Mood

Emotion, Tone, and Working with Music

Layers of mood

Character
- voice or foley
Soundscapes or ambience
- Diegetic - sound of the world of the film
- Non-diegetic - sound outside the world of the film

The different areas of the soundtrack offer distinct possibilities for generating mood.
Emotions can be created through:
- Diegetic sound: This is sound that has a source within the scene and reaches the ears of the characters. For example, the sound of a car driving by or a character speaking.
- Non-diegetic sound: This is sound that lies beyond the physics of the story world and has no material cause. For example, music, sound effects that are added in post-production, or a voiceover.

Examples of non-diegetic sound that can be used to create mood:

An impact when a title appears
A sound in the protagonist’s imagination
A ghostly noise to indicate an eerie presence in the room

Non-diegetic sound can be a very effective way to create a particular mood in a film. For example, the use of suspenseful music in a horror film can help to build tension and anticipation. Or, the use of upbeat music in a comedy film can help to create a sense of fun and excitement.

Sound designers use a variety of techniques to create different types of moods in films. They carefully consider the placement of sound effects, the type of music that is used, and the overall soundscape of a scene. By doing so, they can create a truly immersive experience for the audience.

Context	Sound	Effect on mood
Sociable	Distant children playing	Adds to lively, positive feeling
Isolated	Distant children playing	Increases loneliness, sense of absence
Mickey Mouse	Upbeat whistling	Enhances a cheerful, innocent feel
Serial killer	Upbeat whistling	Suggests threat, sinister intent

Sound can be used to create mood in a film by playing on three different spaces:
- The world: the physical space of the film
- The mind: the thoughts and feelings of the characters
- Beyond: the world beyond the film, such as the audience’s own experiences and emotions
Relationships in time also work to modulate mood. The same sound can land differently depending on the situation. For example, the sound of rain on a window can be soothing or menacing depending on the context.
Any sound that is introduced can emotionally support or oppose the context:
- Context: The existing mood or atmosphere of the film
- Sound: The sound that is introduced
- Effect on mood: How the sound affects the mood of the film
Examples:
- Context: Sociable
- Sound: Distant children playing
- Effect on mood: Adds to lively, positive feeling
- Context: Isolated
- Sound: Distant children playing
- Effect on mood: Increases loneliness, sense of absence
- Context: Mickey Mouse
- Sound: Upbeat whistling
- Effect on mood: Enhances a cheerful, innocent feel
- Context: Serial killer
- Sound: Upbeat whistling
- Effect on mood: Suggests threat, sinister intent

In the first two examples, the sound echoes the context, increasing a particular feeling directly. In the last two examples, the sound plays against the context, highlighting the existing emotion through counterpoint.

Sound designers can use this knowledge to create complex and nuanced soundscapes that help to tell the story and evoke emotions in the audience.

Terminal Sud

Tubi - 14:11 - 15:30

Summary of the movie in bullet points:

The movie is set in an unnamed African country on the brink of civil war.
Dr. Kalé is a dedicated physician who runs a clinic in the capital city. He tirelessly treats patients of all backgrounds and political affiliations as tensions rise.
When riots break out in the streets, rebel soldiers force Dr. Kalé to come treat their wounded leader in a remote village.
Though treated kindly at first, he soon becomes a hostage and target as government forces approach.
Trapped in the village and hunted by both sides, Dr. Kalé must rely on his medical skills and human compassion to survive.
He forges an unlikely connection with the rebel leader’s daughter.
Ultimately Dr. Kalé risks his life to save others amidst the chaos of war.

Heard in a clearly negative context, as in Terminal Sud’s death threat scene, the water striking the window takes on a more menacing quality, growing heavy as the mood darkens.

Sound and script

Two Days, One Night

Tubi
- Power tools - 20:17 - 24:40
- Birds in a park - 42:50 - 44:40

Here are summary bullet points for how sound design can establish mood in film, using the examples from Two Days, One Night:

Audible mood can be written into the script, leading the audience in a specific direction emotionally.
In Two Days, One Night, a screeching tile cutting sound builds tension as Sandra approaches a colleague’s house to ask a favor.
The sound mirrors Sandra’s inner conflict and gets louder as she draws nearer, reaching an intense level.
Counterpoint is used in a later scene, with birdsong contrasting Sandra’s lack of freedom.
Sound design often happens in post-production, not during screenwriting.
Directors may want to transform a scene emotionally via sound, but packed scripts can limit options.
Constant dialogue/visuals leave little room for meaningful sound design influence.
Non-verbal sound comes into focus when the audience can’t get the full story from words/images.
Space must be allowed in scenes where sound mood is particularly important.
Ideal situation: visuals and sounds are ambiguous separately but evoke meaning in combination.

