sound design analysis
Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw (2019)
Foley sounds
• Beginning long shot – sounds of approaching footsteps as Hobbs gets close to the edge of the smashed glass building, this emphasises the intenseness of Hobbs running. The Foley footsteps definitely sound realistic which gives the audience an illusion as if the sound was recorded on set.
• When Shaw hijacks the glass lift adjacent to the building, there is a sharp, screeching sound as the lift falls imminently towards the ground, this added Foley sound makes it seem realistic.
• A medium shot of Hattie is seen where Foley sound is used to portray the punching sound to exaggerate the scene and make it more realistic and entertaining for the audience.
Diegetic sound
• Conversation at start between Hobbs and Shaw is a diegetic sequence of dialogue, this happens just before Hobbs makes a sharp drop towards the ground and Shaw makes a run for the lift for a rapid exit.
Non-diegetic sound
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The soundtrack at the beginning of the scene is high intensity, upbeat music used to convey tension and suspense. This makes the audience feel tense and suspenseful.
Spectre (2015)
Foley sounds
As James Bond pulls away in his Aston Martin, gun shots are heard from the enemy which are foley sounds added in to create a tense, deep audio to enhance the overall tone and atmosphere.
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Also, as James Bond drives the car, sharp, high pitched screeching sounds are heard which are another great example of foley sound used. This use of foley creates a false sense of security for the audience as they would be tricked into thinking that the sound would have been recorded on location when, in fact, it was re-recorded in a foley studio or it could be an electronic sound effect. If foley was not used here and instead the real sound of the car was recorded on location, it might not sound right; it may confuse the audience and it would not give off the correct tone.
Non-diegetic sound
From the start of the scene, it is clear that the music soundtrack you can hear in the background is non-diegetic because there is no evidence of any music source playing it in the scene so it has been added in post to create a tense atmosphere. The type of music used is pertinent to the scene as it is quite fast paced and upbeat.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
At the beginning of the scene, the sound of a hanging piece of metal from a written off car is heard screeching in high pitch which is a diegetic sound as the source is seen on screen and is visible to the viewer. The screeching noise is an example of pleonastic (exaggerated) sound that is used here successfully for dramatic effect.
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Throughout the opening scene of Terminator 2, a female voice over can be heard and is used to describe the scene and to set the scene for what is to come later on in the film. The use of voice over in this context is quite dramatic because there is no other visible dialogue in the scene.
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At 0:43, the sound of a metal figure is heard crashing its foot onto the wasteland and the volume of this is exaggerated as well and this signifies that there is an imminent threat before the audience can actually see it on screen. The pleonastic sound of the foot crashing also heightens the emotion of the character and therefore prepares the audience for what is about to happen.
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Just after the metal figure is seen on screen for the first time, you can see lasers firing from the right to the left of the screen towards other characters who are engaging in a fight. These lasers are diegetic Foley sounds as these sounds would not have been replicated on location and visually, the lasers would be created with computer generated imagery (CGI). The Foley sound of the lasers is significant here because the volume is again increased dramatically in order to put emphasis on them in the scene.
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When we first see a metal like exploration rover, it slowly travels along the ground when we hear a diegetic creaking sound which is heavily exaggerated to enhance the tone and the character's threatening nature when prevalent on screen. The reason for which the Foley sound is diegetic is that the sound source is visible and physically originates in the film world.
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At 1:19, a short sequence of sharp-sounding, eerie non diegetic music is used to emphasise this part of the scene and this is an example of parallel sound where the music used matches the mood and tone of the sequence.
Deadpool (2015)
The opening shot of this scene features a small radio that starts playing a song that Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) listens to whilst simultaneously sitting on a ledge overlooking a large drop to a highway beneath him. This use of sound is what is known as diegetic sound because the sound source is visible to us as a viewer on screen in the film world.
