The Purpose of the Soundtrack LOTR - (Lord of the Rings)
The Soundtrack Purpose
Establish an atmosphere
Tells the audience how to feel
Sets a pace for a scene. think action movie sequence
Entice the imagination
Subliminal storytelling mode
Define or give information about a character (often through a developing leitmotif)
Stimulates/ enhances visual imaging
Establish a time or a place ie oriental music
Ad dramatic effect sooth or startle
Indicates a geographic location
Define a change of scene
The film clip starts off quiet so you aren't really feeling a mood however it does add to the tension because you are then waiting for something bad to happen. When the dragon lifts off, all sound is blown straight through you giving you an immediate reaction of fear. The immediate fear is a result of the increases loudness, the deep tone and the ambiance. As the soldiers are lining up waiting to battle, you are forced to feel on the edge because the sound slowly builds up so you expect the battle to begin but the silence give you the feeling that you, like the characters, have been waiting to go to battle but are nervous and scared. You really connect with the film and feel like you are with the soldiers lining up ready to battle. As the film goes on you feel more excited but scared as you run towards the enemy. You get caught up in the film and you feel the rush the characters feel, it makes you feel like you are the character running into battle.
The instruments are normally drums when building up then stings to increase the tension or to introduce 'The King'. The pace of music changes a loot throughout the clip. The pace is slow and has a deep tone to begin as this gives the clip tension and keeps the audience on edge. The pace speeds up when the king is introduced and when the battle begins as this is the release o all the build up tension and is now showing the audience the feat of the characters going into battle but also the adrenalin rush they are having. At the end when the two groups go into battle, you hear a squishing
/ squirting noise as the swords kill the opposite team, this isn't a realistic noise however it allows the audience to imagine whats happening in as much detail as possible.
Music is generally associated with characters so when you look at a character you automatically know by the music if that character is to be trusted or not. We know the Orcs (the enemy) are the characters we don't trust because we hear negative music associated with their entrance on screen. We know the Orcs are bad not only because of the music associated with them but also their deep tone that they have when they grunt/ growl. Another example is when Darth Vader from Star Wars enters, you automatically know he is the villain simply by his entrance music. (See clip below)
The score in this video clip creates tension. Its effective because it creates a mood for you to feel, it makes you feel like you are going to battle throughout the whole film clip.
Dialogue or ADR-
All dialogue/ speech has to be recorded in a studio and matched up to the acting. They do this because the actors are riding horses and moving constantly they will sound out of breath or faint if they keep moving away from he mic. Another reason would be because of the loudness of all the metal armor would over power a mans voice.
Sound Design-
Sound design is sound that is made from scratch because the sound doesn't exist. An example of this is right at the beginning when the dragon moves off. A dragon is a mythical creature so wouldn't have a sound in real life so that would have to be created.
Foley and Ambiance/ Atmosphere-
Foley would be the horse chains clashing together however the rest of the Foley sounds is used as atmosphere sound. For example before the battle ride there are; horses breathing, people breathing, shuffling feet, horse breathing, swords clashing etc All of that is Foley but is also used to create an atmosphere of going to war.
Wild Tracks-
In this clip, 50% is a wild track and the other 50% is Foley. A Wild track is synchronized sounds to be replaced with original sounds. For example voice recording is rerecorded so the person sounds clearer, but this also includes sounds such as footsteps and sword fights, they are rerecorded then replaced by the original sound.
1) A film score is the background music written. It is used to create emotion, it tells the audience how to feel towards a particular character or situation. 2) Foley sound effects are sounds that humans make to replace the real sounds. For example, a Foley sound maker would recreate footsteps, doors slamming, horses running etc. 3) ADR stands for Automated Dialogue Replacement and is used to replace the characters speech so they sound clearer. 4) The art of sound design is creating sounds that don't exist. An example of this is Wall-E. All sounds in this futuristic film are created from scratch.
