A movie blockbuster, commercial television commercial and narrative video have one thing in common – they all have sound effects to lay emphasis and emote effectively. An audio or a sound effect is an artificially created, enhanced sound that emphasizes artistic or other content of the films.
Sound effects are known to simulate reality, create a specific mood or emotion, and add or create something that is off screen. Sound effects can be generated in numerous ways. They may be natural recordings, such as the sound of birds, thunder etc. They can also be recordings of settings, such as the sound of traffic in a city. Sound recordings can also be completely artificial or generated, made using digitally edited recording. Artificial sound recordings are commonly used when movies involve the creation of a different world, for example fantasy or science fiction movies.
There are several uses for sound effects in filmmaking. Four of the best uses in the history of filmmaking are indicated below:
- Star Wars: Sound effects were used in Star Wars to make the world of outer space more relatable to audiences. While scientifically, sound cannot travel in a vacuum, the Stars Wars universe contained meticulous and detailed sound editing, even to the opening and closing of doors. This made the premise of the movie, that of inter-galactic warfare, believable to audiences not used to the science fiction genre.
- Psycho: Alfred Hitchcock is known as one of the greatest directors primarily for deft handling of the camera. However, few know that Hitchcock spent just as much time meticulously detailing the sound of his movies. The infamous shower scene in Psycho and the foreboding footsteps of a killer stalking his victim made audiences dread in fear when watching Hitchcock’s visual masterpieces.
- Funny Girl: Previously, movies preferred lip-syncing to recorded audio. However, Funny Girl was a landmark in sound engineering as songs were recorded live on set. This not only advanced the entire field of sound engineering, which had to capture high quality audio live on set, but also gave a much needed boost to the world of musicals.
- The Matrix: The Matrix had a novel storyline which involved the creation of a parallel digital world. While this may not seem as novel today, audiences would have found the concept difficult to understand when it was released. The composers of the movie had to create a unique soundscape imagining what a digital world may sound like, experimenting with combining different sound effects. The end result made the world of The Matrix a living parallel reality that is still etche in the minds of viewers today.
Use of sound effects in filmmaking is also enhanced by the liberal use of royalty free music and copyright free music. With the emergence of the internet, sound engineers can now tap into recordings created for free and released in the public domain for universal use, or recordings where the copyright of the author has expired. A wide range of such royalty free music and copyright free music is available widely, on demand based on the requirement of the film. Particularly with independent films, where cost of production is a significant concern, royalty free music and copyright free music is a low cost option to achieve the necessary results.
Filmmakers must pay particular attention to the use of sound effects to provide appropriate context to their films. To make the process efficient, filmmakers should also use the large library of royalty free music and copyright free music that is available freely on the internet. The history of use of sound effects provides great examples of how these have been used to connect with audiences, which is still remembered today.
