Essentially, sound helps to establish the diegesis to audiences.
Diegesis - in the world of the narrative (to remember this term, it helps to realise that diegesis is Ancient Greek for narrative)
The use of atmospheric sounds such as beeping cars and police sirens for a city scene are a good example of establishing a compelling diegesis. We as an audience instantly have assumptions about what sort of place the text is set in. In fact, a detailed soundscape can be just as important in setting the scene as an establishing shot! Atmospheric sounds or atmos can be accompanied by a range of sound effects and dialogue. Everything that is part of the diegesis is called diegetic sound.
Diegetic sound – “sound in the world of the narrative”
Most of the sounds you hear in a film or TV programme are likely to be diegetic. Dialogue, birdsong, gunshots, bleeping... all of this is part of the diegesis that the text is establishing. A good way of working out if the sound is diegetic is asking the question "can the characters in the scene hear this?" If the answer is 'yes', then the sound is probably diegetic.
Non diegetic sound – “sound that exists outside the world of the narrative”
Non diegetic sound is sound that the characters within the narrative cannot hear, but we as the audience can. The most common example of non diegetic sound is the score (music composed for the text) or any use of music that is not created by an onscreen source.
A musical accompaniment can be essential for creating an atmosphere and positioning the audience to feel a certain way. A tense action scene can be made even more exciting with a series of clattering drums and staccato strings.
Pleonastic sound - where a certain sound is emphasised for dramatic effect
Sometimes it can be helpful to emphasise certain sounds. Action texts do this lots. Think about the sound a sword being unsheathed on Game of Thrones makes. In real life it would be a pretty unexceptional noise, but the producers of the programme intentionally emphasise the volume and resonance of the sound to draw attention to the significance of the action code.
Contrapuntal sound - Where sound deliberately contrasts with the visuals or theme of an audiovisual text
Sometimes a producer may include an apparently inappropriate soundtrack to a text. There are many reasons why this might be a good idea. The 'classic' example is the torture scene from Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino, 1992). Towards the start of this gruelling scene, the torturer puts an upbeat 60's pop song on the radio. It certainly doesn't 'fit' with the screams and blood and violence, but it has the strange effect of making the scene even more unpleasant. Just who is this maniac, and why is he so unphased by what he's doing? A similar effect was achieved by the director Larry Clarke in his 1995 film Kids, which memorably has the Casper the Friendly Ghost theme playing over a particularly brutal fight scene.
Experimenting with diegesis
There are many ways a producer can experiment with sound, and this can make it hard to define whether the sound in question is even part of the diegesis. Internal diegetic sound is a good example, and refers to the voiceover that occurs 'within a character's head' and lets us know what they are thinking.
So the diegesis of sound can get very complicated, and skilled film makers can draw attention to the sometimes fractured relationship between diegetic and non diegetic sound. In this wonderful scene from Seijun Suzuki's 1966 gangster film Tokyo Drifter, the gangster Tetsu walks through the snow, singing his own theme tune, complete with musical accompaniment. Not only can Tetsu hear this, but the gangsters in the barn where Tetsu is approaching can hear it too. It's a perfect moment in that it breaks the internal logic or verisimilitude of the film deliberately, and it can be either read as being very clever and witty (or a bit pretentious and annoying) by different audiences.
Sound design top tips
Here are a few tips you should follow when making your own productions. However, do remember that it can be just as effective to break the rules of sound design. Make sure you experiment, seek feedback, and be honest with yourself about how effective your production actually is
Sound design top tips
Here are a few tips you should follow when making your own productions. However, do remember that it can be just as effective to break the rules of sound design. Make sure you experiment, seek feedback, and be honest with yourself about how effective your production actually is
- Make sure there are no gaps in the diegetic sounds
- Use appropriate music
- Make sure sounds are individually mixed so you can hear everything
- If a sound is a bit weak, add reverb to beef it up
- Experiment with the speed/duration control
- Try not to repeat the same sound effect too often
- Be wary of anything that might destroy the verisimilitude of the text (unless you want to!)