Analysing sound in a Media text
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Sound has existed in film since 1927 and is used conventionally to create a more involving, captivating and believable narrative. First of all, I am going to outline what the types of sounds are. Diegetic sound can be subsided into dialogue, sound effects and ambient sound. Non- diegetic sound is portrayed usually through soundtrack or voice-over. Parallel sound is when non-diegetic sound is used to support what is happening in the narrative; contrapuntal sound, on the other hand is when non-diegetic sound is used and contrasts the images. A sound bridge is when sound connects two scenes and can be both diegetic or non-diegetic.
The movie clip which I have chosen to analyse is a scene from Sin City; the reason for this choice is because its clear the genre of the film is thriller and action and it involves many different sounds- which created different effects. non-diegetic sound is used throughout this clip and is parallel sound. The soundtrack correlates with the action by adding more emphasis on the movements and is used as a way of exaggerating the action.Thereby having the effect of interesting the audience and keeping them drawn in to what is happening. Near the end of the clip, there is narration- this giving us more information and dynamics of the plot with a detailed explanation of what is happening. In this case, the narration gives the scene a slightly humorous aspect to it even though the characters have just killed a number of people. These comments in the voice over create a stronger relationship between the audience and the character, adding interest in the scene.
When looking at diegetic sound, in this scene, there is both dialogue and sound effects used. The dialogue is an obvious way of showing the audience the connection between the characters involved and can show clear emotions. Dialogue also triggers of events in the scene. When the female character at the start says “you’ve just gone and done the dumbest thing in your life” you immediately know something is negative is going to happen. The words used help the audience guess what events may occur next. This happens a lot in this scene so that the audience has an idea of what is about to happen next, for example a male character says “watch your step” and straight after, the other character slips over and is stabbed by an object” another example of when this happens is when the man says “don’t pull the trigger, she blocked the barrel, it will backfire” and directly after, the other character does exactly what he is told not to do. This dialogue adds humour to the scene because the opposition even warns the character not to do these things yet he was stupid enough to do them.
A sound effect which stood out to me was when the man is biting his own fingers of his chopped off hands so that he is able to grasp the gun again. this squeaking sound makes the audience feel uncomfortable - well it certainly makes me feel uncomfortable. This connoting the gore and the lengths that the characters go to, to get exactly what they want. Also, the idea that the fingers are squeaking could also add humour to the scene and can make the narrative more fun and easier to watch.
An example of where Parallel sound is used is at the start when the female character enters the scene and is conjuring a plan and taking action- it immediately makes us focus on the character and what they're doing. Sound bridges are used to add continuity to the scene to make sure that the audience know that it is all happening in a chronological order in the same location at the same time and is effective because of this.
In conclusion, this sequence is portraying thrill and also humour aspects which is done by the use of sound effects, a voice over, dialogue, and soundtrack. This combination of noises add a hecticness to the scene to go alongside the action. The sound effects have a clear relation to the genre and were used because of this. I imagine they were used so that the genre could be identified easily. Other sounds portray the emotions or status of a character and mainly sound is used to add interest in the scene; if the scene was done with no sound, it may bore the audience. Keeping the target audience intrigued is crucial when it comes to filming because if the audience aren't interested, the product is unsuccessful.
The movie clip which I have chosen to analyse is a scene from Sin City; the reason for this choice is because its clear the genre of the film is thriller and action and it involves many different sounds- which created different effects. non-diegetic sound is used throughout this clip and is parallel sound. The soundtrack correlates with the action by adding more emphasis on the movements and is used as a way of exaggerating the action.Thereby having the effect of interesting the audience and keeping them drawn in to what is happening. Near the end of the clip, there is narration- this giving us more information and dynamics of the plot with a detailed explanation of what is happening. In this case, the narration gives the scene a slightly humorous aspect to it even though the characters have just killed a number of people. These comments in the voice over create a stronger relationship between the audience and the character, adding interest in the scene.
Dialogue is effective in the sense that it keeps the audiences attention and initially tells the audience what is happening, similarly to thee way narration gives us information. Sound effects are used frequently throughout this scene for many reasons; there is a lot of pleonastic sounds which emphasises the focus of that point in the narrative. Another example of diegetic sound is the sound effect of metal scraping across other surfaces, this straight away emphasising the action taking place (with more of a focus on it) and also highlights the use of weaponry, large pieces of jewellery and other props or costume in the scene which imply the genre of “thriller”.
A sound effect which stood out to me was when the man is biting his own fingers of his chopped off hands so that he is able to grasp the gun again. this squeaking sound makes the audience feel uncomfortable - well it certainly makes me feel uncomfortable. This connoting the gore and the lengths that the characters go to, to get exactly what they want. Also, the idea that the fingers are squeaking could also add humour to the scene and can make the narrative more fun and easier to watch.
One last example of diegetic sound is the thunder sound. This sound portraying the evil and something bad is about to happen. Also the thunder sound is a common cliche to when villains enter a scene or are aoudad during the scene. This is because it shows their strength and power and their high status as a result of this. the audience may see this in a funny way as such a cliche sound is used but they also might believe that it is effective because is creates tension.
An example of where Parallel sound is used is at the start when the female character enters the scene and is conjuring a plan and taking action- it immediately makes us focus on the character and what they're doing. Sound bridges are used to add continuity to the scene to make sure that the audience know that it is all happening in a chronological order in the same location at the same time and is effective because of this. 
