Application Of Sound In Movies And Games Film Studies Essay

Application Of Sound In Movies And Games Film Studies EssayApproaches to Game Audio. Modern calculating machine plot of lands argon undeniably becoming more(prenominal) rattlingistic and cinematic. As graphics become better quality and game consoles become more powerful, the distinctive line between subscribes and computer games that was set in the 1970s now hardly inhabits. Graphics gift a big graphic symbol to play in carrys and modern computer games, but an blush larger part of films in my opinion is the medicine and the earphone in the film general. The music helps lay blue the tension, emphasise dramatic moments in the plot and giving films some other dimension to what is shown on screen. These proficiencys in music and un straited/ expectant forcefulnesss in film have been taken and apply into the deed of the modern computer game.Although the music and sound in film and modern computer game may have the corresponding cinematic practice, the way it is imple mented in computer games is very contrastive. This is because of the interactive nature of the gaming environment in the computer game. Th joltingout this assignment Im going to be airing at what kind of strategys game sound recording give outers have bring into beingd and adopted from film to produce effective speech sound in the music, chat and effects in computer games. We impart firstly be looking into the techniques on how film music and sound is made, and the different strategies have been use to produce them. Then at the strategies and techniques on music for modern games, then(prenominal) discussing and evaluating the different and similar techniques and strategys that computer games have adopted.Sound in filmMusic and sound have always been a big part of film. tear down before technology was advanced enough to play dialogue or music, silent films would ordinarily accompanied by a pianist or even a whole orchestra. But wherefore is sound so important to film? C omposer Aaron Copland describes five purposes of film music which we will be going into spot aboutCreating a convincing atmosphere of era and placeUnderlining psychological refinements the silent thoughts of the characterServing as a kind of neutral place setting fillerBuilding a sense of continuityUnderpinning the theatrical build-up of a scene, and rounding it finish up with a sense of finality. (Copland 1975 154-5)Creating a convincing atmosphere of time and placeComposers crowd out achieve creating a time and place by capturing the musical colour, creating the feeling that the music would be created in that location or time. They finish achieve this by employ instrument of that era or location- Bagpipes would suggest the scene was in Scotland, while a String quartet could symbolise a Scene from the 1800. Although this is an effective way of locating the film music all in ally in some respects, sometimes the composer or director of the film may not lack to use authentic Chinesemusic but just want to achieve a Chinese flavour or colour by using a pentatonic scale with Western instruments (Source 1) This can create a better effect everywhe veryl, hinting towards where the scene is musically without using unwanted interments.Underlining psychological refinements the un speak thoughts of the characterIn some instances, music can portray a psychological element much better than dialogue can. This type of film music key outms more effective if the composer reads over the script at the creation stage, making suggestions on where he would like the music to be. Far too often, however, this possibility is passed over and music is not allowed to speak (B source 1). Music can likewise give the viewer a better understanding on what is going on within the head of a character, not specific detail, but an overview. Leonard Rosenmanthinks that The musical contribution to the film should be ideally to create asupra-reality, a particularise wherein the elements of literary naturalism are perceptually altered. In this way the audience can have the insight into different aspects of behaviour and motivation not realistic under the aegis of naturalism. This show that music can give a film another dimension, bringing out emotions and insights into characters where film without sound cant.Serving as a kind of neutral background fillerThrough research many a(prenominal) composers feel this is one of the hardest things to do within composing a objet dart of music. Roy A. Prendergast point out that creating background music for a composer calls for him to be at his most subordinated. At times one of the functions of film music is to do zippo more than be at that place This shows that sometimes music is just haveed to blend in the background as though it would exist as sound rather than as constructed music.Building a sense of continuityWhat is meant by continuity in film is that music can hold a film unneurotic Music can tie together a visua l medium that is, by its very nature, continually in danger of falling unconnected (B source 1).The editor of the film will probably be the most aware of this particular attribute of music in films. Music can also bring a film together as a whole using a unifying musical idea.Underpinning the theatrical build-up of a scene, and rounding it off with a sense of finalityWhen used correctly, music can add a huge criterion of intensity and intimacy to a scene, it can express a gut reaction unobtainable in any other way (B Source 1) But music isnt a miracle worker, a lot of considerably composers have been asked to create music for a weak scene, hoping that it will the scene stronger. But if the scene is weak it is near impossible to contain it stronger, and sadly it is normally the composer who critics blame.Three forms of musicThe sound in Cinema takes on three different forms Speech, Music or Noise.SpeechThe dialogue in films are spoken by the players or narration heard as a voic e over (Source 2). A major component in speech for films is an automated dialogue replacement. When enter on set there is normally back ground noise of traffic or planes flying overhead, this drowns the actors lines out. Because of this, the dialogue is enter within a studio. Recording dialogue in this way makes it possible for actors to make their lines more dramatic then recording on location. An guinea pig of this is the screaming by the actor in Jurassic Park actually was recorded in the sound studios in New York and Los Angeles (source 2). In the studio an ADR expert would match the new recording with the film, making sure that they were properly in sync so that the audience isnt aware of it being recorded in a