Part 5: Sound

Section I – Sound Editing

Sound in the cinema does not necessarily match the image, nor does it have to be continuous.
The sound bridge is used to ease the transition between shots in the continuity style. Sound can
also be used to reintroduce events from earlier in the diegesis. Especially since the introduction
of magnetic tape recording after WWII, the possibilities of sound manipulation and layering have
increased tremendously. Directors such as Robert Altman are famous for their complex use of
the soundtrack, layering multiple voices and sound effects in a sort of “sonic deep focus.” In this
clip from Nashville (1975), we simultaneously hear a conversation between an English reporter
and her guide, a gospel choir singing, and the sound engineers’ chatter.

SOUND BRIDGE

Sound bridges can lead in or out of a scene. They can occur at the beginning of one scene when
the sound from the previous scene carries over briefly before the sound from the new scene
begins. Alternatively, they can occur at the end of a scene, when the sound from the next scene is
heard before the image appears on the screen. Sound bridges are one of the most common
transitions in the continuity editing style, one that stresses the connection between both scenes
since their mood (suggested by the music) is still the same. But sound bridges can also be used
quite creatively, as in this clip from Yi Yi (Taiwan, 2000). Director Edward Yang uses a sound
bridge both to play with our expectations. The clip begins with a high angle shot of a couple
arguing under a highway. A piano starts playing and the scene cuts into a house interior, where a
pregnant woman is looking at some cd’s…

…finally, the camera pans to reveal a young girl (previously offscreen) playing the piano. It is
only then that we realize the music is diegetic, and that the young girl was looking at the window
at her best friend and her boyfriend. The romantic melody she plays as she realizes they are
breaking up in turn introduces a now possible future relationship for her — which eventually
happens, as she starts dating her best friend’s ex-boyfriend later in the film.

SONIC FLASHBACK

Sound from one diegetic time is heard over images from a later time. In this example from
Kurosawa’s No Regrets for Our Youth (Waga seishun ni kui nashi, Japan, 1946), the heroine
Yukie hears the voices of her dead father and executed husband, voicing the aspirations that
sustain her continuing struggle.

Sonic flashback often carries this kind of moral or emotional overtone, making a character’s
motivation explicit.

Section 2 – Source
Most basically, this category refers to the place of a sound in relation to the frame and to the
world of the film. A sound can be onscreen or offscreen, diegetic or nondiegetic (including voice
over), it can be recorded separately from the image or at the moment of filming. Sound source
depends on numerous technical, economic, and aesthetic considerations, each of which can affect
the final significance of a film.

DIEGETIC/NON-DIEGETIC SOUND

Any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented as originating froma source within the
film’s world is diegetic. If it originates outside the film (as most background music) then it is
non-diegetic.

A further distinction can be made between external and internal diegetic sound. In the first clip
from Almodóvar’s Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al Borde de un
Ataque de Nervios, 1988) we hear Iván speaking into the microphone as he works on the Spanish
dubbing of Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954). Since he is speaking out loud and any other
character could hear him, this is an example of external diegetic sound. This clip has no non-
diegetic sounds other than the brief keyboard chord that introduces the scene.

Sound and diegesis gets more complicated in the next clip, from Dario Argento’s The Stendhal
Syndrome (La Sindrome di Stendhal, Italy, 1996). As Anna looks at Paolo Uccello’s famous
painting of the Battle of San Romano(c1435), we begin to hear the sounds of the battle: horses
whimpering, weapons clashing, etc. These sounds exist only in Anna’s troubled mind, which is
highly sensitive to works of art. These are internal diegetic sounds (inside of a character’s mind)
that no one else in the gallery can hear.

On the other hand, the Ennio Morricone eerie score that sets up the scene and mixes with the
battle sounds, is a common example of non-diegetic sound, sounds that only the spectators can
hear. (Obviously, no boom-box blasting tourist is allowed into the Uffizi’s gallery!)

