Non Diegetic Sound In Film

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Watching a film is essentially a visual experience, but we must consider the importance of film sound. Sound calls a viewer’s attention to spatial and temporal dimensions of a scene. Spatial refers to the stories space. Temporal refers to time regarding when the speech comes in terms of the image appearing on the screen ("Dimensions of film sound," n.d.). This is accomplished through diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. This paper will focus on these two dimensions of a film’s sound system.
Diegetic Sounds
Diegetic sound is also known as actual sound. These sounds provide spatial and temporal awareness. Sound has spatial dimension because it comes from a source. Diegetic sound is accomplished through a sound source that is visibly on the …show more content…
Our beliefs about the source of the sounds have a powerful effect on how we understand the sound ("Dimensions of film sound," n.d.).
In a scene from Dirty Dancing, (1987) when Johnny (Patrick Swayze) and Baby (Jennifer Grey) are practicing their dance routine to “Hungry Eyes”, you see a Victrola and hear the music (Dirty dancing movie clip, 2012). This is an example of diegetic …show more content…
Any appearance of background music is a prime example of non-diegetic sound. It is sound coming from a source outside the story space. Some of the most common forms of non-diegetic sound are for dramatic effect and mood setting. Another form is narration that does not originate from the same time or place as the scene shown. To describe non-diegetic sound Barsam & Monahan, (2013) uses Stanley Kubrick’s, The Shining, (1980) opening scene where music is playing and it is not coming from any place on the onscreen scene. Donald & Renov, (2008), uses Sunset Boulevard, (1950), as an example. The scene opens with a dead body floating in a pool. A narrator speaks but we are unsure who is speaking until a series of flashbacks follow. Joe Gill (William Holden), the man floating face down in the pool is narrating, “Maybe you would like to hear the facts, the whole truth. Let’s go back six months…I was living…” Temporal awareness can be found in non-diegetic sound but spatial dimension cannot (Barsam & Monahan,
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