Non - diegetic sound is sound that cannot be heard be the characters in the text, it can only be heard by the audience. This type of sound is used to emphasise the mood of a scene; for example, in a scene where a character has just died, often sad music is played so the audience can understand that this is a distressing and upsetting scene. It helps the audience to empathise with the characters.
Here is an example of non - diegetic sound from the film, 'The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas':
The opposite to non - diegetic sound is diegetic sound. This is all the sound that the characters in the text can here, such as dialogue, sound effects etc.
Contrapuntal sound is a form of non - diegetic sound. It is a sound bed (sound that continues over the scene) that contrasts the mood of the scene. This is a technique that is often used in horror films, as it emphasises the scary mood. Here is an example from the film, 'Final Destination 3':
The opposite of contrapuntal sound is parallel sound. This is a sound bed that matches the mood of the scene. This is particularly effective in distressing, sad scenes as they help the audience understand and empathise with the characters in the scene, such as in the example, used previously in this post, from 'The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas'.
In the lesson we developed more of an idea of what we will be doing for the preliminary task; working out the aspects of Idea 1 in more depth because we felt idea 1 was the best.
When we looked over the Idea 1 we decided that the original idea was too complex for the brief, so we decided to pay closer attention to the brief. We decided to keep this idea over the other, but we decided to shorten the idea as take parts and characters out, so it was simpler and it focused more on the aspects the brief is looking for.
One of the things we decided to change was the idea of the child being dragged in by character B. This is because it is heading away from the brief, which is over complicating the task. We also decided that we would use a non diegetic sound bed with contrapuntal sound to add to the horror and overall effect of the scene.
Here is an example of contrapuntal sound from the film 'The Shinning':
There have been cases of which women have been lured in by adverts in there countries for jobs, these can vary in occupations.
The ages of people who are trafficked vary between generally the ages 18-24 years but there have been cases of young children trafficked as well.
On Tuesday 2nd October 2007 the BBC posted on there website an article about children being trafficked into the UK to work as prostitutes or child labours. UNICEF told the BBC that more than half the children smuggled into the UK go missing.
“Fear, deprivation, hunger, being beaten, being sexually abused… we suspect there are thousands,” said David Bull, executive director of Unicef UK.
“For a child to be brought to the UK for purposes of exploitation is the most horrendous experience imaginable.”
Child slavery is not a thing of the past it is a thing of the present.
Idea 2:
Crime and Gangster Filmsare developed around the sinister actions of criminals or gangsters, particularly bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and violently murdering their way through life. In the 1940s, a new type of crime thriller emerged, more dark and cynical. They glorify the rise and fall of a particular criminal(s). Gangster/crime films are usually set in large, crowded cities, to provide a view of the secret world of the criminal: dark nightclubs or streets with lurid neon signs, fast cars, piles of cash, sleazy bars, contraband, seedy living quarters or rooming houses. Rivalry with other criminals in gangster warfare is often a significant plot characteristic.
Our scene would look something like this clip from film, True Romance, with a few adaptations.
One of the ideas our group came up with is Human Trafficking. The idea will be to film in a cafe as it is popular meeting place. We will have character A sat down at a table already. There will be match on action as character B and character C come from outside, through the door and into the cafe. Character C will be dragged by character B. There will be use of shot/ reverse shots when the characters are speaking dialogue and character C will only be mainly seen when the exchange is made. Money will be taken using a close up to highlight the significance and the deal will be done. Using a sound bed to emphasis the importance of the entertainment and also to add to the continuity editing. We may also use depth of field for the exchange to highlight importance.
Idea 2: Character 1: Gang Leader
Character 2: Person forced into working for gang
Another idea our group came up with was a gangster style scene. The idea will be shot in a dark, dank room. As it is a setting that has associations with this idea. Character 1 will be already sat at a table in the room. There will be a long shot of character B walking in through the door, taken over the shoulder of the character A, depth of focus will be used to add meaning to the action. There will be shot/ reverse shots taken while the characters are talking, a package will be thrown across the table, using match on action shots, then a mixture of close ups and mid shots would be used, to add significant meaning to the character walking out. A sound bed will also be used to add meaning to the action.
To keep continuity, the 180 degree rule must be used when shooting a shot/ reverse shot.
When shooting two characters sitting opposite each other, the 180 degree rule must be adhered to to ensure continuity is kept and the audience is not disorientated.
To explain the 180 degree rule, you first need to imagine a 360 degree circle around the two characters, with a line down the middle (180 degrees). The shots must be on one side of the line, this way the characters appear to be facing each other, if the line is crossed when shooting, the characters will appear to be facing the same way, breaking continuity. To make sure you have done this successfully, the characters should appear in opposite corners of the frame, and stay there through out the scene with looking space in the other side of the frame, where the other character would be.
A shot/ reverse shot is where is normally a continuity technique that is normally used in conversation scenes.
When filming a shot/ reverse shot, the whole scene is shot several times from various angles. These shots are then cut together so it looks something like this clip from bbc soap, Doctors: When cut together, the scene show the first character is shown talking; the shot is normally taken over the shoulder of the character that is not being filmed. Then the same with the other character. Normally the shots are mid shots. This pulls the audience in on the character, helping the to see and understand the emotions of the character through the conversation. It also makes a boring dialogue scene more interesting for the audience, as well as making the scene seam real.
However, to ensure continuity is kept, a shot/ reverse shot must follow the '180 degree rule', which will be explained in the next post.
A match on action shot is where an action is shot from lots of different angles, then cut together to make it seem seamless, thus keeping continuity, by tricking the audience in to thinking that the action was shot in one go.
Here is a good example from bbc's 'Merlin', which uses the match on action shot a lot (between 50 seconds - 1 minute 20): This example of a match on action shot uses approximately 20 differing shot; including close up of the dagger, the dagger and the hand, close ups of the characters faces and mid shots of the characters, which have been cut together to make this single action scene entertaining for the audience and seamless; keeping continuity. All of these varying shots connote meaning, contributing to the overall meaning of the scene to make it entertaining.
For this part of the coursework portfolio we need to create a short video piece which demonstrates our understanding of continuity editing. This is what the brief says:
"Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule."
Its quite clear then that we should focus on the three elements mentioned in the brief in our work; 'Match on action' - here is a good example I found on 'Youtube': 'Shot/ reverse shot' - here is a good example I found on 'Youtube': And the '180 degree rule' - here is a good example I found on 'Youtube':
