This week you will investigate some sound design terminology.
Task: Investigate these phrases and work out how they apply to sound design: Harmony, Dissonance, On screen, Off screen, Diegetic, Nondiegetic, Active, Passive.
Clue: active and passive are branches of off-screen sound.
Once you have accurate definitions and clear understandings of these terms you should try and find an example on youtube for each of these terms. Write down the video, the web url (i.e. the http://www. address) and the time in the video where the sound design feature can be heard.
To add a slight edge of competition whoever finds the best example of each term will get to show it to the class at the end.
...and here are those definitions:
Harmony: These sounds are pleasing to our ears. They are often used in sound design to create a sense of relaxation or to demonstrate that everything is in its right place within a scene.
Dissonance: Sounds that don’t please our ears – often described as a clash of sounds. They create a sense of conflict or making us feel uneasy. They show us that something is wrong in the scene.
Diegetic: Any sound that would be heard by the characters in the story.
Nondiegetic: Any sound that would not be heard by the characters in the story. Examples include voice over narration and musical accompaniment.
On screen: Use this term to refer to sound that comes from a source that we can see on screen. E.g. door slams, footsteps.
Off screen: We hear the sound and we know it is ‘in scene’ but we don’t see the source. Examples are traffic background noise, bird song, thunder or even hearing a monster moving around but we can’t yet see it!
Active: This relates to off-screen sounds. Active off-screen sounds raise questions in the audience such as “What is it?”, “What’s happening?”, “What does that scary monster look like?”.
Passive: This relates to off-screen sounds. Passive off-screen sounds create atmosphere and environment helping to immerse the audience in the situation.
