presenting sound
bump halbritter
michigan state university
february 17, 2009
from critique to production
from critique to production
to critique to production to critique
to production to . . .
overview
 What’s Behind Oscar-Worthy Sound Editing?
 Important terms
 “Sleep Walk”
 “Euthanasia”
 Music Terms
 “The Shining”
 “Shining”
 American Stories, American Solutions
(Obama Infomercial)
 Copyright & Creative Commons
 Music Resources
“what’s behind oscar-worthy
sound editing?”
sound editor Lon Bender discusses his work
on Blood Diamond on NPR’s “Day to Day”
(February 21, 2007)
key terms
key terms
 time/temporality
 diegetic/nondiegetic sound
 direct sound
 foley
 continuity vs. evidentiary editing
 unification
 punctuation
 separation
time
duration
transition
containment
 subordinate: sound supports the action
 super-ordinate: sound controls the action
“sleep walk”
jay allison
(genius)
caution: f-bomb alert!
diegetic/nondiegetic sound
diegetic sound (a.k.a. actual sound) is
a sound that is created by something or someone
visible on the screen or whose source is implied to
be present by the action of the film.
direct sound
the technique of recording sound
simultaneously with the image
foley
The art of recreating incidental sound effects (such as
footsteps) in synchronization with the visual
component of a movie. Foley sounds are often
exaggerated for extra effect - e.g., the loud foley added
thuds and slaps of cinematic fight sequences.
continuity vs. evidentiary editing
a continuity cut takes the viewer seamlessly,
unobtrusively, and logically from one sequence or
scene to another, to propel the narrative along
continuity vs. evidentiary editing
“evidentiary editing organizes cuts within a scene to
present the impression of a single, convincing
argument supported by a logic” (Nichols 30).
unification, punctuation, &
separation/silence
Michel Chion
Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen (1994)
unification
Bridges visual gaps (temporally) (47)
“Establishes atmosphere”—[an aural
environment]
Nondiegetic music is “independent of the
notion of real time and space”
punctuation
Elements of the Auditory Setting (EAS)
Evidentiary
Grammatical
separation / silence
where there is sound, silence becomes a sound.
“Silence is never a neutral emptiness. It is the negative
of sound we’ve heard before-hand or imagined; it is the
product of a contrast” (Chion 57).
Consequently, there are many versions of silence—all
contextually bound.
“euthanasia”
jay allison
(genius)
caution: pathos alert!
ok, so where are we?
 What’s Behind Oscar-Worthy Sound Editing?
 Important terms
 “Sleep Walk”
 “Euthanasia”
 Music Terms
 “The Shining”
 “Shining”
 American Stories, American Solutions
(Obama Infomercial)
 Copyright & Creative Commons
 Music Resources
music terms
 Tempo
 Energy




sustain/continuity/unification
punctuation/separation
tension
release
 Mood/Attitude
 Instrumentation
 Recognizability/Social Memory
the shining
music terms
 Tempo
 Energy




sustain/continuity/unification
punctuation/separation
tension
release
 Mood/Attitude
 Instrumentation
 Recognizability/Social Memory
shining
music terms
 Tempo
 Energy




sustain/continuity/unification
punctuation/separation
tension
release
 Mood/Attitude
 Instrumentation
 Recognizability/Social Memory
ok, so where are we?
 What’s Behind Oscar-Worthy Sound Editing?
 Important terms
 “Sleep Walk”
 “Euthanasia”
 Music Terms
 “The Shining”
 “Shining”
 American Stories, American Solutions
(Obama Infomercial)
 Copyright & Creative Commons
 Music Resources
american stories,
american solutions
obama infomercial
three groups of editors
narration
other sounds
music
three groups of editors
Questions:
 What do you hear?
 What don’t you hear?
 What is the
data/important?
 Who is “speaking”
through this content?
 What does the data
present?
 How is the data
presented?
Sound Terms:
 time & temporality
 diegetic & nondiegetic
sound
 direct & foley sound
 continuity & evidentiary
editing
 containment
unification
punctuation
separation
the final stretch!
 What’s Behind Oscar-Worthy Sound Editing?
 Important terms
 “Sleep Walk”
 “Euthanasia”
 Music Terms
 “The Shining”
 “Shining”
 American Stories, American Solutions
(Obama Infomercial)
 Copyright & Creative Commons
 Music Resources
copyright & creative commons
3 min overview
types of cc licenses
music sources
 OWL Multimedia: www.owlmm.com
 iCompositions: www.icompositions.com
 Soundclick: http://www.soundclick.com/
 ccMixter: http://ccmixter.org/view/media/home
 Garage Band (Mac)
 FL Studio (PC)
garage band
(!)
samples
cheers!
presenting sound:
from critique to production
bump halbritter
drbump@msu.edu
www.msu.edu/~drbump