Dramatic Irony and Suspense

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Plex - 54:00 - 58:55

Examples:

Alfred Hitchcock often allowed his characters to know more than the audience, an aspect of his reputation as the master of suspense. He used sound to create this effect during the concert hall finale of The Man Who Knew Too Much, in which the orchestra drowns out the lead characters’ on-screen plotting. The audience’s innate curiosity to know what is happening brings a sense of urgency, propelling the scene forward.
Likewise, if a character becomes aware of something off screen, the director might choose to delay, or withhold the revelation of the source, to keep an audience guessing.

In conclusion, sound design can be used to create irony and suspense in a film. By controlling what the audience hears, sound designers can create a sense of tension and anticipation, keeping the audience guessing about what is going to happen next.

Synopsis: Bob and Charlotte share a deep but fleeting connection in Tokyo, leaving a lingering sense of intimacy and mystery as they whisper a final goodbye, their words inaudible to the audience.

The whisper in the taxi scene:

Intimacy and mystery: The whisper adds a touch of intimacy and mystery to the scene. We don’t know what Bob said, but it was clearly meaningful. This whisper speaks to the private bond the two formed that we can sense but not fully access as the audience.
Fleeting nature of the encounter: The unheard words echo the fleeting nature of their encounter. We only glimpse a small part of their relationship. The whisper suggests there were more moments out of frame that remain unseen.
Distance: Sonically, the muted whisper over the soundtrack reinforces the sense of distance now separating them. We strain to hear Bob’s final words to Charlotte but cannot. Their connection is already fading into memory.
Quietly devastating ending: Overall the whispered goodbye creates a quietly devastating ending. The sound design choice reflects the bittersweet emotion and lyrical tone of the scene perfectly.

The whisper in the taxi scene is a powerful example of how sound can be used to create emotion and meaning in a film. The sound designer’s choice to have Bob whisper to Charlotte, and to make his words inaudible to the audience, creates a sense of intimacy, mystery, and distance. It also reinforces the fleeting nature of their encounter and the bittersweet emotion of their goodbye.

Working with music

Music and sound design are two key elements of filmmaking that work together to create mood.
One notable example of a successful collaboration between composer and sound designer is the pairing of Skip Lievsay and Carter Burwell.
Central to their process is early discussion of where a particular sound effect or music cue should be present, and which area of the frequency spectrum it will occupy.

Music and sound design:

Alongside sound design, music is a key maker of mood, often able to express itself more freely when it comes to the image.
On smaller productions, a single person may be responsible for both areas, but usually musical selections and creations are handled by a separate department.
Within this team, a composer writes new pieces, known as music cues, whilst a music supervisor deals with commercial tracks. A music editor works to fit both to the picture.
Ideally, the departments collaborate closely from pre-production onwards, with ideas and drafts being shared along the way.
Composition and sound design are effectively painting in the same frame, but the boundary can become especially blurred if the ideas step beyond the naturalistic world of the action.

Collaboration between composer and sound designer:

One notable example of a successful collaboration between composer and sound designer is the pairing of Skip Lievsay and Carter Burwell, who often work on productions for the Coen Brothers.
Central to their process is early discussion of where a particular sound effect or music cue should be present, and which area of the frequency spectrum – low, mid or high – it will occupy.
Elements at similar pitches can clash, and so by first splitting up the frequency spectrum scene-to-scene, sound and music can dovetail more elegantly.
Conversations can also be had about rhythm. If the plan is to use distinctive patterns of percussive sound effects in a scene, it would usually be wise to avoid beat-driven music at the same time, and vice versa.
An early sense of the score’s musical keys can also prove a helpful resource for designers, enabling the re-pitching of sound elements to suit.

In conclusion, music and sound design are two essential elements of filmmaking that can work together to create a powerful and immersive experience for the audience. By collaborating closely from pre-production onwards, composers and sound designers can create a soundscape that is both cohesive and emotionally resonant.