studio.MusicMusic is a very powerful component to a film, in many different ways. For example in musicals such as The Sound of Music (1965) the music trys to overtake the audience creating an emotional response when music and words are linked in a scene (B source 2) . Music also helps explain and drift the plot instrumentally. Themes are very commonly used for someone characters, for example Star wars when Darth Vader appears on screen his theme music is played.There are two different types of film music. Firstly there is Source music, which is the realistic part of the scene Street Musicians, Rock band playing in the background etcetera The second film type is Underscoring Music motivated by dramatically consideration (B source 3). The composers are normally not needed until a rough cut of the film is made, or even later. Within films that have to be shot in time with music that does not exist yet a temporary music track may be played on set (B source 3).Many films without music feel very empty this is why films are normally pretracked. The editor would cut scenes to stock or classical music so that the tempo and phrasing lend structure to the footage. Composers then have the task too music that is similar but different. In scoring, one of the first steps is deciding which scene will have music this is called spotting. The composer will have to cue the start and end of the scene with a stop watch. The music editor will then create a time tabloid or breakdown which will change the feet of the film into seconds, or even smaller time scale. He will then detail the action in a cue, making it easier for the composer to write any way he wants, The closes synchronisation of music to action is called Mickey-mousing (B Source 3)There are two main types of cues in films. Long Cues which are distance normally classical reports of composition, an example of this is a scene from Gold finger where planes are dropping sleeping gas on to a military base, throughout this scene that lasts over two minutes, the same composition is played throughout.Short cues are normally just a some bars of music this normally acts as punctuation. For example, in many horror films when someone is going to be stabbed with a knife, this is normal a ccompanied with a thread playing a high sustained chord, giving a sense of anticipation and making the audience uncomfortable.At the recording stage of the music, the conductor of the piece is alerted by a streamer, a three-foot scratch in the film at the end of which a punched hole producing a light on the screen that acts as the starting cue. For the additional short cue scenes, there are similar streamers that will alert the conductor. Throughout the recording, the conductor will normally have a set of headphones where he can listen to the dialogue or a click track.NoiseThis can be any other sound that can be heard within the movie for example footsteps or birds. Usually the quality recorded on set is poor, which means that special sound effect (SFX) have to be produced in a studio. To produce these sound effects, sound technicians called Foley artists will record different sound effect with items in a studio. For example to create a horse walking, the Foley artist can use two h alf of a coconut and tap them on the table or floor, or using a metal sheet to create the sound of thunder. Many of these sound effects can be bought digitally from companies that have noise libraries for a cheaper cost then to get Foley artists. But many producers for major motion pictures will employ people and spend more money on Foley artists to create custom sounds for the movie.TimingThere are two different timings within films Viewing Time and Story Time. Viewing time means the physical length of the film. This normally differs from Story time, which is the time that passes within the film itself. Films can normally cover a few years in the characters lives, but most films that we see only take around a couple hours to watch. Viewing time becomes an instrument of the plots manipulation of story time. (B Source 3)Matching a sound or dialogue within the films images is called synchronization. When dialogue or sound is synchronized properly, the audience will not normally be abl e to tell if everything has been over overdubbed, or sound effects have been added.Sound in gamesThe process of producing game sound recording resembles in many ways the production of film audio. Game audio follows the same five purposes of film rules made by Aaron Copland, has similar recording techniques for live sound and Foley, and use many of the same software and recording equipment. A lot of game play, i.e. the battles or the big set pieces, essentially has to be scored in some form or fashion. So thats all similar to a film. (B source 4)Although these traits are very similar between game audio and film audio, there are very distinctive differences in the processes. Most of film audio is normally done on the post-production stage, which takes place after the film has been edited and the visuals have been locked (the final version set) (B source 4). A large amount of time is spent mixing and balancing the sounds at this stage, which is one of the most significant differences between film and games sound. Post- production within film doesnt generally exist within game audio. This is because the timings are variable, the music needs to adapt to the game play. The reason for this is because some game players may vary greatly in the length of time needed to complete a level, and often they can complete tasks in different ways. The way they have come across this hurdle is by creating adaptive audio or interactive audio to others.To find out how game audio makes this adaptive or interactive audio, we are going to look through the three production stages. The three stem can be found in the same file or separate files depending on the individual or companys choice.Pre mathematical productThe first step on pre production for game audio is the creation of an audio design document. An audio design document contains the elaborate of the design and implementation of the games audio. At this early stage, the audio team dont have much information they may only hav e storyboards and characters sketches on which they have to develop an audio design document. But with this information the can start at an early stage of the production, making sure that the audio plays a significant part in the game. The first thing is to determine what type of game it is, finding out the genre and theme for the audio. One technique of finding out the rightfulness genre is by creating a temp track. A temp track means placing pre-existing music where the