Movies and Meaning- Pearson New International Edition
Page 31
High volumes produced a different problem. On optical tracks, the louder the sound, the larger its visual encoding (i.e., the more space it occupies on the track). Because the track space available between frame line and sprocket holes is fixed, volume levels that exhaust this space edge into harsh noise, a frequent problem with soundtracks from these years.
To compete with television in the 1950s, Hollywood moved to widescreen film
formats, some of which carried multichannel stereo sound, using magnetic stripes to encode the sound signal. To play such soundtracks, projectors had to be outfitted with special playback heads, much like a tape recorder. Widescreen formats such as Cinemascope (35 mm) and Todd-AO (70 mm) carried from four to six channels of sound. (In this regard, film stereo was distinct from home stereo, a two-channel system used for playing music.) Mag-stripe stereo on widescreen film, however, was reserved for special appeal films, and until the mid-1970s, the industry norm remained a single-channel optical track.
Debuting in 1976, Dolby Stereo carried two optical tracks that were encoded
with four channels of sound information. These were configured for playback as left, center, right, and rear (surround) channels. With Dolby Stereo, multichannel sound gained widespread acceptance in the film industry. For the consumer market of home video, Dolby Surround debuted in 1982, enabling home viewers to play Dolby Stereo movies as stereo videocassettes. Initially, though, Dolby Surround only decoded the left, right, and surround channels, but Dolby Prologic decoders, marketed in 1987, enabled center channel decoding as well.
Cinema sound became even richer when Dolby moved to a digital six-channel
system in 1992. Known as Dolby Digital, the system carried three channels across the front—left, center, right—plus two fully independent rear channels (left and right surrounds) and a dedicated channel for low-frequency (bass) signals. The digital soundtrack data were placed between the sprocket holes on the film, which also carried an analog stereo soundtrack.
Dolby added yet another channel in 1999. Dolby Digital Surround EX is a seven-channel system, adding a third surround channel positioned behind the viewer, in addition to the rear left and rear right split surrounds of the 5.1 system. This extra channel can be used to create flyover effects, useful in films such as Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith. An eighth channel is now commonly used to increase directionality. Toy Story 3 (2010) was the first film released theatrically in Dolby Surround 7.1.
Today, the industry uses several competing digital sound formats: Dolby Digital, Digital Theater Systems (DTS, using a CD for the soundtrack synched with time code 191
Principles of Sound Design
CLOSE-UP
High Definition Audio
Blu-ray DVD (BD) offers tremendous improvement
discarding sections of the soundtrack that are
in the audio performance of movies viewed in the
inaudible to human hearing or that tend to be
home. It offers high definition audio in conjunction
covered by other audio information. By contrast,
with high definition video. It can do this because BD
Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA offer lossless
can store a greater amount of audio-visual informa-
compression and are new formats introduced for
tion than standard DVD. A dual-layer BD can hold 50
high definition DVD. Because there is no loss of
gigabytes of information as compared with 8.5 gi-
audio information, in theory, listening to a Dolby
gabytes on a standard DVD. As a result Blu-ray discs
TrueHD or a DTS HD-MA soundtrack is like listen-
have introduced new audio formats that require
ing to the original studio master that filmmakers
more disc space than standard DVDs can accommo-
created.
date and are far more expressive and enveloping.
In addition to these lossless compression formats,
Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS Digital Surround
many Blu-ray discs also carry an LPCM (linear pulse
(also 5.1) are the audio tracks offered on standard
code modulation) soundtrack. LPCM soundtracks
DVD, and they can be found on many Blu-ray
are uncompressed and therefore take up even more
discs as well. But BD also may carry the eight-
disc space than Dolby True HD or DTS HD-MA. But,
channel extensions—Dolby Digital Plus (DD+) and
like them, an LPCM track is lossless and is akin to
DTS-HD—of these formats which expand the num-
hearing a studio master. Films viewed convention-
ber of audio channels in playback. Eight-channel for-
ally, in a standard movie theater, are not capable of
mats are configured as 7.1 systems. Relative to 5.1
delivering this kind of sound quality. Thus, the audio
systems, they have two additional rear channels.
capabilities offered by Blu-ray are superior to what
More exciting, however, are the lossless formats
celluloid film can deliver.
that BD can carry. On standard DVD, Dolby Digital
Much, though, depends on the technical setup
and DTS 5.1 compress the audio information by
of the home viewing environment. While many BD
THE SAND PEBBLES (20TH CENTURY FOX, 1966)
This epic adventure starring Steve McQueen was originally released in the era of analog audio. However, because the film was exhibited in 70mm, it carried six channels of sound.
