Once the Vitaphone staked its claim in the film industry the research and application of new sound equipment began to grow rapidly. First moving to even louder speakers for the audience to enjoy the music even more. Then moving to stereo speakers having different sounds coming from different speakers. Then moving to surround sound where the audience is engulfed in music and sound effects from all around them. Finally to our current technology of IMAX sound adding even more speakers and pushing sound to the point of shaking the seats in the theaters. One of the most important contributions that the talkies provided was the technique of sound mixing. Going back to the rituals of the Sumerians and through Greek and Roman period through classical and romantic opera the instrumentalist would either have to play soft or not at all when there was singing or talking because the instruments would drown out the voices. Now with sound mixing that is not the case. They can always raise the voice and lower the instrumental music from machines instead of the singers trying to sing over the orchestra. A perfect example of this explanation was given by one of the greatest film music composers of his time Bernard Herrmann, “For by separately recording music and sound and voice, we are able to mix them together at the proper volume. The speaking voice and the music can achieve a perfect balance. That is the greatest contribution of the genuine sound film”. Without this invention the
Sound is everywhere. It is part of our everyday lives and our interactions and definitely a part of film. Sound, especially dialogue, makes it easier to understand what is happening. But it also provides texture and emotion to each scene. Though most moviegoers might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we cannot underestimate the importance of sound and music in film. Most movies would not be interesting at all if you were to take away the sound and music. Sound enables the director to create certain moods and emotions, express continuity throughout the film, tell a story, and even enhance meanings. Not only can sound be an aural sense but a visual sense as well and director Alfred Hitchcock knew this and applied it in
Even though the film is essentially a visual experience, the use of sound has become extremely important in modern film. The modern viewer hears a complicated soundtrack that is as meaningful as the image on the screen. Three elements comprise the film's soundtrack: the dialogue, the sound effects, and the musical score. The proper balance and mix of these elements produced the essential emphasis required, which created the desired effects. As explained by Joseph Boggs and Dennis Petrie,
The transition from the era of silent films to the sound era in the mid 1920s was a big transformation for the American film industry and mass entertainment in general. This phase initially brought about much excitement for movie goers who were thrilled with the expectation of hearing the voices of their favorite actors for the first time. However, such expectations were met with much disappointment when the highly fancied actors had voices that did not much the preconceptions of the fans. The technical difficulties and various issues that the American film industry faced during this transition are actually captured in the 1952 movie, “Singing in the Rain”. In part, the film is actually about movie making during the silent-to-sound era as its
The cinematic language that we know of today would not be as it is today if we had synchronous sound recording from the beginning of film. Cinematic Language is the systems, methods or conventions by which movies communicate with the viewer. A few examples of cinematic language are; montage; mise en scene, the use of long takes, depth of field shooting in order associate people or objects; Expressionism, the use of lighting techniques, severe camera angles, and elaborate props, to name a few aspects; and realism, a technique to make the action seem as true to life as possible. The list of techniques and styles of cinematic language go on, and can only be limited by the imagination. Early films, and early sound films both had something in common; they lacked many elements of the cinematic language. The reason sound films reverted back to the same pre-cinematic style of early films, was due to the fact that they had technical difficulties, that required them to fall into the style of the old ways. I do believe that if filmmakers would have had sound from the beginning, with the same sense of movie direction they worked with, they would have used sound as a crutch rather than an enhancing element.
Looking at the available information [2] Polyphonic should have seen that the market trend for sales from big box stores over previous decade had been in a sharp decline (Figure 1) and considered targeting a different market segment from the beginning. Polyphonic’s either didn’t see the trend or thought that it wouldn’t affect the release of the new technology. Because of the late discovery the
It made the actors voice unrecognisable, he mumbled and couldn’t pronounce words properly – giving the impression that the actor was nervous. His body language and use of large gestures and a wide stance suggested however that this was not the case. The amplification of the Narrator wasn’t the best quality as the sound projected into the audience was accompanied by a slight crackle. The poor sound quality was also evident during the songs, not only of the
In 1928 ground-breaking technology made it possible for movies to have sound. This revolutionized horror films because sound gave an extra dimension to terror. Noise built suspense and signaled the presence of a threat. (Wilson) Instead of a monster suddenly making an appearance without warning, music would signal that they were near. Growls, Snarls, footsteps, and screams allowed the audience members to feel like the victims of the movie.
