All language subtitles for 15. Motivating Drama With Sound

Now, in

the previous module, we talked about
how an editor can use synchronous

sound to focus viewers attention on
specific parts of the story and the scene.

In this module, we'll be looking at
four ways that you can use asynchronous

or offscreen
sound to tell rich and compelling stories.

Now, there's only

so much storytelling
you can do with picture alone.

Sound is often needed to clarify
the meaning of a moment and provide

contextual detail about the environment
surrounding the characters.

Sometimes it won't even be possible to
convey certain information without sound.

For example, is that character just upset

or upset and up to something

Is the weather outside warm and pleasant?

Or hot and stifling?

So so

your choice of sounds
can dramatically affect

not only the tone and emotion of a scene,
but will also determine

how well your audience understands
the plot as it unfolds.

Over the next few lessons.

We're going to explore four ways
that you can use asynchronous

or off screen sound in your cuts.

First, you can use it throughout a film
to motivate drama

and pull the viewer forward in the story.

Second, you can use asynchronous
sound to create humor.

Third, you can use asynchronous sound
to simulate the supernatural.

And fourth, you can use it to share very
specific plot details with your audience.

The really special thing
about cutting asynchronous sound

is that you're completely free
of the sound image connection.

Your imagination can run wild,
and your only limitation

is staying true to the story
the film is trying to tell.

All right, so let's begin with

using off screen sound to motivate drama,

motivating
drama with sound is all about timing,

just as a character would react or respond
to the dialog of another character.

They can react and respond to off screen
sound

affecting their actions, expressions,
thoughts and words.

It's a cause and effect relationship
that exists between the characters

and their world.

Sometimes this sound is written into the
script as an actual event in the scene.

Like in this example
from the 2007 film No Country for Old Men.

Do you have any idea

how crazy or

you mean the nature of this conversation?

I mean the nature you knew

you could have the money

and time.

In this case,
the sound written into the script

was the phone ringing, followed by Wells
looks at the phone sugar hasn't moved.

Wells looks at sugar,
waiting for a decision.

The low chug of the shotgun,
the phone sound, which began

as a startling offscreen noise, became
the driver of the drama that followed.

Here's
another example of an off screen sound

that was written into a script
to motivate the drama of a scene.

This is from the 2007 film Atonement.

The off screen sound in
this case is the buzzing of a wasp

You can see that it was specifically
written into the script

as a method of attracting the character's
attention and drawing her to the window.

Once there, she'll see her older sister
flirting with a boy she has a crush

on, which provides the foundation
for conflict later in the film.

Notice how the buzzing noise
almost becomes part of the score

as it comes
and goes throughout the cut at the end.

It increases in volume, building
tension into the climax of the scene.

At which point it disappears completely.

The buzzing of the wasp

is the offscreen sound
that initiates this chain of events

and it was deliberately
added into the code by the editor per

the instructions of the script.
In examples

like these, when your asynchronous sound
is written into the script.

Your job as an editor is straightforward.

It's basically paint by number.

Just add the sound that the character
is supposed to hear and you're done.

Someone else has already done
the thinking about how the sound

will serve as a storytelling cue
and impact the world of the characters.

Your biggest task is to make sure
the sound feels like it's existing

within the actual environment,
which is usually accomplished

with a bit of cue work
and a touch of very subtle reverb.

If the space calls for it.

But sometimes your job isn't so easy

Sometimes off screen
sounds are not written into the script.

Maybe the sounds are very subtle,
or maybe they're needed

more by the audience
than by the characters in the film.

Sometimes their purpose is to communicate
something directly

with the viewers themselves.

Let's look at an example
of using subtle offscreen sound

to capture the attention of the viewer
and clue them in to what's happening.

Here we have another moment
from the film Atonement.

The character Briony

is reading from a play she's written
while she's reading another character whom

you might know better as Theon Greyjoy
enters the room, interrupting the reading.

This is the tale of spontaneous

Arabella,
who ran away with an extrinsic fellow.

It's grieved her parents
to see their firstborn, Eva

Ness, from her home
to go to Eastbourne. Yes.

Nothing.

Just thought I watched.

Based on the angle at which he's entering,

Briony can see him, but the viewer cannot.

He's behind our field of vision.

The addition of the creeks
and the floor planks as he approaches.

Parents to see their first born Eva Ness
from her home to go to Eastbourne.

And finally, the squeak of the door

as it opens. Yes.

Do a good job creating the disruptive

moment from the vantage
point of the female character.

The audience is told with sound
what the character in the film

is experiencing visually.

In addition to keeping the viewer
informed, sound cues like these

will go a long way in smoothing out
the transitions between shots and scenes,

making the cut flow
all that much more smoothly.

Always remember that you have this tool
at your disposal.

These little touches are deceptively
simple and can easily be

left out most of the time to the detriment
of the final product.

In this lesson,

we explored how you can use off screen
or asynchronous sound to motivate drama,

either by informing the character
the viewer or both.

We looked at examples
of asynchronous sound

that were written into the script itself,
and also examples of sound

that were added by the editor
For the purpose of clarifying the moment.

Coming up in the next lesson,
we'll look at how you can use

asynchronous sound to create humor
and simulate the supernatural.

All right. I'll see you in a bit.