction. The cardioid micro,hone sho9s less sensiti0ity to sounds 9hen it comes from the side sho9s least sensiti0ity to sound 9hen it comes from behind. Hy,erEcardioid micro,hones are also less sensiti0e to sounds coming from side and behind. The su,erEcardioid micro,hones> on the other hand> sho9 eDtreme insensiti0ity to any sounds eDce,t the one coming from front. Bidirectional micro,hones are mainly used in cases 9hen t9o ,eo,le are con0ersing and the micro,hone is usually ,laced bet9een them. Boundary micro,hones> also referred as (ressure None 2icro,hones> are used in cases 9hen one intends to record con0ersation or action from a grou, of ,eo,le. Since the micro,hone 1G

can;t be ,laced bet9een the ,eo,le> the same is mounted on a flat ,late or any flat surface and they may ,ossess hemis,herical ,ic?u, ,attern. Another form of the micro,hone that is used in film and tele0ision is a boom micro,hone. !t is a directional micro,hone that is attached or mounted to a ,ole or an arm. The boom micro,hone is also used to record con0ersation of multi,le ,eo,le li?e boundary micro,hones. The boom micro,hone is often attached to a stand to hold the same aloft in order to record a con0ersation. The stic? is ,o,ularly ?no9n as fish ,ole on a mo0ie set. Ho9e0er> the main dra9bac? of the boom micro,hone is that it ,ic?s u, 0ibrations -li?e holding the micro,hone 9ith hand sha?ing/ that may deter the recorded audio quality. !n order to ,re0ent the same isolating mechanism li?e elastic sus,ensions or foam ,addings> they are mainly used 9ith the micro,hone. The designation of the boom o,erator is associated to those ,ersonnel that o,erate the said micro,hone on a mo0ie shoot. The 4a0alier micro,hone -also called 4a,el 2icro,hone/ is a small micro,hone> 9hich 9e ha0e often see on tele0ision. These micro,hones are attached as a cli, to the ,erson in con0ersation. They are also used 9ith a 9ireless transmitter or can e0en be connected to the recorder 0ia cable. 4a0alier micro,hones are 0ery con0enient to use e0en during absence of a sound recordist. Since they are ,laced closely to the sub8ect> the micro,hone catches less distortion or bac?ground noise> thus offering clear recording -Herring/. Understanding S1M1P1T1E Timecode S.2.T.(.$ stands for Society of 2otion (ictures Tele0ision $ngineers. They ha0e de0ised a cloc? that 9as first used in tele0ision in order to synchroni@e a 0ideo ta,e machine for the ,ur,ose of editing. These days S.2.T.(.$ is used for 0arious synchroni@ation ,ur,oses including audio> 2!*!> film or 0ideo. S.2.T.(.$ dis,lay is designed to read time from left to right. The format loo?s li?e ++.++.++.++.++ in the format of + hours> + minutes> + seconds> +

1)

frames and + subEframes. :hen com,aring S.2.T.(.$ trac?s on t9o indi0idual machines> a synchroni@er can loc? or synchroni@e t9o machines. This ,rocedure is mainly used forK $diting 0ideo ta,es 4oc?ing t9o audio de0ice for more trac?s 4oc?ing audio and 0ideo de0ices for the ,ur,ose of s9eeting

2TSC and PA, format 3TSC and (A4 are standard 0ideo formats that are used in countries around the 9orld. The 3TSC -3ational Tele0ision Standards Committee/ format is used in the 'nited States> Canada and many countries in 3orth and South America> 9hile on the other hand> (A4 -(hase Alternating 4ine/ format is used in $uro,e> Australia and ,arts of Asia. The main distinction in these t9o formats is 9ith the dis,lay ty,e. 3TSC is designated to dis,lay 0ideo at "+f,s 9hereas (A4 ,ro0ides 1f,s. Sound St!le for Film $0ery film uses certain artistry to create a film and if the technicalities are used in a unified> de0elo,ed and significant 9ay> it is referred as style -Bord9ell 1&&/. #inding the right style is to find differences 9ith regard to the technique;s choice. Style is mainly the audioE0isual language that a filmma?er eDercises in res,ect to audience. The film style can be bro?en in four broad categoriesK 2iseEenEsc=ne> Cinematogra,hy> $diting and Sound. Jf all the film styles> sound in these days is one of the most im,ortant as,ects> as e0ery filmma?er aims to create the sound 9ith a conscious a,,roach. #urthermore> style analysis

