B) Uncut Gems (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S37266TEXco, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz8gT5diiU4)
Watch Movie “Uncut Gems” for the first fifteen minutes. Pick a shot or combination of shots (short scene) and discuss the sound. For each shot, explain Shot starts at what time and ends at what time on the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen? Then explain the type of sound being used in the shot. Why is it used here?
Find examples of the following kinds of sound: Sound that is most likely synchronous, non-synchronous, post-synchronous, sound effect, voice-over, dialogue with a clear subtext, montage of sounds (different types mixed together in this shot- which types?).
There are several types of sound:
Synchronous : sound recorded at the same time that visuals are filmed, using a mic on a boom above the frame for close shots or other directional (shotgun) mics or contact mics for other longer shots if possible
Post-synchronous : Recorded later in a sound studio (looping) for logistic reasons, or dubbed later ; sound matches visuals, appears synchronous ( a famous actress cant sing, so her singing is dubbed by Marnie Nixon, who sang for many actresses) ( a film is dubbed into another language by actors who speak the other language)
Non-synchronous : Recorded later, doesnt correspond to visuals: background music, other sounds that dont correspond to whats in the frame ex. voice-over narrative, subjective sound ( characters thoughts): we cant see the source of the sound on the screen- it doesnt exist in the world of the film on screen (its non-diegetic)
Sound effects : These are sounds created by Foley artists in a sound studio and looped to match actions seen on the screen. For example, if we see people tromping through mud, the Foley artist may be swishing a wet rag mop around and recording the squish sound to match the footsteps. Sound effects may also be dubbed in from a computerized sound effects library (distant thunder, loud crash of thunder, etc.)
Use a different type of sound in each shot. For each shot, explain all the types of sound you notice. Explain why you think so. Use your common sense to think about logistics: where would the mic be in the shot? Close enough to pick up dialogue or other sounds but still not visible in the shot? Not too much background noise? Is the sound likely to be a sound effect or a real sound? etc
Example : (Ex. 1.12.03- 1.12.28) ( A man and a woman are having a conversation while walking down a busy street in long shot.) The sound is probably post-synchronous because we hear their conversation clearly but theres only very faint traffic noise, and theres no place to hide directional mics.)
Shot One: (shot description/type of sound-why?)
Shot Two: (shot description/type of sound-why?)
Shot Three: (shot description/type of sound-why?)
Shot Four: (shot description/type of sound-why?)
Shot Five: (shot description/type of sound-why?)
You could use these information to write the paper—————————————————————-
There are several types of sound:
There are several types of sound:
Synchronous : sound recorded at the same time that visuals are filmed, using a mic on a boom above the frame for close shots or other directional (shotgun) mics or contact mics for other longer shots if possible
Post-synchronous : Recorded later in a sound studio (looping) for logistic reasons, or dubbed later ; sound matches visuals, appears synchronous ( a famous actress cant sing, so her singing is dubbed by Marnie Nixon, who sang for many actresses) ( a film is dubbed into another language by actors who speak the other language)
Non-synchronous : Recorded later, doesnt correspond to visuals: background music, other sounds that dont correspond to whats in the frame ex. voice-over narrative, subjective sound ( characters thoughts): we cant see the source of the sound on the screen- it doesnt exist in the world of the film on screen (its non-diegetic)
Sound effects : These are sounds created by Foley artists in a sound studio and looped to match actions seen on the screen. For example, if we see people tromping through mud, the Foley artist may be swishing a wet rag mop around and recording the squish sound to match the footsteps. Sound effects may also be dubbed in from a computerized sound effects library (distant thunder, loud crash of thunder, etc.)
