Sound

Sound has the power to create certain moods; it can signal events and manipulate audience’s emotions.

Sound has three essential ingredients;

1.    The human voice/dialogue

2.    Sound effects

3.    Music

In TV drama these create the balance between the realism of the world of the text/programme and drama that is created by the use of sound.

The world of the TV programme we see on the screen is called the diegesis.

Verisimilitude – the believable logic of the texts world

Non-diegetic sound – Sound added, helps create emotions and mood.

Diegetic sound – Creates realism, happens inside the diegesis.

Direct mode of address – when characters on screen directly address the audience.

Incidental music - used to add emotion and rhythm to a drama, usually not meant to be noticeable. It can link scenes together.

Parallel sound - what we expect to hear.

Contrapuntal sound – sound that does not fit the images we see on screen. Usually done to create an effect

Stings – a brief crescendo stab of music used to enhance the drama of the current situation.

Ambient sound – the sound occurring in the area where they shoot the drama (natural sound) creates verisimilitude.