15

aims at categorising films on the basis of style. 7enre> a director> cultural differences> and a sound director ,lay a ma8or role in defining style in a film. Science #iction and Horror films ha0e de0elo,ed ne9 sound styles and are considered as ,art of the genre. !n case of a film> 9hich in0ol0es original music score> the music com,oser ,lays huge role to define the style ,attern of the film. Sound and Film 2arrati)e Ps!chological sense of time and space A film does not ha0e any grammar. Ho9e0er> it uses some 0aguely defined rules used in mo0ie ma?ing in order to define a systematic relationshi, among entities. But still> there is nothing fiDed about film syntaD. Just li?e the de0elo,ment of syntaD in 9ritten or s,o?en language> film syntaD can be considered as an organic de0elo,ment. They are descri,ti0e and ha0e changed 9ith the course of time. !n 9ritten or s,o?en language syntaD deals 9ith linear as,ect of construction> 9hich means the 9ay the 9ords are ,ut together in chains to form ,hrases and sentences. Similarly> in cinema 9e find this conce,t referred as syntagmatic category. So> film syntaD includes de0elo,ment of both time and s,ace. !n the field of film criticism> the modification of s,ace is referred as B2iseEenEsc=neC meaning B,utting in the sceneC. The modification of time> on the other hand> is referred as B2ontageC means B,utting togetherC -2onaco 1) /. Jne of the most 0ital as,ects of editing is that the 8uDta,osition of a grou, shot ,ro0ided a clear meaning. The mo0ement of these shots also suggests an idea and 9hen the cuta9ay or random shot are edited> it totally gi0es a ne9 idea. An eDam,le to illustrate the same 9ould be to highlight the film B:inter 4ightC by !ngmar Bergman. The mo0ie de,icts a confused minister ser0ing a small ,arish in one 0illage. A man 9ho 0isits the church has lost faith and thin?s of a suicide. Jn the other hand> the local 16

0illagers 9ho 0isit the church try to connect 9ith the minister but unable to do so. !ngmar Bergman here uses 8uDta,osition to illustrate the mind of the minister. A ,arishioner 9ho 9as regular in the church sho9ed her inclination to9ards the minister. To eD,lain her feeling> she left a letter. The minister reads the letter> 9hich says about her inclination to9ards him. Here> Bergman deliberately cut from his reading the letter in midshot confessing her feelings. By cutting it to the second shot Bergman directly shifted the mood from the minister;s dis,assion to the girl;s ,assion. This ,rocess actually altered the meaning of one shot 9hen it mo0ed onto another sequence. Here the shot does not sho9 continuity but this factor totally altered the meaning of the mo0ie -*ancyger/. Silence and impact ' meaning in film $arlier cinemas 9ere silent in nature and 9ith the ,rogress of time sound got incor,orated 9ith mo0ing images gi0ing more meaning to the audience. The use of dialog> sound effects hel,ed to create a theme understandable to the audience. !n today;s time a mo0ie 9ithout sound is sim,ly not an acce,table 0ie9,oint albeit one or t9o mo0ies as eDce,tion -4i?e FThe Artist; in +11/. Ho9e0er> in modern films> silence is rather used as a medium to de,ict certain sequence or to de0elo, a ,sychological as,ect> 9hich does create a dee, im,act among film lo0ers. Tal?ing about the use of silence in mo0ies along 9ith sound> let us try to define the same 9ith an eDam,le. The best o,tion 9ould be to eD,lain A?ira <urosa9a;s FThrone of Blood; 9here the use of silence and sound ga0e a strong im,ression to the audience. The mysterious silence in the first ,art of the mo0ie 9here it sho9s t9o 9arriors returning to the ?ingdom crossing the im,enetrable 8ungle created a strange eerie silence that suddenly bro?e out 9ith the shrill cry of a ra0en. $0en during the murder scene <urosa9a s?ilfully uses silence to define a dramatic ,art in the mo0ie -Jin/.

Sound Effect on Film 3enre The effect of sound and its use in different genres has come a long 9ay 9ith the ad0ancement in sound technologies. :ith the arri0al of magnetic re,roduction and *olby> there are 0arious factors behind the definition of ambient sound effects. Some of them areK The use of larger frequency range has gi0en more fla0our to the sound. The sound is used to build the atmos,here in sync 9ith the image on screen 9ith s,ace and time. 3e9 synthetic sounds ha0e been generated gi0ing a com,letely stimulating fantasy sound. The ambient sound and sound effects in stereo ga0e more fla0our to the offEscreen ,hase. :ith the aid of ne9 technology it is no9 ,ossible to create more realistic sound. The sound effects and ambient sound in stereo also enable the s,atial orientation among the audience. The horror films are usually accom,anied 9ith high 0olumes in order to sur,rise the audience. #or instance> in BJa9sC a sudden high note is ,layed 9hen the di0er sa9 the face of a man under 9ater> at the bottom of the boat. Similarly> in most cases a 0iolent scene is accom,anied through high 0olume. Arthur (enn;s BBonnie and ClydeC and Sam (ec?in,ah;s BThe :ild BunchC are t9o good eDam,les of this sort. 'sing sound in slo9Emotion is also another interesting effect to define an ambience. !n the mo0ie BThe 4ong RidersC by :alter Hill> there 9as a shooting scene at the end 9here the music 9as ,layed at slo9 motion. The slo9 tem,o of the music brings 0ie9ers closer to the scene> as they can feel the ,ain that ha,,ens 9hen the bullet ri,s through the muscle. 1