DIRECT SOUND

When using direct sound, the music, noise, and speech of the profilmic event at the moment of
filming is recorded in the film. This is the opposite of postsynchronization in which the sound is
dubbed on top of an existing, silent image. Studio systems use multiple microphones to record
directly and with the utmost clarity. On the other hand, some national cinemas, notably Italy,
India and Japan, have avoided direct sound at some stage in their histories and dubbed the
dialogues to the film after the shooting. But direct sound can also mean something other than the
clearly defined synchronized sound of Hollywood films — the Cinéma verité, third world
filmmaking and other documentarist, improvisatory and realist styles that also record sound
directly but with an elementary microphone set-up, as in Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry
(Ta’m e Guilass, Iran, 1997).
The result maintains the immediacy of direct sound at the expense of clarity. Furthermore,
incidental sounds (street noise, etc) are not mixed down, but left “as it is”. Impression and mood
are favored over precision: not every word can be made out. The final sonic picture is blurred
and harder to understand, but arguably closer to what we perceive in real life.

NONSIMULTANEOUS SOUND

Diegetic sound that comes from a source in time either earlier or later than the images it
accompanies. In this clip from Almodóvar’s Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown
(Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios, Spain, 1988) Pepa adds the female voice to the
dubbing of Johnny Guitar, the male voice having previously been recorded by Pepa’s ex-lover
Ivan. (You can see Ivan’s dubbing here)

While Pepa’s voice is diagetic and simultaneous, Ivan’s voice is also diegetic, and yet it is
nonsimultaneous, since it comes from a previous moment in the film. Almodóvar uses
nonsimultaneous sound to establish a conversation that should have taken place but never did
(Ivan is not returning Pepa’s calls and she is becoming desperate) when, with a perverse
melodramatic twist, he has the jilted lovers repeating the words of another couple of cinematic
jilted lovers. As in this example, nonsimultaneous sound is often used to suggest recurrent
obsessions and other hallucinatory states.

OFFSCREEN SOUND

Simultaneous sound from a source assumed to be in the space of the scene but outside what is
visible onscreen. In Life on Earth (La Vie sur Terre, Abderrahmane Sissako, 1998) a telephone
operator tries to help a woman getting a call trough. While he tries to establish a connection, the
camera examines the office and the other people present in the scene. Yet, even if the operator
and the woman are now offscreen, their centrality to the scene is alway tangible through sounds
(dialing, talking, etc).

Of course, a film may use offscreen sound to play with our assumptions. In this clip from Women
On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios, Pedro
Almodóvar, 1988), we hear a woman and a man’s voices in conversation, in what it looks like a
film production studio. Even if we do not see the speakers, we instantly believe they must be
around. Gradually, the camera shows us that we are in a dubbing studio, and only the woman is
present, the man’s voice being previously recorded. Moreover, theirs is not a real conversation
but lines from a movie dialogue.

POSTSYNCHRONIZATION DUBBING

The process of adding sound to images after they have been shot and assembled. This can
include dubbing of voices, as well as inserting diegetic music or sound effects. It is the opposite
of direct sound. It is not, however, the opposite of synchronous sound, since sound and image are
also matched here, even if at a later stage in the editing process. Compare the French dubbed, or
post-synchronized, version of Mission: Impossible 2 (John Woo, 2000), with the sychronized
original.

You can hear the original English version here.

SOUND PERSPECTIVE

The sense of a sound’s position in space, yielded by volume, timbre, pitch, and, in stereophonic
reproduction systems, binaural information. Used to create a more realistic sense of space, with
events happening (that is, coming from) closer or further away. Listen closely to this clip from
The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942) as the woman goes through her door and
comes back.

As soon as she closes the door her voice sounds muffled and distant (she is walking away), then
grows clearer (she is coming back), then at full volume again, as she comes out. We can also
hear hushing remarks that gives us a sense of the absent presence of a whole web of family
members in the house. The stronger the voice, the closer his/ her room. Sound perspective,
combined with offscreen space, also gives us clues as to who (and most importantly, where) is
present in a scene. Welles’ use of sound in this scene is unusual since Classical Hollywood
Cinema generally sacrifices sound perspective to narrative comprehensibility.

