Go onto YouTube right now and type in your favourite film or TV show. Just before you choose a clip and hit 'play,' mute your volume. Try to watch the clip for at least one minute. Resist the urge to turn the sound back up or do anything else. It's incredible, isn't it? A scene loses a huge amount of its depth and detail without the dialogue, sound effects and music. Crucially, the audience understands and enjoys the experience far less - and if anything, finds it awkward, even unsettling. Mise-en-scène contributes a huge volume of information when we're consuming a media text but solely for our eyes. If mise-en-scène is everything we see, then today's focus - sountrack - is everything we hear!
Diegesis explained diegesis /ˌdʌɪəˈdʒiːsɪs/ (noun) a narrative or plot, typically in a film. A word borrowed straight from the Greek word for 'narrative.' So while 'diegesis' is a very grand sounding word for a film's plot or story, it's a crucial word for us to use when discussing soundtrack. That's because in a media text that uses sound, that sound can find itself in one of two very distinct spaces. The first is diegetic. This is the space inhabited by the characters, setting and plot of the text we're enjoying. Diegetic sounds can be heard by both the characters and the audience. People talking to one another, a character slamming a door behind them or another character turning on the radio are all diegetic sounds that the characters can hear and respond to. The second space is non-diegetic. This is the space where sounds are heard that only the audience hears. The most common non-diegetic sound is music, followed by the voice of a narrator. So, when listening to sound, the first thing you need to do is decide if it is diegetic or non-diegetic. In more complex pieces, the same sound can change between the two. After that, you need to decide which of the following four categories it fits into:
Dialogue
You'll find that many words in Media Studies have wider meanings than they do in other subjects. So it is with dialogue. In Drama or English, dialogue is, strictly, two characters speaking. In Media Studies, it's simply when any number of characters speak.
What characters say and how they say it will have different effects on the audience listening and reveal key information about the plot.
When it's characters speaking to other characters or things in the scene, it's diegetic. The most common types of non-diegetic sound are narrators, when we get to 'hear' a character thinking or when a character turns to the camera and speaks to the audience. This last technique, called 'breaking the fourth wall' was used heavily in the Deadpool films.
Music Watch the first scene from The Lion King (1994). Just the first minute will do if you are pushed for time:
How do you feel after watching this clip? What words, emotions or thoughts come to mind? Fans of the film (and eagle-eyed readers) will have noticed that the music has been taken out of this clip. Watch it again with the music and see how your response changes:
Isn't it amazing how wrong a film feels with an extended period without music? The volume, choice of instruments and any lyrics will all shape the mood and tone of the scene. Take a moment to consider the mood of the first video (quite solemn, serious, foreboding?) and the second (I'd say majestic, celebratory and hopeful!) Music is the most common sound type that can find itself in both the diegetic and non-diegetic categories. If a character turns on a radio or TV to play music, the sound is diegetic. This may be reinforced by the music sounding 'hollow' or 'tinny.' Some films and TV shows then transition to the original recording for the audience's benefit. At that point, the music becomes non-diegetic.
Sound effects Any time anything makes a noise that isn't speech or music, that's a sound effect. Slamming a door, tapping a desk and tooting a car horn, for example. Since everything in a scene can make sounds, you'd think all sound effects are diegetic but this isn't so!
For many sound effects, the sound made by the real objects in the scene are enough. Sometimes, however, more emphasis is needed, either to raise the volume of the sound or make it sound more impressive. Foley artists are special sound designers who work at discovering and using new ways of making sounds. They record and archive as many sounds as they can - even ordinary, everyday ones - from the world around them and then edit and mix them together to create completely new ones!
Check out the clip opposite of the villains' spaceships roaring past in Star Wars. Sounds terrifying and otherworldly, doesn't it? Definitely not a sound you'd hear in the real world. Yet all it is is the work of a clever sound engineer who has mixed together the sound of an elephant's battle cries and the sound of car tyres driving past on a wet road!
Silence
Whenever you talk about something in Media Studies, make sure to talk about the absence of things as well. The absence of sound - or silence - is as powerful as the use of the sound types listed above! Used correctly, silence can be as effective as any piece of music, narration or sound effect. As part of dialogue, when a character doesn't speak it can convey just as much information as if they had spoken!
As an example
If you'll forgive another Star Wars example, here's one from The Last Jedi (2017). In this scene, Vice Admiral Holdo (with the purple hair) executes a desperate, last-ditch manoeuvre on the ship of General Hux (with the red hair, "pathetic").
I've picked it particularly because its use of silence actually caused cinemagoers to complain to venue managers afterwards that a 'sound fault' had ruined their viewing! When this Media teacher went to see the film for himself, a poster outside explained that the film contained a deliberate moment of silence and was not a fault!
As ever, my observations will be below - and don't be worried if you didn't spot them all. Congratulate yourself if you spotted anything I didn't!
Music - lots of brassy instruments and string instruments lend drama and urgency to the moment. Not only does Holdo not have long but these are also her final moments. The music grows in intensity as Poe Dameon realises Holdo's plan, building to its strongest as she pulls the lever. After the sacrifice, the music is much quieter and solely string instruments, conveying sadness and regret. All of the music is non-diegetic.
Sound effects - the roar of Holdo's engines is amplified, lending determination to her actions. The green blasts from Hux's ship fade in very suddenly, catching the viewer unaware. As Holdo executes her plan, the beeping from her controls becomes more urgent, signalling that an emergency is unfolding. Similar sounds are heard shortly after on Hux's ship.
Dialogue - "It's empty... pathetic." Hux's dismissive, superior tone sets him up perfectly for the fall he is about to suffer. His next line of dialogue ("fire on that cruiser!") is screamed in panic and desperation - a marked contrast from his arrogance not a minute earlier. Lieutenant Connix's line ("she's running away") is contrasted with Poe Dameron's ("no she' isn't"), hinting to the audience that something unbelievable is about to happen. Note that Holdo has no dialogue at all - she heads to her fate with focus and action rather than with words - there isn't even time for a last speech.
Silence - as Holdo's ship achieves light speed, there is complete silence for almost ten seconds in sharp contrast to the sound effects and music heard not a moment earlier. This offers the audience a moment of reflection on the sacrifice made but also makes the explosion more impactful when it is finally heard.
In Summary Remember: soundtrack is everything you hear (and don't hear) in the scene! Whatever you are listening to identify it, describe it and then explain what it makes you think or feel about the scene. Much as in English lessons, there is no specific right answer to that last part - it comes down to your interpretation as a member of the audience!
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