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Around 20 seconds into this scene, there is an example of direct address from Reynolds because the actor is directly talking to the camera towards the audience. This way of including dialogue makes the audience feel more immersed in the film because we feel as though the actor is having a conversation with us, rather than talking to another character on screen.
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At 0:46, there is a small excerpt of diegetic music that is heard when it cuts to a shot of four bad guys in a car. The track that plays is, a song by ABBA which is a Swedish pop song group. This sound is contrapuntal because it contrasts with the pace and atmosphere of the scene - a fast paced car chase scene and using contradicting music in this way means that the music does not complement the image track. This is effective because it diverts the audience's attention away from the main action of the scene for a brief moment.
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This contrapuntal use of music suddenly changes when Deadpool violently jumps into the villain's car through the top window and instead, the music changes to a tense and gripping sound to portray the rapid change in scene type.
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At 1:52, sharp and high pitched screeching sounds are heard to signify the tyres on the car skidding on the tarmac. This use of sound is an example of Foley sound because this sound would have been re-recorded in a studio to enhance the depth and feel of the sound and to make it seem more realistic.
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At 2:27, towards the end of the highway scene, all of the sounds except from Deadpool's voice are muted and this is to highlight the importance of the dialogue that Deadpool delivers to the audience in the form of direct address. Deadpool says "S***, did I leave the stove on?!" The reason for which all other sounds are muted is to put heavy emphasis on the dialogue that Deadpool says and it is also used for comedic value.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)
This scene starts off with a conversation between the protagonist, Stefan and the therapist. At the beginning, there is only ambient sound and no music is used and this is done to establish the mood or prevent unnatural silence. Also, the lack of music in the scene at the start may be used to portray a tense and heightened atmosphere, sometimes to prepare an audience for something big that will happen soon.
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All through the scene at the start, there is ongoing dialogue between Stefan and the therapist and this is used to convey the story and help progress the timeline.
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At 1:20, there is non-diegetic music which is parallel sound because the tone of the music is very thrilling and is there to serve a purpose of creating suspense for what is about to happen. The reason for which the music is non-diegetic is because the sound source is not visible on screen to the audience and therefore was added in post production to overlay the visuals on screen.
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Around 10 seconds after this, there is a sound of tea from the cup and saucer hitting the therapist's face quite violently. This is an example of Foley because it would have been created artificially in a recording studio after filming in order to put emphasis on the sound of the tea. Even though this sound was created artificially, when I personally first watched this film when it was released last year in December 2018, I did not notice this Foley sound as I was immersed in the film as a passive viewer rather than taking notice of intricate details of how the sound was created.
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The crashing tea sound was immediately followed by a diegetic scream sound from the therapist which is a totally natural reaction after having had hot tea thrown in your face. Upon reflection of this particular part of the scene, I believe the scream sound may have been re-recorded in a recording studio post-filming. However, from a passive viewer's point of view, someone may not notice this and feel that it was part of the filming. This use of sound was exaggerated as it was there to emphasise the emotional impact of the action and perhaps to make the audience feel empathy towards the actress as someone else would do in real life.
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At 1:55, there is another example of exaggerated sound when Stefan is kicked in the chest by the therapist during the fight. This sound was exaggerated so as to portray the significance of the impact.
Below are the reasons for which I chose to research into the above scenes in terms of sound design:
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Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw (2019) - I have chosen to research this example from Hobbs and Shaw (2019) because I feel there are a range of foley sounds used and the use of non-diegetic music to add atmosphere and tension for the audience.
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Spectre (2015) - I chose to research into this example because I learnt how they use Foley in terms of the car screeching sounds to heighten this for the audience.
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Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) - This example uses a lot of Foley to intensify the atmosphere of the scene and also eerie music to heighten emotion. In my sound design project, I may be able to use music that is either parallel or contrapuntal to replicate some of this.
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Deadpool (2015) - I chose to research this scene because there are a lot of examples of both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. For example, there is a diegetic sound where Deadpool is seen listening to music from a small radio. This is diegetic because we, as the audience, are able to see a visible sound source in the film world. There is also use of contrapuntal sound when the music in the car does not fit the general feel of the scene.