!n case of natural sound effects it is not all the time that the naturally recorded sounds are used to de,ict a situation> es,ecially a fight li?e in 2artin Scorsese;s BRaging BullC. The ,unching sound from the boD 9as recorded later in the studio to gi0e a real feel -I. 4oBrutto "G/. Another ,rocess is to create synthetic sound 9ith the im,lication of emotion. !t is the ,rocess of creating sound> 9hich has strong connection 9ith reality that audience can connect 9ith. A good eDam,le 9ould be BThe Star :arsC mo0ie 9here 7eorge 4ucas used the same formula to create the sound effect. Sometimes> sounds are created to define ne9 surroundings. #or instance> in the mo0ie BThe Hunt for Red JctoberC> three submarines 9ere there out of 9hich t9o 9ere ne9 and one old. Both ne9 and old submarines 9ill ob0iously create different sounds and in order to bring the correct ambience> ,ro,er sound 9as defined so as to gi0e an audience a real feel -I. 4oBrutto 161/. Sounds are also designed to change a character. #or instance> in the film BA,ocaly,se 3o9C by #rancis #ord Co,,ola> the first scene is 9here the ,rotagonist is loo?ing out from the hotel 9indo9 to the busy street 9ith traffic snarls> contem,lating the 8ungle 9here he s,ent a lot of time during the 9ar in Iietnam. He is tired> confined in a room and gradually all the surrounding sounds changed to 8ungle sounds. As the ,olice entered to loo? for him and ble9 his 9histle> the same transformed to the sound of cric?et> the car horns turned the sound chir,ing birds and the fly into a mosquito. As he loo?ed u, at the fan in ceiling the same transformed into the sound of helico,ter thus gi0ing the audience a hint on the neDt mo0e -4oBrutto 6 E6"/. Sounds are often used to de,ict an internal story. #or instance> in the mo0ie BJn the :aterfrontC by $lia <a@an> he used the sound of the 9aterfront to de,ict a high emotional

scene bet9een t9o ,rotagonists -Terry and $die/. As Terry 9al?ed to9ards her belo0ed $die to let her ?no9 that he 9as also in0ol0ed in the murder ,lot of her brother> the bac?ground hammering of a ,ile dri0e goes louder and intense to de,ict Terry;s feeling. Just 9hen Terry 9as su,,osed to tell the e0ent> one hears the shrie? of steam 9histle> 9hich e0entually fades the con0ersation. The shrill sound de,icts the mind of $ddie as in disbelief and she reali@es the truth -Boggs /.

Sound is also used to create s,atial orientation. The mo0ie B#ifth $lementC by 4uc Besson de,icts the ,rotagonist as a taDi dri0er in a science fiction city. The taDi is sho9n mo0ing in three dimensions amidst tall houses that stand close. Throughout the mo0ie> in many scenes the ,rotagonist 9as seen getting chased and dri0ing a9ay quic?ly ma?ing shar, turns. This became ,ossible 9ith the use of THO effect to retain the orientation. Conclusion 4oo?ing bac? at the older days 9hen a mo0ie release 9as a big cra@e> the situation has changed a lot these days. :ith so many mo0ies getting released in a year and 9hen e0ery one of them has achie0ed the highest technological standard> it is e0ident of the fact that the idea of mo0ie ma?ing has ta?en a ne9 dimension. The coming of "* films> 9hich again changed the eD,erience of mo0ie goers 9ill continue its gro9th. 2oreo0er> the technology does not only limit us to "*> as ne9 ideas may arri0e 9hich may lea0e "* behind. But the basic conce,t of mo0ie ma?ing 9ill al9ays remain the same. The ne9er technology for editing also eased the ,roduction ,rocess and further ne9 endea0ours to create more userEfriendly a,,lications are on the run. J0erall> the mo0ie industry is booming and one can eD,ect ne9 dimension of mo0ie ma?ing do9nEtheEline -?ee,ing the basic constant/.

"

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