Film Terminology #4—Sound

Sound Montage

A technique where the dialogue of one character overlaps with that of another or several others.

Synchronous Sound

The agreement or correspondence between image and sound, recorded simultaneously or made to seem so; the sound appears to come from an obvious source in the visuals.

Nonsynchronous Sound

Sound and image not recorded at the same time, or sound detached from its source; music is usually nonsynchronous and provides background atmosphere.

Dubbing

The addition of sound after visuals have been photographed; can be synchronous or nonsynchronous, often used to match a film to another language.

Absolute Stasis

Absolute silence in a sound film; draws attention to itself and creates an eerie sense of something impending.

Musical

A genre of American film that focuses on song and dance.

Subtext

Implicit meanings behind the language of a film or script.

Mickeymousing

A type of film music that mimics visual action with musical equivalents; often used in cartoons.

Voiceover

Nonsynchronous spoken commentary used to convey a character’s thoughts or memories.

Scoring Stage

A soundproof studio where musical scores are recorded for a film.

Scoring

Background music for a film.

Melody

A linear sequence of notes that make up the most recognizable part of a piece of music; usually pleasing to the ear.

Pitch

The relative highness or lowness of a musical note; larger objects produce deeper sounds, smaller objects produce higher-pitched sounds.

Rhythm

A regular, repeated pattern of notes with differing duration and stress that gives music its character.

Prop

Any object used to make a scene more realistic, such as cups, guns, furniture, or books.

Sound Library

A collection of recordings of natural, mechanical, and environmental sounds used by sound professionals.

Mixing

The process of setting levels of dialogue, music, and sound effects and combining them into one continuous whole.

Offscreen

Something that takes place where the audience cannot see it, such as traffic sounds or the musical score.

Point of Audition

Sound as it might be heard by a character within the film; similar to visual point of view.

Source Sound

Sound that appears to come from an object seen onscreen, such as a radio, television, animals, or actors.

Talkies

The nickname for early sound films where actors spoke aloud instead of acting silently.

Dialogue

All spoken words in a film, onscreen or offscreen, by characters or a narrator.

Cue

A short piece of music written for a specific scene; all cues together make up the film score.

Wild Tracks

Sound recorded on set but not synchronized with the camera; also called wild sound.

Leitmotif

A short musical phrase that represents and recurs with a character, situation, or emotion.