An Introduction to Film

By contrast, the contemporary concept of sound
design rests on the following basic assumptions:

>Sound should be integral to all three phases

of film production (preproduction, produc-

tion, and postproduction), not an after-

thought to be added in postproduction only.

>A film’s sound is potentially as expressive as

its images.

>Image and sound can create different worlds.

>Image and sound are co-expressible.

A sound designer treats the sound track of a film
the way a painter treats a canvas. That is, for each
shot, after all the necessary sounds are identified in
terms of the story and plot, the designer starts by
laying in all the background tones (different tones
equal different colors) to create the support neces-
sary for adding the specific sounds that help the
scene to function. According to Tomlinson Holman
(the creator of Lucasfilm’s THX technology),
“Sound design is the art of getting the right sound
in the right place at the right time.”^3 Today, many
directors—Joel Coen and David Lynch, among
others—are notable for their comprehensive knowl-
edge and expressive use of sound.
Prior to the wide acceptance of sound design,
the responsibilities for sound were divided among
recording, rerecording, editing, mixing, and sound-
effects crews; these crews sometimes overlapped
but often did not. In attempting to integrate all
aspects of sound in a movie, from planning to post-
production, the sound designer supervises all these
responsibilities—a development that was initially
resented by many traditional sound specialists,
who felt their autonomy was being compromised. It
is now conventional for sound designers (or super-
vising sound editors) to oversee the creation and
control of the sounds (and silences) we hear in
movies. They are, in a sense, advocates for sound.
During preproduction, sound designers encour-
age directors and other collaborators to understand
that what characters hear is potentially as signifi-
cant as what they see—especially in point-of-view

shots, which focus characters’ (and audiences’)

attention on specific sights or sounds. Sound

designers encourage screenwriters to consider all

kinds of sound; working with directors, they indi-

cate in shooting scripts what voices, sounds, or

music may be appropriate at particular points.

They also urge their collaborators to plan the set-

tings, lighting, cinematography plan, and acting

(particularly the movement of actors within the

settings) with an awareness of how their decisions

might affect sound. During production, sound

designers supervise the implementation of the

sound design. During postproduction, after the

production sound track has been cut along with

the images, they aid the editing team. But

although their results may far exceed the audi-

ence’s expectations of clarity and fidelity, sound

designers keep their eyes and ears on the story

being told. They want audiences not only to

regard sound tracks as seriously as they do visual

images but also to interpret sounds as integral to

understanding those images.

Recording

The process of recording sound for the movies is

very similar to the process of hearing. Just as the

human ear converts sounds into nerve impulses

that the brain identifies, so the microphone con-

verts sound waves into electrical signals that are

then recorded and stored. The history of recording

movie sound has evolved from optical and mag-

netic systems to the digital systems preferred in

today’s professional productions. The digital for-

matoffers greater flexibility in recording, editing,

and mixing and thus is fast becoming the standard.

Of the various types of film sound (which will be

described later in the chapter), dialogue is the only

type typically recorded during production. Every-

thing else is added in the editing and mixing stages

of postproduction.

The recording of production sound is the respon-

sibility of the production sound mixer and a team

of assistants, which includes, on the set, a sound

recordist, a sound mixer, a microphone boomoper-

ator, and gaffers (in charge of the power supply,

electrical connections, and cables). This team must

SOUND PRODUCTION 391

(^3) Tomlinson Holman, Sound for Film and Television(Boston:
Focal Press, 1997), p. 172.