final composition should be. This helps the composer have an idea on where to work from.The second step is how the sound will interact with the gameplay. Rules will normally be placed out by the games designer describing what role the sound design will have within the game. The next stage is to find out which parts of the game should have ambient sound and music. This is known as spotting, it involves defining cue point entrances, exits, play-ins/play-outs, and game state changes, as well as deciding if the games variables (such as players health, surface properties, and so on) will be used to change sound parameters(B source 4). To help the music fit into context with the game, a music cue list can be created. This helps break down the storyboard or script into segments and chapters, creating an individual map for the game, as well as for distributively individual level.At theses first stages the audio team will need to look for spots for environments, action, pace, tension/release, objects, characters/personalitys and so on. Another important step is spotting the game in terms of emotion Within a games there is normally movement or a certain rhythm in terms of emotional peaks and valleys (B source 4). To help the sound designer which sounds may step in with one and another and which sounds need emphasis, an emotion map can be created showing tension and release points. At this stage level descriptions are gloomy down into different sound types, for example ambient noises, weapons sounds , Foley etc. These sound types will be created within an asset list which can be used at a later stage too track recording in order to reproduce sounds at a later stage, if necessaryProductionAt this stage the production of game sound is normally taken place in several different locations. Like production of film sound sound libraries are used and normally these effects are layered and manipulated to create the right effect. Bigger companies may have a dedicated Foley studio where Foley artists are hired and are told to create original sound effects for the game. The same techniques in film are used in game audio for sound.One of the most useful techniques that are being used in game audio is the processing of digital signal processing (DSP) in real time. Being able to do this saves a lot of recording time for the sound developers. Before processing DSP in real time effects on certain sounds had to be re-recorded individually, for example to get the effect of footsteps to change whe n walking from, say, a stone path into a cave, the effects would have to be pre recorded onto the footsteps file (B Source 4) But now only one sound sample of footsteps needs to be recorded, this is because the DSP filters can be set for location, making the audio responded physics graphic engines which can create more realistic sounding effects in real time while playing the game.The final part of the audio production process is the integration of the music, sound effects, and dialogue. The integration of audio into game decides how the audio will be triggered within the game. This also controls what part of the audio might change the games state or the games parameters. For example Music or ambience tracks may be triggered by location, by game state, by time-ins or time-outs, by players, or by various game events.For the composers music to work with the game, it must be able to integrate into it. Cutting the music into chunks, splits or loops may help in creating a much more dyna mic score for the game. An hour or so of music can be stretched out to many hours by cutting it up and looping it. To make it easier to cut, normally the songs have to be quite rhythmic. In game music compositions, the composer will normally make sure that the music is played within the same key throughout. This is because it is easy for sections to be cut and looped without the audience realising.The music composers for Red Dead Redemption sedate the music by creating many riffs and small composition lasting less than a minute each, all within the same key. After mastering each one individually, they then put it into the music engine of the game where segments of the musical material are constantly chosen at random an put together to form a piece of music. (B source 5)Music can not only be cut, but also elements of it can be changed in real time in the game engine, for example DSP effects, tempo and instrumentation. Software such as Wwise and FMOD are being used much more these da ys to create editing such as this. This is because the software lowers cost and production time, and makes it easier to integrate a more dynamic score within the game.Segments of the musical material are constantly chosen at random and put together to create a piece of music.Post Production stageAt this stage of production the main task is the mixing of the audio. The mixer has to find anything within the mix which is unnatural, too much repetition or anything having an unnatural imbalance. Within current games, the different stems of audio are competing with each other because they are all in the same aural space. This gives a great risk of sounds being in the same sound range and masking each other out. This is also problematic within film, but because of the unpredictability on where different sounds are going to be heard in a game, makes the mixing an even more difficult task. A strategy mixers have used to tackle this obstacle is by prioritizing sounds real-time in games. Usi ng FX and ducking the music when dialogue happens, is an effective way of making sure needed information is passed on to the player. Another effective technique is making certain frequencies in the music quieter this makes room for the dialogue to be heard and the music still has a presence.Strategies adopted by game audio developersTo make it easier to see the similarities and differences in film and game audio, they have been made into two different sectionsSimilaritiesFilm and game audio have very similar, if not exact recording techniques. They both(prenominal) have to overdub dialogue and ambience. Game audio however, is more reliant on over dubbing, this is because there is no original sound because they have to create the ambience and dialogue from scratch. They both follow similar rules in what they want from the audio, and how they want their audience too feel. The music is very similar, both film and game audio often have scores arranged by professional composers, have a dedicated team that that deal with all the audios needs.DifferencesEvaluateConclusionOverall thoughtsExamples, including discussion and evaluation, of strategies adopted by game audio developersConclusionReferences.