The Soundtrack

The Greek word diegesis was used by Aristotle to describe the world of the story that is created by the text. In movies, the diegesis is the fictional world that is shown on screen. This fictional world of the diegesis is the world experienced by the characters.

It is not the same as that world as experienced by the audience, which may include other elements such as orchestral music or voice-over narration. The diegesis can include all of the events that the characters in the story experience — whether in the past, present or future. Thus, the diegesis of a soap opera would include the ‘bible’ that outlines all of the character histories as well as their likely future paths.

In television or film, sound can come from only one of two sources. Either it comes from inside the story or it is happening outside the story. These two sources of sound are labelled diegetic or nondiegetic sound.

Diegetic Sound

Sound from within the story is called diegetic sound because it happens inside the diegesis (the world of the story). This means the story characters, as well as the audience, must be able to hear the sound. It could be a gunshot or it could be music from a radio in the scene, for example. Usually the audience can see the source of the sound. Diegetic sound comes from the on-screen action that we observe and that the characters participate in.

Non-diegetic Sound

Sound that is imported into the movie but isn’t related to the on-screen action is called nondiegetic sound. Nondiegetic sound may contribute to the story or it may build atmosphere or enhance the emotional power of a scene, but its source isn’t seen on screen. If the characters can’t hear it, it is nondiegetic. Voiceovers and narration are nondiegetic sound.

Dimensions of Sound

Sound has three dimensions in television and film:

Music. The power of music to manipulate the emotions has always been acknowledged. It is often the music that makes an image come alive, producing an effect in combination with the image that is greater than each element on its own.

Sound effects. Sound effects and background noises help create a sense of reality in a visual text. They also build the idea of a real space in which the action is taking place.

Dialogue. According to media academics and educators Barrie McMahon and Robyn Quin, there are two extremes of television and film dialogue.

At one end of the spectrum is highly staged theatrical dialogue. At the other end is mood dialogue in which it is the characterisation the words convey, rather than the words themselves, that is important. Most modern dialogue is a blend of the two.

Overlapping Sound

Just as a brick wall is built by overlapping brick after brick, a visual text is assembled by overlapping sound and image. Cuts to the image are not exactly aligned to cuts to the sound. Sound fl ows over the shot joins and unites the scenes. Overlapping of sound during dialogue sequences is a feature of most modern texts. Cutting to the next speaker for a response shot is usually done before the fi rst speaker has fi nished. Similarly, background sounds (such as traffi c or trains) can be introduced before a cut to a different environment. The easiest way to bind any sequence together is to use music. This is most clearly demonstrated in music video clips and MTV.

Types of Sound

Two types of sound are used in the visual language of television and fi lm. Film theorists have come up with a variety of terms for these types of sound. For example, Karel Reisz uses the terms synchronous and asynchronous. James Monaco uses parallel and contrapuntal. He argues that music, sound effects and speech can work with the image, or else comment on it.

Parallel sound

Parallel sound, says Monaco, is logically connected with the image. The sound comes from within the scene or emphasises some aspect of the scene. The classical style of Hollywood’s golden age relied on parallel sound, with music, sound effects and dialogue underlining and supporting the image.

Contrapuntal sound

Contrapuntal sound provides a commentary on the image and may be unconnected to it. The sound may work against the image to create a third meaning. Contrapuntal sound can come from outside the scene. Stanley Kubrick’s fi lms 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange (1972) both use contrapuntal music. In A Clockwork Orange, Beethoven’s symphonies are contrasted with futuristic scenes of stylised violence. Hitchcock used contrapuntal sound in Psycho. Scenes of apparent ordinariness were given high tension through use of a disturbing orchestral soundtrack.