Chapter 6 Flashcards
Melodrama
A sensational narrative mode with clearly identifiable moral types, coincidences, and reversals of fortune, and music that underscores the action.
Stereophonic Sound
The recording, mixing, and playback of sound on multiple channels to create audio perspective
Synchronous Sound
Sound that is recorded during a scene or is synchronized with the filmed images and has a visible onscreen source; also referred to as onscreen sound
Asynchronous Sound
Sound that does not have a visible onscreen source; also referred to as offscreen sound.
Parallel Sound
Sound that reinforces the image, such as synchronous dialogue or sound effects or a voiceover that is consistent with what is displayed onscreen.
Contrapuntal Sound
Sound that is unexpected considering the image that is displayed onscreen.
Diegetic Sound
Sound that has its source in the narrative world of the film, whose characters are presumed to be able to hear it.
Nondiegetic Sound
Sound (such as a musical score) that does not have an identifiable source in the characters’ world.
Diegesis
The world of the films story (its characters, places, and events), including what is shown and what is implied to have taken place.
Source Music
Diegetic music; music whose source is visible onscreen
Semidiegetic Sound
Sound that is neither strictly diegetic or nondiegetic, such as certain voiceovers that can be construed as the thoughts of a character and thus as arising from the story world
Soundtrack
Audio recorded to synchronize with a moving image, including dialogue, music, and sound effects; the physical portion of the film used for recorded sound
Sound Designer
The individual responsible for planning and directing the overall sound of a film through to the final mix
Sound Recording
The recording of a dialogue and other sound that may take place simultaneously with the filming of a scene.
Clapperboard
A slate that is marked to identify each scene and the take and is snapped to synchronize sound recordings and camera images
Boom
A long pole used to hold a microphone above the actors to capture sound while remaining outside the frame
Direct Sound
Sound captured directly from its source
Reflected Sound
Recorded sound that is captured as it bounces from the walls and sets. It is usually used to give a sense of space.
Production Sound Mixer
The sound engineer on the production set
Postproduction Sound
Sound recorded and added to a film in the postproduction phase
Foley Artist
A member of the sound crew who generates live synchronized sound effects while watching the projected film
Room Tone
The aural properties of a location that are recorded and then mixed in with dialogue and other tracks to achieve a more realistic sound
Walla
A nonsense word spoken by extras in a film to approximate the sound of a crowd during sound dubbing
Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR)
A process during which actors watch the film footage and re-record their lines to be dubbed into the soundtrack
Sound Editing
Combining music, dialogue, and effects tracks to interact with the image track
Sound Bridge
Sound that is carried over a picture transition or that belongs to the coming scene but is played before the image changes
Spotting
The process of determining where music and effects will be added to the film
Sound Mixing
The process by which all the elements of the soundtrack, including music, effects, and dialogue, are combined and adjusted to their final levels
Mix
The combination by the sound mixer of separate soundtracks into a single master track that will be transferred onto the film print together with the image track to which it is synchronized
Sound Reproduction
Sound playback during a film’s exhibition
Sound Perspective
The apparent location and distance of a sound source
Overlapping Dialogue
Mixing characters’ speech to imitate the rhythm of speech; also may refer to dialogue that overlaps two scenes to effect a transition between them
Voice-Off
A voice that originates from a speaker who can be inferred to be present in the scene but is not visible onscreen
Narrator
A character or other person whose voice and perspective describe the action of a film, either in voiceover or through a particular point of view
Voiceover
A voice whose source is neither visible in the frame nor implied to be offscreen and typically narrates the film’s images, such as in flashbacks or the commentary in a documentary film
Women’s Picture
A category of films produced in the 1930s-1950s, featuring female stars in romances or melodramas and marketed primarily to women
Score
Music composed to accompany a completed film
Underscoring
A film’s background music; contrasts with source music
Cue
A visual or aural signal that indicates the beginning of an action, a line of dialogue, or a piece of music
Narrative Cueing
The ways that sound tells viewers what is happening in the plot
Stinger
Sound that forces the audience to notice the significance of something onscreen, such as the ominous chord struck when the villain’s presence is made known
Mickey-Mousing
Overillustrating the action through the musical score, drawn from the conventions of composing for cartoons
Prerecorded Music
Previously recorded music that is added to a film’s soundtrack
Music Supervisor
The individual who selects and secures the rights for songs to be used in films
Sound Continuity
The process of furthering the aims of the narrative through scoring, sound recording, mixing, and playback processes that strive for the unification of meaning and experience
Sound Montage
The collision or overlapping of disjunctive sounds in a film
