Chapter 7: Sound

Question 1

What are the functions of sound in cinema?

Answer 1

1. engages a distinct sense mode
2. a single rhythm or expressive quality can bind together image and sound
3. shapes our understanding of the image
4. steers our attention within the image
5. shapes expectations
6. gives a new value to silence

Question 2

What is included in film sound?

Answer 2

speech, music, and sound effects

Question 3

Loudness

Answer 3

the sounds we hear result from vibrations in the air- the amplitude, or breadth, of the vibrations produces our sense of loudness or volume

also related to percieved distance

Question 4

Pitch

Answer 4

the frequency of sound vibrations affects pitch- the perceived highness of lowness of the sound

helps us distinguish music and speech from background noise and to distinguish objects

Question 5

Timbre

Answer 5

the harmonic components of sound give it a certain color, or tone quality
ex) calling someone’s voice nasal

distinguishes muscial instruments from each other and often enhances emotion

Question 6

What do loudness, pitch, and timbre do?

Answer 6

define the overall sonic texture of a film

ex) enable us to recognize different characters’ voices

Question 7

Sound Mixing

Answer 7

involves combining sounds

Question 8

Dialogue Overlap

Answer 8

the filmmaker continues a line of dialogue across a cut, smoothing over the change of shot

Question 9

Sound Perspective

Answer 9

the closer the camera is to a source, the louder the sound

Question 10

Rhythm

Answer 10

involves, minimally, a beat, or pulse; a tempo, or pace; and a pattern of accents, or stronger and weaker beats

Question 11

Mickey-Mousing

Answer 11

tightly matching movement to music

Question 12

Fidelity

Answer 12

refers to the extent to which the sound is faithful to the source as we conceive it

Question 13

Space (in relation to sound)

Answer 13

sound has a spatial dimension because it comes from a source

Question 14

Diegetic Sound

Answer 14

sound that has a source in the story world

Question 15

Nondiegetic Sound

Answer 15

sound that comes from a source outside the story world

Question 16

External Diegetic Sound

Answer 16

the sound has a physical source in the scene (objective)

Question 17

Internal Diegetic Sound

Answer 17

the sound comes from the mind of a character within the story space (subjective)

Question 18

Synchronous Sound

Answer 18

sound that is matched temporally with the movements occuring in the images

ex) dialogue corresponds to lip movements

Question 19

Asynchronous Sound

Answer 19

sound that is not matched temporally with the movements occuring in the image

Question 20

Story Time

Answer 20

consists of the order, duration, and frequency of all the events pertinent to the narrative, whether they are shown to us or not

Question 21

Plot Time

Answer 21

consists of the order, duration, and frequency of the events actually represented in the film

shows us selected story events but skips over others

Question 22

Simultaneous Sound

Answer 22

he sound takes place at the same time as the image in terms of the story events

Question 23

Non-Simultaneous Sound

Answer 23

the sound occurs earlier or later in the story than the events we see in the image

Question 24

Sound Bridge

Answer 24

the sound from the previous scene may linger briefly while the image is already presenting the next scene

may create smooth transitions by setting up expectations that are quickly confirmed