2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of synchronous sound ? Why do some directors prefer non-synchronous sound? Whats lost and gained when a foreign-language movie is dubbed or sub-titled? How can you guess which sequences in the clips were probably synchronous? Non-synchronous? A combination? Actors prefer synchronous sound because they can do their best acting and its recorded on the spot, instead of having to go into a sound studio to loop it (re-record it so it matches lip movements). Directors may not be able to set up a shot so its possible to get a good sound recording; the may prefer to focus on the visuals. You can use common sense to figure out if it would be possible to have a mic close enough in the shot, without a lot of background noise, for the sound to be synchronous.
3) Sound editing may be done with a montage (mix) of music, dialogue and sound effects. What is this technique like? Is it more or less realist? Why is sound usually not realist? ( Imagine a single mike recording whats going on in a classroom. How well would it pick up conversations? Could we hear everything going on?)
4) An advantage of movie sound over stage dialogue is that on stage, actors have to say everything. In movies, ideas that are occurring in characters heads ( subjective sound ) can be heard on the sound track, either as dialogue, music, or sound effects: thats subjective sound. The contrast between the dialogue and the visuals can be ironic in voice-over narrative , in which a character not visible on screen tells a story or narrates commentary which doesnt correspond to whats on the screen, like dialogue, but rather comments on it ( The day I robbed a bank for the first time was the best and worst day of my life etc.)
5) Dialogue can have a sub-text in real life, as in the movies. The meaning of a statement is affected by the intention of the speaker. The listener (in movies, both listeners: another character, and the viewer/listener) has to interpret the intention behind the statement. Whats the sub-text in the conversation between the characters in some of the scenes in movies youve seen? How is the conversation influenced by the proxemics between the characters and other elements in the visual, plus the context of whats going on in the plot? For example, if a young, unemployed father promises to take care of his baby and the babys mom, is he lying, too optimistic, or just unrealistic? Whats the sub-text if mom is looking skeptical and keeping her distance, but also says Thats nice, honey ? ( Subtext= She doesnt believe him)
Narrative voice :
There are several different kinds of narrative voice used in both fiction and films. Sometimes more than one narrative voice is used. We learned about fictional narrative; how does that translate to film narrative? Here are the different narrative voices. Sometimes a movie uses the same narrative throughout, but sometimes the narrative changes from scene to scene.
First person : The narrator speaks as himself/herself, and says I in voice-over narrative , for example. (Not in dialogue.) Point-of-view shots may correspond to the voice-over narration. In fiction, the narrator is one of the characters who is telling the story. In a documentary, the first person I may be the film maker commenting on what is being filmed. (Fiction= We see Dexter the serial killer smiling and chatting with a man over a beer, but we hear his voice in voice-over narrative say I knew Id just have time to kill him and dump his body in the bay before meeting Molly for dinner. We see him look out the window and we see his boat tied up nearby- his point of view.) (Non-fiction= We hear a documentary film maker say I wanted to film the grizzly bears eating blueberries in the meadow. Then we see the bears.)
Third person limited : We see the movie from the outside, but also from the point of view of one of the characters. We see and know ONLY what that character sees and knows, and we share their experience, but the character doesnt actually narrate using I. Theres no voice-over narrative. We see everything from the outside, but we dont see anything the character doesnt see. Usually the character is in every scene. In the famous mystery Chinatown , we see and hear everything the detective does, and we have to come to the right conclusion about what it all means at the same time he does. If we dont watch carefully, were confused.
Third person objective : We see everything from the outside, objectively. The camera/narration doesnt comment, but rather observes. The narration shifts from one character to another. This is by far the most common narrative used- its the default narrative voice in movies. We just watch everything happen.
Omniscient narrative : The narrative lets the viewer know more than the characters in the film know. We are clued in by the narration- for example, the camera pans to reveal something the characters cant see and dont know about, but we do. Theres the missing dog theyre trying to find, right outside the window we see the dog, but the characters dont.
Unreliable narrative : We share the point of view of one of the characters who is telling the story, through limited narrative or voice-overs, but it turns out that this character is lying to us, the audience. We only find out weve been fooled in the end.