These were digitally restored and re-mastered for the Blu-ray release, which features a DTS
HD-MA soundtrack, with lossless multichannel audio, as well as a four-channel Dolby Digital soundtrack. Neither format existed at the time of the film’s release. The film sounds better on Blu-ray today than it did in conventional theaters in 1966. Many older films released on high definition DVD feature this kind of sound upgrade. Frame enlargement.
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Principles of Sound Design
players may be capable of decoding the lossless
BD of 300 (2007), for example, offers 5.1 channels
formats, the best results are obtained by letting a
of sound in uncompressed LPCM, in Dolby TrueHD,
high-end receiver do the decoding while the player
and in Dolby Digital. Pan’s Labyrinth (2007) and Rush
merely passes the lossless Dolby, DTS or PCM signal
Hour 3 (2007) offer 7.1 channels in DTS-HD MA.
to the receiver. And because the bandwidth of the
Blade Runner (1982) carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 track
lossless signal is much higher than is standard Dolby
as well as a Dolby TrueHD track, an audio format that
or DTS, HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)
did not exist when the film was originally produced
cables are needed to connect player and receiver.
and released. Viewed on Blu-ray, Blade Runner sounds
Viewers watching movies on Blu-ray, then, have more
better than it did upon its initial release nearly 30
audio options than standard DVD has offered. The
years ago. ■
printed on the film), and Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS). Each film print, however, still carries an optical soundtrack, as a backup in case a problem arises with the digital information and because many theaters are only equipped for optical playback.
Digital playback revolutionized the art of film sound. Filmmakers no longer had to contend with the restrictions imposed by an optical track. Spread across three channels in the front, the soundstage (the acoustical space established by the front speakers) is broad and expansive and is anchored with an impressive bottom register supplied by the dedicated bass c
hannel. The thunderous explosions in contemporary action films illustrate the potential this channel has given cinema. The rear surround channels make the sound field dynamic and three-dimensional, enveloping the viewer in multidirectional sound. Until the 1990s, the surround channels were used infrequently for the occasional sound effect, but they are now used very aggressively, along with all the other channels, to spatialize the sound field (i.e., to render it in highly directional terms) and provide the viewer with an immersive sound experience. The Oscar-winning (for sound-effects editing) The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) boasts an exceptionally complex and aggressive six-channel mix.
Cinema is now oddly unbalanced. In sound, it is fully three-dimensional, but its picture remains two-dimensional. Viewers are surrounded by sound but must watch a picture on a flat screen positioned in front of them. It seems likely that the ideal toward which cinema is evolving is a totally 3-D experience, in picture and sound. At some future point, cinema viewers will have an immersive visual experience, but so far the medium has achieved this ideal only with sound.
ARMAGEDDON
(TOUCHSTONE,
1998)
Multi-channel playback of
digital film sound routes
bass signals to a separate,
dedicated channel. This
gives the modern film
sound stage an impres-
sive acoustic floor and
adds tremendous power
to special effects imagery.
Frame enlargement.
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Principles of Sound Design
Center Channel
Center Channel
Front Left
Front Right
Front Left
Front Right
Dedicated bass
(.1) channel
Surround
Surround
Rear Left
Rear Right
Dolby Stereo
Dolby Digital, SDDS, DTS
Four-channel sound—surrounds are one channel
Six-channel sound
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2
Dolby Digital brought six-channel sound to the home video environment on laser disc in 1995 and on DVD (digital video disc) in 1997. Indeed, the successful launch of DVD has encouraged studios and filmmakers to undertake multi- channel remixes of older film soundtracks for release in this format. Warner Brothers’ DVD of Dirty Harry (1972) carried an impressive Dolby Digital remix, and director Wolfgang Peterson supervised an outstanding six-channel remix of the track for Das Boot (1981) on DVD. The Blu-ray release in 2010 carried an eight-channel digital mix.
The film portrays submarine warfare in World War II, and its new soundtrack creates a total sonic environment that places viewers inside a narrow, cramped German submarine deep in the Mediterranean. Other older films given multiple-channel remixes include titles that were restored for theatrical release and subsequent DVD and DAS BOOT (COLUMBIA
TRISTAR, 1981)
Digital, multichannel
soundtracks create a spatial,
three-dimensional sound field
by surrounding the viewer with
discrete, directional sound.
Wolfgang Peterson’s film about
submarine warfare in World
War II is one of the outstand-
ing sonic experiences in con-
temporary cinema; sound is
both the subject and structure
of this film. The U-boat captain
and his officer listen anxiously
for sonar signals warning of the
approach of Allied warships.
Frame enlargement.
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Principles of Sound Design
Celluloid film carries mul-
tiple soundtracks positioned
in different places around
the frames (the picture area
on the film strip). The Dolby
Digital track is located be-
tween the sprocket holes.
