Use of Sound

The use of sound in film doesn't necessarily mean just the soundtrack used, it also covers aspects such as; spoken word, music, sound effects or even silence. A film does not have to contain all of these aspects to be successful, it can contain just one and be a great film it's all down to how effective the sound is used.


Spoken Word
The use of spoken word in film covers; dialogue, monologues or even narration. This also means that it's not just what is said, but also how it is said. For example, dialogue that is overlapping can be used to create stress or a sense of nervousness.


Another example of how sound can be used in dialogue is by having it distorted for effect, one of the most famous is that of Darth Vader and this can reveal a lot about a character, or could draw in viewers to find out why they talk like that.


Films rely heavily on visual aspects to convey a lot of expressions to the audience, but the use of spoken dialogue can be extremely expressive. Below is a video of a scene primarily relying on dialogue to convey the story and emotions (with the exception of quiet background music at the end).






Sound Effects
The use of sound effects in film consists of; the sounds that the objects make, the sounds that the characters make (other than dialogue) and background/ambient noises. They help to create a sense of location, intensify a mood, enhance a humorous situation, or conceal an action.


Sound effects specialists have many options in manipulating sounds, such as playing them backward, playing them faster or slower than they were recorded, constructing them, and blending them in different proportions.


The actual sound effect used does not necessarily have to be exactly what it is meant for the film. For example, in Star Wars the laser guns are something we don't have and can therefore not record its sound for the movie. Instead simple objects can be used to create a fitting sound  for the film. This is shown in the video below.

Music

• Film music may serve countless functions, for example it can mirror a film’s central conflict, direct viewers’ attention, establish place and time, suggest what a character feels like and can even cover weak acting.
• Film music may reference earlier film music. Sometimes the same music is used; other times an approximation is composed and used.
• In large-budget movies, sometimes the film music is selected with an eye to future recorded music sales. An example of this is Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"  from the Oscar winning "Titanic". It is Dion's biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles of all time. Below is the official music video for the song.

Celine Dion - My heart will go on from Videoteca on Vimeo.