|
Video/television is an audio-visual medium. What is more important? Picture or sound? It is a difficult question to answer. There is an inextricable relationship between audio and video:
- Audio parallels video
- Audio defines video
- Video defines audio
- Audio and video define effects
- Audio counterpoints video
These categories have relevance to sound design.
- Audio parallels video
In this relationship, both picture and sound are on equal terms.
One does not dominate the other.
For example: A character knocks the door. The door opens. In this scene, you can see the character knocking the door, you can hear the knock, and you can hear the door being opened, that is, the sound and the visual complement each other.
- Audio defines video
In this relationship, sound not only dominates the picture, it often provides the point-of-view that the viewer must take.
It provides a subjective meaning to the visual.
Take for example the close-up of a person with a neutral expression on his face. The sound on the audio track defines what mood the person is in.
A slow track of 'cellos' will tell us that he is sad.
A fast 'guitar' and 'drums' track will denote that he is in a jovial mood.
Picture a character knocking at the door.
A cut inside shows a woman sitting alone in the huge living room.
The character outside (now off-screen) knocks again, and we hear music suggesting danger on the sound track.
The SFX of the 6',J, mock and the music tell us that the woman sitting alone in the living room is in danger. Look at it the other way:
The woman is sitting alone in the living room. It is night. The camera tilts up to the clock. It shows 11.00. The woman smiles and gets up slowly. As she walks towards the door, music suggesting violence builds up on the sound track. The shot inter-cuts to the innocent-looking character waiting outside, and the music builds up to a crescendo. Now we know that it is the character standing outside who is in danger. In both the cases, the visual clues used are minimal. It is the sound that builds the suspense.
- Video defines audio We know that video is planned and decided in advance in terms of camera angle and distance and duration. For example, let us again consider the woman in the first scene described above. The woman is alone at home and she hears a knock on the door. She knows that whoever is knocking is going to kill her. She is scared. Let us look at how the camera distance and editing can reveal the tension with the SFX in the background:
| Shot
|
Video
|
Audio
|
| 1
|
LS: Woman at desk, reading
|
No sound
|
| 2
|
MLS: Woman at desk, turning a page
|
Knock on the door
|
| 3
|
CU: Woman's face, scared, sweating
|
Knock on the door
|
In this example, it is not so much the knock that builds the tension. It is the woman's visual reaction that does it.
- Audio and video define effect The camera pans from a height across a deep forest late in the evening. As it pans, we can hear the chirping of birds and grunts of animals. A piece of music, sounding very delicate, builds up. Here, all the three: the visual (pan), the SFX (of the birds and animals), and the music add to the overall 'effect' of the scene. Individually, they may not have produced the same effect.
- Sound counterpoints picture This is where the sound used lends a meaning that is totally different from the visual. For example, the sound of cackling of hens contrasts with the sight of a man sharpening a knife, getting ready to slaughter them. The helplessness of the cackling sound is heightened when counter-posed with the picture. Contrapuntal sound has to be used with utmost care to make its point effectively.
Thus, when used intelligently, audio (in the form of speech, sound effects, and music) can create a profound impact.
|
Participants