Film Terms

Soundtrack

Everything audiences hear when they watch a sound film. Composed of dialogue, music, and sound effects

Mixing

the process of combining three elements of film sound into one soundtrack, which is added to the image track in post-production.

Aural Object

the term French film theorist Christian Metz used to describe film sound, which he argued, is often wrongly treated as an attribute of the image rather than as an entity in itself.

Accent

powerful indicator of background and social status

Foley Artists

produce many of a films sound effects by creatively manipulating various materials.

Pitch

refers to the frequency, or its position on a musical scale.

Volume

reflects the level and type of a person engagement with her surroundings. Generally, the louder a person speaks, the greater the emotional intensity of her words.

Lightning Mix

sound doesn't overlap from one scene to the next

Automatic Dialogue Replacement (ADR)

A technique for recording synchronized dialogue in post-production, using a machine that runs forward and backward. Also called looping.

The Voice Over

A third person voice that speaks to the audience. It can allow the audience to access the characters immediate thoughts, function as a characters meditation, and help the audience to understand events that they may not otherwise understand

On- the nose dialogue

Clunky dialogue that states the obvious

On-and off-screen space

Off-Screen space is created when you hear a sound off screen but do not see it. The details are unseen, but are important factors that shape the storyline. On-screen is simply when you see and hear the noise on screen.

Direct Sound

Sound recorded on a set, location, or for documentary film, at an actual real world event.

Line Reading

The way an actor says the line, including pauses, intonation, and emotion

Scores

a musical complement written specifically for a film

Looping

achieved by cutting several identical lengths of developed film and having actors record the dialogue repeatedly

Vocal Tics

certain aspects of a voice that help us characterize specific individuals.

Subtext

the unstated meaning that underlies spoken words

Text

the words a character says

Acousmetre

what French film scholar, Michel Chion defines as the disembodied voice whose source is withheld from spectator completely or until late in the film

Sound Bridge

where the sound at the end of one scene carries over into the next scene

Functions of Film Music

• It can establish the historical context for a scene • It can help depict a scene's geographical space • It can help define characters • It can help shape the emotional tenor of space • It can provide a distanced or ironic commentary on a scene's visual information

Five Characteristics of Music

• Patterns of Development • Lyrical Content • Tempo and Volume • Instrumentation • Cultural Significance