SYNCHRONOUS SOUND

Sound that is matched temporally with the movements occuring in the images, as when dialogue
corresponds to lip movements. The norm for Hollywood films is to synchronize sound and image
at the moment of shooting; others national cinemas do it later (see direct sound,
postsyncronization) Compare the original English version of Mission: Impossible 2 (John Woo,
2000),

with the French dubbed version.

VOICE OVER

When a voice, often that of a character in the film, is heard while we see an image of a space and
time in which that character is not actually speaking. The voice over is often used to give a sense
of a character’s subjectivity or to narrate an event told in flashback. It is overwhelmingly
associated with genres such as film noir, and its obsessesive characters with a dark past. It also
features prominently in most films dealing with autobiography, nostalgia, and literary adaptation.
In the title sequence from The Ice Storm (1997) Ang Lee uses voice over to situate the plot in
time and to introduce the subject matter (i.e., the American family in the 1970s), while also
giving an indication of his main character’s ideas and general culture.

While a very common and useful device, voice over is an often abused technique. Over
dependance on voice over to vent a character’s thoughts can be interpreted as a telling signal of a
director’s lack of creativity –or a training on literature and theater, rather than visual arts. But
voice over can also be used in non literal or ironic ways, as when the words a character speaks do
not seem to match the actions he/she performs. Some avant garde films, for instance, make
purposely disconcerting uses of voice over narration.

Section 3 – Quality
Much like quality of the image, the aural properties of a sound — its timbre, volume, reverb,
sustain, etc. — have a major effect on a film’s aesthetic. A film can register the space in which a
sound is produced (its sound signature) or it can be otherwise manipulated for dramatic purposes.
The recording of Orson Welles’ voice at the end of Touch of Evil (1958) adds a menacing reverb
to his confession.
The mediation of Abbas Kiarostami’s voice through the walkie-talkie and the video quality of
the image in the coda of Taste of Cherry (Ta’m e Guilass, Iran, 1997) underscore the reflexivity
that is characteristic of his films.

The Power of Sound and Editing (The Conversation

and Psycho)
Posted November 17, 2009 by Wael Khairy in Film Analysis, Film Theory. 21 Comments

Gene Hackman in The Conversation

When most people think about movies, they usually judge them in terms of acting and directing,
rarely does a person judge its editing or sound mixing. The reason for that being is because most
editors and sound editors do all they can to make their editing as smooth as possible for the
audience. When editing and sound mixing is used correctly there’s a certain flow that’s required
in a good movie, the movie seems to fit better, and the truth is without editing and sound mixing
most great movies wouldn’t be nearly as good as they are regarded. The 1974 Francis Ford
Coppola thriller The Conversation and the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock horror movie Psycho are
perfect examples of movies largely depending on the process and technique of editing and sound
mixing. Each of those movies can be seen as perfect examples where the editing and sound
mixing were used to perfection.
Storyboard Image of the Shower Scene

In terms of editing a movie, there’s mostly the basic idea of joining shots to give the sense of
continuity in terms of time, space, graphics, and rhythm. In terms of sound mixing, there’s the
basic idea of fidelity, the extraction of sound such as off screen sound, and of course the addition
of sound to a particular scene. However, there’s also the connection between those two aspects
or techniques. With precise editing, there’s always a fascinating interplay of sound and image.
Editing is so much more than just the joining of shots; it requires instinct, accuracy, and precise
use of shots in terms of their relation to one another. After Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic
Psycho, the editing was probably revolutionized because of the use of various forms of editing in
that particular movie. In terms of rhythm, the movie uses the movement in time very efficiently.
For example, it is clear that the movie starts one afternoon, as we are transformed from outside
the window of an apartment into the apartment using smart editing. However, when Leigh leaves
the room, we realize that it’s still that same day. She goes to work, collects some money that
she’s supposed to put into the bank and goes back home. All that happens in one particular
afternoon, and when she decides to run away with the money, the editing in terms of rhythm
becomes more and more interesting. Hitchcock uses a close up of the main character, Marion
Crane, as she drives away from her hometown. The shot shows her face, part of the steering
wheel, and the background, which includes the sky. The shots of course changes from that
particular close up shot to what might be regarded as an eye-line matching shot, in which we as
the audience see the highway in front of the character. The audience begins to notice that the
bright sky turn darker and darker, and eventually it starts to rain and Marion pulls over to sleep it
off. The first quarter of the movie takes place in one day, which gives the movie a very
interesting flow, and movement of time. The following shot involves Marion waking up the next
morning after spending the night sleeping in her car. Again, the viewer knows that it’s the next
day, and for the next twenty minutes or so, we stay within that time frame (she goes changes her
car, and by night pulls over to the Bates Motel). George Tomasini, the editor of the movie also
uses editing in terms of time very precisely. For example, the scene in which the private
detective, Arbigast starts checking different hotels for any information on a missing Marion. The
scene shows Arbigast in different hotels in various shots, which gives us the sense that time has
passed, and that he checked those hotels in a period of time.

