• Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.

Can someone break down how the audio of a scene happens?

What I mean is.

Say theres a film, and the scene is two people in a store, where you hear music playing in the background as if it were playing from a speaker in the store. So you hear the dialogue, all the movement in the background(random people talking, things dropping)...

How is it all recorded on the audio file?

Is it all recorded seperately and mixed to sound like that? or is it recorded at the location and everything is being picked up?


Thanks in advance
 
Both. A bad or low budget promotion might record everything as you suggest. However in Final Cut Pro X allows you to put multiple sound tracks into the editor while editing footage. I am sure this works on other programs as well but I don't have experience with them. Hope that helps.


What I mean is.

Say theres a film, and the scene is two people in a store, where you hear music playing in the background as if it were playing from a speaker in the store. So you hear the dialogue, all the movement in the background(random people talking, things dropping)...

How is it all recorded on the audio file?

Is it all recorded seperately and mixed to sound like that? or is it recorded at the location and everything is being picked up?


Thanks in advance
 
Music that is part of ambient sound of a scene is called diagetic music - a band playing in a club, a radio, etc. or even the sound of a TV.

The scene is shot without any of the music. In audio post everything is stripped out of the production sound tracks except for the dialog. The Foley and sound FX are cut in, as is the diegetic music. The diegetic music can be processed through a plug-in such as SpeakerPhone or FutzBox to give it the quality of the supposed device it is playing through. It can also be "worldized" by playing it through the actual device and recording the result.
 
Is it all recorded seperately and mixed to sound like that?

This ^.

If you record all of it together (dialogue and music) and then you later want to edit the scene and move things around, you can't because all the music will get chopped up with your picture edits and won't match any more or, you'll have to record all the dialogue again.

Or, what happens if while editing you don't think the dialogue isn't loud enough, how do you make it louder? If you recorded the music with the dialogue on location, you can't change the volume of the dialogue without also changing the volume of the background music, so you'll have to record all the dialogue again.

Also, in professional film and TV, you often have to provide what's called an M&E (Music & Effects) mix. This is a complete sound mix (with music, SFX, Foley) but with the dialogue removed. This is so the film can be dubbed into foreign languages. If delivery specifications require an M&E and you have recorded music with the dialogue, you'll have to record all the dialogue again.

As you never want to record the dialogue again (ADR), so for all the reasons above, you must always try to record the dialogue as clean as possible and eliminate every other type of sound. If there's a sound effect on location that you really like, record it separately, before or after you've filmed the scene (with clean dialogue).

G
 
I've never heard that term. Learn something new every day! :cool:

That's because it's not really a film term as such. It was an invented academic term to categorise music and SFX. All music and SFX falls into the categories of either diagetic or non-diagetic. If the sound or music appears in the picture, say we see a band or see a door close, the accompanying sound is described as diagetic, if the source of the sound or music cannot be seen or is not directly implied by the picture then it is described as non-diagetic. In the example given, the music could be described as either diagetic or non-diagetic because not all supermarkets play music. If we were to see a speaker in shot or see someone turn on the music then it would definitely be diagetic.

Although common with academics and university students the term has still not been widely adopted in the profession.

G
 
You can use diagetic in relation to lighting as well. The theatrical (red, blue, etc...) lighting in Suspiria is often called "non-diagetic". Meaning "The characters do not see it". The same is true in audio. The characters don't hear the swelling strings, it's non-diagetic.
 
Although common with academics and university students the term has still not been widely adopted in the profession.

Randy Thom uses the term, so that's good enough for me. He uses three terms that are very different to make communication easier.

Score, which is composed for the project and is aimed at the audience for its emotional content.

Source music is songs, etc. that are NOT heard by the characters.

Diagetic is music and other sounds heard by the characters.
 
There is a 3rd category that is considered semi-diagetic. Perhaps a song that is stuck int he head of the main character... or a non-diagetic soundtrack piece that becomes diagetic when the main character takes the earbuds out or headphones off of their ears.
 
Back
Top