Blog 4: Field Trip

During our field trip to the Museum of the Moving Image, my group and I were given a demonstration on how audio is added to a piece of movie footage. In our case, we analyzed the scene in Titanic where the ship is sinking, and one of the ship's funnels breaks off.

Deconstructing the sound was an amazing experience that really emphasized how important sound itself is to a scene. When we first watched the clip, there was no sound. Despite the chaos that was occurring within the image, it was difficult to connect with what was happening because of the lack of audio. We then watched the clip again, but with voices, and dare I say it, it was worse than without sound. It was like witnessing an awful lip sync parody. But, as various sound effects and Foley sounds were added, you could hear and see the scene come together. 

My favorite part was finding out where the Foley sounds came from. It's interesting, and also funny, to note how the sounds originate from unlikely places, yet fit so well with whatever it is supposed to represent. The sound used for the funnel as it tipped over into the ocean, for example, was the sound of an elephant. When you listen to it carefully, you notice that it does sound like an elephant, but, with all of the other sounds combined in the clip, the sound feels like a sound that a funnel that is falling apart would make.

With the addition of audio to moving images, the images we see have an added element of realness that connects with our senses and makes the experience all the more tangible. Sound is a key element when one wants to immerse their audience in the world of the movie, and without it, I believe the audience is more aware of the fourth wall between them and what they are watching.