Tomasini also uses the relation between shots quite creepily in terms of graphics. By showing
shots of stuffed birds, he puts the viewer in an uncomfortable mood. The last type of relation
between shots can be seen as Tomasini uses space. When Marion’s sister, looks outside of the
Bates house and sees Norman running towards her from the Bates Motel. Space is all that was
needed to keep us on the edge of our seats. Psycho is a landmark in terms of editing for the very
reason that it uses a large variety of editing in less than 120 minutes.

The Shower Scene

Another element that most viewers aren’t aware of is the process of sound mixing. Most people
think there’s nothing to sound that requires talent, accuracy, and time, yet the truth is without
proper sound editing and mixing, movies wouldn’t be at the place they are today. Elements such
as overlapping dialogue, manipulating volume, using silence, extracting and adding sounds, and
off screen sounds are just a few of the procedures and aspects that the sound editor has to have in
mind. In Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, the subject of sound is the main focus of the
plot. The idea of having the ability to record any conversation between two individuals without
them notice it is terrifying, yet very interesting. There’s one particular scene in the movie that
was and still is very fascinating to watch. It’s when Harry Caul played by Gene Hackman tries to
record a conversation between two characters in the middle of a crowd. In order to find out what
they are saying, he extracts overlapping conversations, on-location sound, and abstract noise; at
the end Harry Caul ends up with the line “He’d kill us if he got the chance.” That particular
scene has got to be one of the most revolutionary scenes in film history in terms of sound
mixing. The way the main character plays with all kinds of overlapping sounds, makes the
viewer wonder if this is the same case when it comes to filming a movie. The sound editor
probably uses very similar equipment and methods as those of Harry Caul, which is why the
main characters voices are often heard more clearly than that of a train, equipment, or any extras
acting on set. There’s also a very interesting connection between editing and sound.

In order to edit certain scenes properly one has to have the element of sound in mind. In
probably one of the most famous, and well edited scenes in all of cinema, also known as the
shower scene in Psycho, the use of both editing and sound to create a realistic and horrific scene
is very detailed, carefully thought out, and perfect. In less than one minute, we witness a
combination of at least 50 shots, in relation to the sound of a knife slashing against skin.
However, what’s even more interesting is the fact that we never actually see the knife enter the
woman’s flesh, yet we’re convince we do through the sight of stabbing (hand motion), sound
effects, the musical score, and of course the careful editing. While most people think that the
director and the actors do most of the work, one has to know that the editor, sound mixer, and
composer have a lot to do with why the movie turned out the way it did. Therefore they deserve a
lot more acknowledgment and credit for their work. The job of the editor is to take scenes and fit
them together, and just like a puzzle, they have to fit together perfectly. In addition to that the
sound effects, off screen sounds, overlapping dialogue, and every other aspect relating to sound
is taken care of by the sound editor to assure a realistic and smooth feel to the movie. On top of
all that we have the musical score of the movie which most probably serves as the flow of the
movie. In order to turn out with a great movie, one has to make all three of those techniques
work well together without the audience noticing. Both The Conversation and Psycho have done
so, which is probably why both of those films are studied worldwide by film students and
professors.