Sound in Film and TV - Glossary

Sound in Film and T.V

Glossary

Selective sound- is used to emphasise key sound elements within a sequence.

Ambient sound – is used to create a particular atmosphere or a sense of place.

Sound Bridges – the use of sound to help transitions between sequences pass more fluidly.

Sound effects - Are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize content of films. A sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point without the use of dialogue or music.

Theme music – Is a piece that is often written specifically for a movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits.

Musical score – a written form of a musical composition; parts for different instruments appear on separate staves on large pages

Silence - is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue.

Diegetic sound – Is sound that the characters can hear as well as the audience, and usually implies a reaction from the character.

Non-Diegetic sound – Sound added in post-production. E.g. Voice in head/Someone thinking.

Voice over – (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative

Synchronous sound – are those sounds which are synchronized or matched with what is viewed.

Asynchronous sound – Sound that is indigenous to the action but not precisely synchronized with the action.

Contrapuntal – having two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together.

SFX - short for Sound Effects.

Mood -a distinctive emotional quality or character

Tone –A sound of distinct pitch, quality, and duration; a note.

Genre -a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like: the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.

Sherlock holms film (Sounds)

Diegetic sounds

Scream

Voices

Breathing

People talking in background

Cranking

Guns loading

Horse and carriage

Bell

Chains

Metal Buckles

Smash

Glass breaking

Chime

Gravel

Non-Diegetic sounds

Piano music

Violin

Drums

Fast intense music

Bone crunching

High pitch whistle

Crow

Crashing

Thuds

Footsteps

Slap

Bullet ricochet

Old photoflash 

Slow motion noises

The Sound track throughout the first 5 minutes starts slow and quiet then further in it starts to get louder, faster making the scene even more intense.  The music stops when you see Sherlock’s face for the first time, this indicates he is the main character. When Sherlock and his partner are observing the music gets quiet and creepy. When the fight scene starts the music becomes loud and fast again. After, when Lord Blackwood is speaking the music goes deep, quiet and eerie, this tells us he is the bad guy. After that’s finished ‘Harp like’ music cuts in.