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Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) - I chose to research the fight scene from this Netflix film because it features a lot of examples of Foley, for example when Stefan throws hot tea into the face of the therapist, this sound would have been re-created in terms of Foley to exaggerate the sound.
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experimental research
Lowpass audio effect in Premiere Pro
As part of my experimental research in this Sound design project, our teacher taught us about a technique that can be used in Adobe Premiere Pro called "Lowpass". This is an audio effect that is freely available in Premiere Pro. When used in the right circumstances, it can make the character have a feeling of being trapped and unable to escape - this also enhances the tension and suspense of the scene.
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Above is a screenshot taken from the editing software which shows how I have cut the music in half and then placed the audio effect on that particular part of the clip with 4 individual key frames to ensure the sound of the Lowpass fades in and out and does not create a disorientating effect to the audience by being sharp and sudden.
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To the right is the video of Baby Driver with the added music and Lowpass audio effect.
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Baby Driver re-sound design
We were given a clip from Baby Driver (2017) with which the audio had been removed. Our task was to create a convincing sound design with a selection of sound effects and soundtrack music. To the right is my example of a re-edit of the sound design of this clip of Baby Driver.
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I used a music track to firstly heighten emotion and create a tense atmosphere for a viewer watching this. I overlaid this with a ambient wild track noise to ensure the other sound effects would not be so sudden when they appear.
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I included several sound effects for the sound of guns and the sound of car screeching together with the car horn as the protagonist runs across the road without care for road users.
Character challenge
We were given a task to shoot a short sequence consisting of 3 shots with music added to create a desired feel and atmosphere depending on what music is used.
What does diegetic and non-diegetic mean?
Diegetic - diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from a source within the film world.
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Non-diegetic - non-diegetic sound is any sound which does not have a source on screen and have been added in post-filming.
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An example of where diegetic sound is used in film is Casino Royale (2006) which was the 21st James Bond film in the franchise created by Eon Productions.
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In the very beginning of this clip, there is a long shot of James Bond (played by Daniel Craig) who is holding a small pistol and a gunshot is heard and it is diegetic because as an audience, we can see the source of the sound as the gun is fired on screen.
Diegetic sound
Non-diegetic sound
An example of where non-diegetic sound is used in film is Baby Driver (2017) which was directed by Edgar Wright.
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When we see the protagonist start running from the police, music is heard in the background and a on screen source is not visible so therefore this use of sound is non-diegetic and was added in to overlay over the top in post production.
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was an American graphic designer who was born on 8th May 1920 in New York, United States. He was best known for his design of motion picture title sequences, film posters and corporate logos.
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The most famous work that Saul Bass is known for is his work on film titles between 1954 and 1955. This not only helped bring the world of graphic design to the attention of Hollywood and also to the forefront of the art movements in the sixties but revolutionised the way in which we watch films nowadays.
Goodfellas (1990) is an American crime film directed by Martin Scorcese. The film was adapted from the 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorcese.
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In the opening sequence of Goodfellas pictured to the left, Saul Bass creates titles that are of the same typography from an earlier film in which he also designed the titles which is Psycho (1960). He was famous for using the HELVETICA sans-serif typeface to form the basis for his titles. The titles are placed on screen in time with the background sound of the cars rushing past on the side of the road.
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Saul Bass also famously includes titles that state the location and year when the scene is set. This immediately lets the audience know where the scene is and what time/year the film is set in.
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Also featured below are a small collection of film posters with titles designed and created by Saul Bass in his famous, unique style.
Jack Foley
Jack Donovan Foley was the developer of many sound effect techniques used in filmmaking. He is well known with developing a unique method for creating sound effects live and in synchrony with the picture during a film's post-production. Individuals who partake in the trade of Foley are known as "Foley artists".