The optical track is between
the sprocket holes and
the frames. The DTS track
appears as time code be-
tween the optical track and
the frames. The SDDS track
appears outside the sprocket
holes along the edge of the
film strip. (This is an ana-
morphic scope film so the
frames exhibit the character-
istic anamorphic squeeze.)
Frame enlargement.
Blu-ray distribution. These include Gone with the Wind (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) and the classic musicals My Fair Lady (1964) and West Side Story (1961).
Sound in cinema has never been better than in the contemporary period. One
cannot make similar claims for cinematography, editing, or many other elements of cinema structure. In this regard, sound is making a uniquely improved aesthetic contribution to cinema. Viewers today are privileged to enjoy a total sonic experience that was not available to moviegoers in earlier periods.
TYPES OF SOUND
Three basic types of sound figure in cinema. These are dialogue, effects , and music .
Dialogue
Since the late 1920s when synchronous sound became a permanent feature of the movies, two primary kinds of dialogue have been employed in the cinema. Speech is delivered by characters on screen usually in conversation with one another. Voice-over narration accompanies images and scenes but is not delivered by a particular character from within the scene. Voice-over narration typically is provided by an all-seeing, all-knowing, detached narrator or by a character in the story, usually from some time later than the events portrayed on screen.
SPEECH Motion pictures use a wide range of dialects and speech types.
Shakespearean adaptations faithfully transpose the Bard’s language to the screen and frequently employ classically trained actors such as Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, or John Gielgud. Kenneth Branagh’s trilogy— Henry V (1989), Much Ado about Nothing (1993), and Hamlet (1996)—are among the most cinematic of 195
Principles of Sound Design
MUCH ADO ABOUT
NOTHING (SAMUEL
GOLDWYN, 1993)
Kenneth Branagh and Emma
Thompson play bickering lov-
ers in this delightful version
of Shakespeare’s comedy.
Branagh’s Shakespeare films
respect the Bard’s language
while giving it a completely
cinematic showcase. Frame
enlargement.
these adaptations. By contrast, other films adopt a more playful attitude toward Shakespeare. Oliver Parker’s Othello (1995) successfully casts an actor lacking classical training—Laurence Fishburne—in the title role, and Baz Luhrmann’s MTV-style Romeo and Juliet (1996) grafted the play’s language onto a thoroughly modernist visual style. More recently, Shakespeare in Love (1998) used naturalistic, nonpoetic language to portray a fictional episode from the playwright’s life.
At the other extreme from the poetry of Shakespeare lies the colloquialism of modern life. The dynamic impact of sound in the late 1920s and early 1930s was due largely to the electrifying presence of a new generation of screen actors. James Cagney, for example, brought his scrappy, high-voltage personality to a series of gritty, tough, urban dramas that allowed him to draw on his boyhood experiences growing up in the slums of New York’s Upper East Side. The way Cagney moved
and spoke electrified audiences because it was so different from the mannerisms and speech of stage-trained actors. In the Cagney classic Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), he plays a good-hearted crook named Rocky who greets his friends with the saluta-tion, “Whadda ya hear? Whadda ya say?” rattled off in rapid-fire delivery. Cagney got this greeting from a pimp he had known when he was a youth.
The screen appeal of many stars, like Cagney, resides
partly in their distinctive manner of speaking. Will Smith’s lilting voice, often barbed with a wisecrack, and Eddie Murphy’s trademark laugh have endeared them to audiences. In Face/Off (1997), actors John Travolta and Nicolas Cage swap each other’s mannered speaking style in an impressive display of the connection between speech and star charisma.
By speaking to audiences in a colloquial, familiar manner, movies forge a strong rap-port and powerful emotional bonds with viewers. In the 1950s, when Marlon Brando, playing an outlaw motorcyclist in The Wild One (1953), was asked what he is rebelling against, he replied, “Whadda ya’ got?” and a young generation instantly understood his insolence and contempt for established society. In Spike Lee’s Clockers (1995), the thick street dialects of Brooklyn gangs vividly establish their authority and authenticity.
VOICE-OVER NARRATION While rarely used today, voice-over narration in earlier periods was an essential part of certain genres. In the 1940s and 1950s, many films noir— Out of the Past (1947), Criss Cross (1949), The Killers (1946)—told their stories through intricate flashbacks accompanied by voice-over narration. In voice-over, the 196
Principles of Sound Design
ANGELS WITH DIRTY
FACES (WARNER BROS.,
1938)
The electrifying impact of
rough, colloquial speech
helped propel James
Cagney to stardom. Playing
a gangster in Angels with
Dirty Faces , Cagney drew
from the vocal patterns of
the city streets where he
grew up. Holding a priest
(Pat O’Brien) hostage,
Cagney’s gangster snarls
his defiance at the police.
Frame enlargement.
tough private eye or the world-weary criminal delivered hard-boiled lines of dialogue.