Types of Sound - Essay Example

1. What are the different types of sound? give an example of each type from a film that you've watched in class. Among these films i have watched in class are: On the water from The Graduate, Unforgiveness and RearWindow by Hitchcock.

There are four categories of sounds. These are the sound effects, music, speech, and ambient sounds.

• Sound effects refer to those sounds like like warming beeps and other sounds which signify that an act was being completed. This include naturalistic sounds like car alarms, crumpling of papers, punching, dumping a thing, background noise, horses running feet or a door being opened or closed (The Open University, 2012).
• Music – may include all music or sequential musical notes that are used to evoke or demonstrate the emotion of an episode. Often, this music is generated from computer-based sound systems to generate the necessary background of the play (The Open University, 2012).
• Speech – this is the most complex and demanding aspect of the film. These are conversations and discourses of screen players (The Open University, 2012).
• Ambient sounds. These are mechanical sounds like the clicking of drives or a CD-ROM, or opening of a drawer, or removing a bottle cap to demonstrate that something is operated correctly (The Open University, 2012).

In the movie The Graduate, the viewer can hear the sounds of a closing door, voices of guests that are faded down, light switch or the sounds of the radio when music was played. You could also hear footsteps and sound of a vehicle being parked.

(2)Using a film that you've watched in class, give an example of subtextual dialogue. Quote the dialogue using the format shown on page 91-2 in the text book. Summarize the text of the dialogue and then explain the dialogue's subtext 

BEN: Jesus Christ!

MRS. ROBINSON: Benjamin - I want you to know I'm available to you. If you won’t sleep with me this time -

BEN: Oh my God.

MRS. ROBINSON: If you won't sleep with me this time, Benjamin, I want you to

know you can call me up any time you want and we'll make some kind of arrangement.

BEN: Let me out!

MRS. ROBINSON: Do you understand what I said?

BEN: Yes. Yes. Let me out!

MRS. ROBINSON: Because I find you very attractive and any time (Buck, 1967).

This was lifted from the episode when Mrs. Robinson attempted to tempt Ben for a sex but was halted upon the arrival of Mrs. Robinson’s husband (Buck, 1967). Mrs. Robinson was so expressive of her desire amid outright refusal and confusion of Ben on how to feign responsibly to this desire without insulting and getting hatred from the woman and anger from her husband (Buck, 1967)

(3) Choose a scene from a film that you watched in class. You can use Rear Window by Hitchcock Briefly describe the scene and its accompanying sound.. Explain in the detail how the various types of sound contribute to the atmosphere, plot and theme.

In the scene 10 of movie Rear Window where Lisa sat on bed browsing magazine and travel book, the episode was accompanied by a love song to add meaning to unspoken passion as the man is limited by his disability to maybe sit or lay besides Lisa (Hitchcock, 2011). The director used the music to bridge love in this couple and to replace supposed dialogues. Hitchcock (2011) explained that to ignore the music is to erode the component that is essential to the vision of the film. The music indirectly blends with the characters of the movie to bring a thematic ambiance for the viewers in relation g to the film visually (Hitchcock, 2011).