Regarding LO1, LO2

One of the first places I looked for film sound theory research was Michel Chion’s book ‘Audio vision’. This is one of the most popular ‘go to’ books on this topic. Chion believes that sound and image form one entity: “A kind of symbolic contract that the audio-viewer enters into, agreeing to think of sound and image as forming a single entity.” (Chion 1994, p.216).

When we watch a film, we are also listening to it. Sound is just as important if not more important than the visuals of a film. It has the power to portray various emotions in ways that visuals cannot. Therefore it by completing the sound for this project, I am generating emotion and adding value to the visual entity that has been created. “It can be said that sound’s greatest influence on film is manifested at the heart of the image itself. The clearer treble you hear, the faster your perception of sound and the keener your sensation of presentence.” (Chion, 1994)

This backs up what I have just said, regarding how sound ‘adds’ to the image. By having good, clean and audible the audience will perceive the sound quicker, making it have more of an impact and being more powerful on the sensation the audience receives.

“In a film image that contains movement many other things in frame may remain fixed. But sound by its very nature necessarily implies a displacement or agitation, however minimal. Sound dies have means to suggest stasis, but only in limited cases. One could say that “fixed sound” is that which entails no variations whatever as it is heard. This characteristic is only found in certain sounds of artificial origin: a telephone dial tone, or the hum of a speaker.” (Chion, 1994, 10)

This is something to consider when it comes to post production. Sound is constantly moving and is not ‘fixed’ in a film unless it’s for a specific reason. Sound can add movement to still shots. If we take a background ambience for example, and it contained a still ambient noise it would sound displaced, even though we are presenting a moving ‘displaced sound’. However in post production for this project I will be using slight forms of ‘fixed sounds’ For example, in ‘All ribbons end’ there is a phone call. A fixed hum (background hiss) will be used to tell the audience that the person is still on the phone. Without this sound, the there would be a large silence would might confuse the audience.

“During filming it is the voice that is collected in sound recording- which therefore is almost always voice recording- and it is the voice recording that is isolated in the sound mix like a solo instrument- for which the other sounds (music and noise) are merely the accompaniment.” (Chion, 1994, 6)

I think that Chion is highlighting the importance of dialogue recording in a film. The dialogue or voice is telling the story. It is how the film directly communicates to us. If the dialogue isn’t to a high standard and the rest of the sound was, we would still notice that the dialogue wasn’t right. If we can’t understand what is being said it ruins the film regardless of how good the music, the atmospheres, the sound design is.

Chion suggests: “In current practice the mixing of soundtracks consists essentially in the art of smoothing rough edges by degrees of intensity.” (Chion, 1994, 42) By having ‘rough edges’ sounds sound out of place. For example a take from a shot that transitions badly into another take (and