Filmmaking fundamentals and video production techniques

Filmmaking

Attention to Sound Design in Film

Sound design is one of the fundamental aspects of film. The first film professor this author ever had told the class on the first day of class: it does not matter how good or how poorly crafted the images of the film are; if the sound is terrible, the filmmaker has lost the audience. As humans are primarily visual beings, the average viewer may not be aware of how great a role sound design plays in the film experience and film production. The presence of sound, audio, and music in films is integral to the successful suspension of belief by the audience, which is necessary for them to lose themselves within the narrative and the world of the film.

Audiences are often keenly aware of music as accompanying a great song in a well cut and well shot scene help add fame to the film and fame to the musicians who recorded the song. In the 21st century, it is common movie-goer knowledge that artists who compose the soundtrack can become instant stars as fast as the film is distributed to domestic and international theaters. More knowledgeable viewers have awareness of the importance of sound design with respect to how much detail and depth great sound design can provide a film.

Successful filmmakers have keen respect for sound design. Film executives and producers are well aware of how much of the film budget must be delegated to the sound department, both during the shoot, and especially in post production, where the sound tracks are synced, mixed, engineered, where the foley is added, when dialogue may have to be rerecorded, and other of the many tasks sound design performs in service to enhancing and grounding the film as much as possible. This paper will focus upon the techniques of effective sound design and will directly reference the film Transformers 3: Dark Side of the Moon. This film was released in 2011 by Paramount Pictures, and directed by Michael Bay.

Sound design directly contributes to the construction of the fantasy world of the film. In the case of T3: DSM, sound design is the entrance into the world of the film. Before the narrative has begun, while the Paramount Pictures logo whirls and each element lands into place, there is not the typical sounds of the logo; the sounds have been intentionally replaced with the sounds that the race of transformer beings make when the transform from robot to vehicle. The first cut of the film is an L. cut between the Paramount logo and the actual beginning of the narrative. The sounds are the first pieces of the Transformer world to which the audience is introduced. This is to no doubt create even more anticipation and excitement for the commencement of the film.

Throughout the film, sound is often a way to transition or underscore the mood of the scene. The sound design is also used create or sustain depth of field. This is an action film. Michael Bay is known for his intense, layered action scenes. There are a number of action sequences in Transformers 3 where there are multiple conflicts and lots of simultaneous forms of action happening at once. The sound design in the film assists the audience in distinguishing among the action and keeping it straight mentally. Most of the helpful sound design comes from diegetic sound. There is some non-diegetic sound, as there is an exciting and funny soundtrack and there are a few scenes that are cross-cut and parallel-cut, so there are times when the visuals do not match the sound, but within the context of the narrative, the disparity still makes sense.

The assistance that sound design provides may not even be conscious to the viewer. As most things with film, if it is executed well, it goes unnoticed. It is usually when something is done wrong or ineffectively do people notice it. Poor sound design or poor sound quality snap viewers out of the illusion of the film narrative. Suddenly people remember that they are in a theater with other people sitting in the dark, watching a film.