Pre-existing tracks

Scenes with music:
- If characters need to respond to music directly, the music may be played back during filming.
- If the director wants to use the live recordings, it is best to film the scene in one take or with multiple cameras to avoid continuity problems.
- More often, pre-recorded music is added in the early stages of post-production.
- The chosen music may be changed after filming, as each track’s usage must be approved by the record label and songwriter.
Diegetic music:
- The sound department may also offer suggestions for diegetic music, also known as source music.
- A character’s personality can be enhanced by musically styling their phone ring tone, doorbell, or alarm clock.
- For background elements — radios, televisions, parties next door — a sound designer may use their own creations or public domain music to create the right mood.
- Sound designers may also experiment with adding a musical instrument to the environment, such as a busker, wind chimes, or a music box (a common cliché in horror films).

Summary of the sing-along scene in American Honey:

The scene takes place in the back of a van, as the characters drive through the American Midwest.
The van is packed with young people from all walks of life, and they are all singing along to the song “American Honey” by Lady Antebellum.
The scene is full of energy and excitement. The characters are singing and dancing, and they are all having a great time.
The camera moves around the van, capturing the different characters and their expressions of joy.
The scene is also visually stunning. The director, Andrea Arnold, uses natural light and beautiful scenery to create a sense of freedom and possibility.
The characters are surrounded by endless fields of corn and sunflowers, and the sky is a clear blue.
The sing-along scene is more than just a fun musical number. It is also a powerful metaphor for the characters’ search for identity and belonging.
They are all young people who are trying to find their place in the world, and the sing-along scene is a moment when they all come together and feel a sense of community.
The scene is also significant because it reflects the film’s themes of youth, freedom, and the American dream.
The characters are all chasing their dreams, and the sing-along scene is a moment when they can all let go and be themselves.
Overall, the sing-along scene in American Honey is a powerful and moving scene that captures the essence of the film. It is a scene that is full of energy, excitement, and hope.

Worldizing

Placing music in scenes:
- Once the music selections have been made, the clean recordings can be placed within their scenes by applying reverb and EQ, simulating the acoustics of a diegetic space.
- A more interesting approach is to use a process called worldizing, pioneered by Walter Murch on American Graffiti.
- For this technique, the music is played over a speaker into a physical space and the results are recorded.
- This is usually done with a mono speaker and a stereo microphone, experimenting with placement to achieve the desired result.
- Different set-ups can be captured to give a variety of options, and the effect can later be softened by mixing some of the clean signal back in.
Emulating sound-colouring devices:
- In order to emulate a sound-colouring device — a phone, television or car radio, for example — we can use a similar real-world machine for the playback.

Example:

To create the sound of a song playing on a car radio, we could play the music through a car radio speaker and record the results with a microphone.

Benefits of worldizing:

Worldizing can create a more realistic and immersive sound experience.
It can also be used to create unique and interesting sound effects.

Overall, worldizing is a powerful tool that can be used to enhance the sound design of a film or other media project.

Diegetic Switching

A diegetic switch is a device where source music transitions into score, or vice versa, in a wink to the audience that acknowledges the artifice of cinema.
This can be done by cutting or crossfading between clean and worldized recordings, or by employing different versions of the music itself.
A diegetic switch can bring a playful tone to a scene.
An example of a diegetic switch is in Star Trek II, where Scottie plays Amazing Grace on his bagpipes at Spock’s funeral, and then an orchestra picks up the melody as the coffin shoots out of the USS Enterprise.
The audience readily accepts the melody’s ascent through the layers of cinematic reality, rather than assuming that there is a spacecraft just out of frame that contains an entire symphonic ensemble.

In other words, a diegetic switch is a way to remind the audience that they are watching a movie, and that the music they are hearing is not necessarily coming from the world of the film itself. This can be done for a variety of reasons, such as to create a humorous or playful effect, or to highlight the emotional impact of a scene.

Acousmatic Sound

Non-diegetic sound:

Acousmatic sounds are sound effects that have no apparent source within the scene.
They are often used in genres that deal with supernatural forces or the workings of the mind, to communicate unseen events or create ambiguous moods.
The rumble also falls under this heading, as it is not tied to the image and instead determines its own shape in response to the narrative beats of a scene.
Overlaid sounds in classic cartoons use a similar device, but for comedic effect.
The boundary between sound design and music can become particularly blurred in the non-diegetic space.
This can create a delicate political situation with the composer, but it also provides fertile ground for magical transformations.
One example is the scene in Stalker’s first foray into ‘The Zone’, where the sound of a railroad cart becomes increasingly melodic in feel, transporting the audience into dream-like territory.