We could not have the films we do today, or at any point without advancing and improving the technology in the industry. It all started with photography and then came the Kinetoscope, then the Vitascope, then improvements onto the camera, 30mm cameras, 70mm, and Vitaphones. All these advances happened within a 30 year period which is quite remarkable. These advances in technology impacted the history of film forever. Without the innovation to put sound in film, filmmakers would have been limited to what the can do with their characters. After so long it would have got sick of seeing very identical silent films over and over again. This also allowed for music to become a big part in film. Music helps the audiences understand what kind of emotion they should feel during a film, and during a silent film you cannot achieve that next level of emotion. Also by putting sound into film this allowed the audience to hear a character speak. Being able to hear a character talk lets the audience get more invested into the character. The character on screen being silent would draw a line that the audiences always knew they were in a movie, but now with the advanced technology hearing the character speak and interact with others get people more immersed. The technological innovations have been further improved on today with the use of CGI, digital cameras, and many
Another aspect of sound in this film was how it affected the story. By using sound dramatically in certain parts and not using it at all in other parts, sound gave this story an entity of its own. For example, during long stretches of film with mostly dialogue, there was no music played in the background, only a phone ringing in the distance, or the men's voices during their deliberation. These long silences also took place during editing shots of the town and images that surrounded this German city. This dramatic difference in sound was a revelation of how mood can be made by images and sound put together to make an incredible component.
The first film that showed early signs of a rise in the quality of technology was the Western “The Great Train Robbery.” When this film first came out the audience were so amazed at the fact that they could watch something on a TV or at the cinema. Although this film was very good for the 1900s it still lacked some key features that make films much easier to understand such as dialogue, sound and camera shots. The one feature of a film that developed the quickest over the period of time was sound. Sound was introduced in October 1927 in the film “The Jazz singer”, which had three song numbers and a few lines of spoken dialogue. Apart from these few songs and words, the rest of the movie was silent, but the audience still thought that it was amazing that words had been spoken in the film, they used to call it “the movie that talked”.
Audio devices are very important in today’s world. Without them, we would have no TV’s, video games, movies, etc. All of those require audio devices to project sound so that they work at their finest. There are two very important pioneers in the audio device industry that without them, we probably wouldn’t have audio devices. In the articles The Incredible Talking Machine, The History of the Edison Cylinder Phonograph, and Psst… Hey, You, the articles explain the technology of sound. The process of refining and marketing the phonograph is similar to the development of the audio spotlight.
The introduction of sound films in the late 1920’s was a divisive issue among those involved and interested in the emerging motion picture industry. Even though it wasn’t the sudden breakthrough it is often perceived to be, the addition of sound and voice to mainstream cinema revolutionized movie making and led to conflicting viewpoints as to whether or not this innovation was a positive progression for film as an art and as an industry.
way that creates the “perfect” tone. These manufactured sounds are what created one of today’s
The advancements of technology have impacted the recording studios more dramatically than any other career within the music industry. Thus the necessity to adapt to these changes is vital for any individual working in this field. However, these advancements have also made the technology of professional recording studios more accessible and subsequently caused the rise of home recording studios. The advancements of technology have impacted the recording studios more dramatically than any other career within the music industry. Thus the necessity to adapt to these changes is vital for any individual working in this field. However, these advancements have also made the technology of professional recording studios more accessible and
On this essay I will try to show how Sound Recording impacts media in the 21st century. But in order for me to do that I will need to explore the history of Sound Recording, which started in the 19th Century.