There are many types of sound in a film. Some are diagetic, which are sounds that are represented as coming from within the world of the film. Others are non-diagetic, which are sounds that come from outside the world of the film. The three basic categories of sound are dialogue, sound effects, and music. Each category is typically recorded separately and then mixed together during the final editing process.
Dialogue is the conversations, which take place in a film. According to our reading, “In film, there are three basic reasons to use dialogue: to further the development of the plot, to enhance characterizations, and to establish very quickly important information the audience needs to know to understand the action” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2014).
Sound effects are enhanced sounds used to emphasize content of films. For example, when there are explosions in a film, the sound enhances the action for a viewer. Other sound effects are footsteps, gunfire, phone ringing, doors closing, punching noises, and many more.
Music has been a crucial part of the movie going experience. It can help set the mood or help create anticipation of the scene. For example, if it’s a sad moment in the film, the music will be softer or slower to help intensify the mood the viewer is supposed to feel during that moment.
Finding Nemo has all three categories of sound that work together perfectly. In the clip above, shows all three categories in effect. You can hear the dialogue between Marlin and Nemo while they are swimming towards school. The sound effects you can hear throughout the clip are: fish swimming, fish screeching to a halt when stopping for Marlin and Nemo to pass intersection, the teacher landing on ground and then rising from ground, and teacher swimming. Other sound effects you can hear throughout the film are the sound of bubbles, explosions of mines detonating, sounds of creatures swimming, the breathing of the scuba divers, the camera flashing, the bouncing on the jellyfish, and many more. In the clip, you can also hear light music in the background which sounds like an orchestra playing,
The use of sound informs the mood of the scenes very well throughout the film. For example, the clip below has the softest music in the background. If it was happy or upbeat music, then the death of Coral and the eggs would not have had the same impact as intended to for the viewer. There would have clearly been a disconnect between the death and selected music.
The sound effects and music work together to reveal the various moods of the film. If the characters are in a fun, happy mood the music and sound effects are upbeat and louder than usual. They are well placed and the music changes accordingly to the dialogue of the scene.
The voices used for the characters are often cartoonish sounding. This indicates it’s an animated film. You can also hear the teacher singing in one of the clips, which is also an indication of it being animated.
The dialogue within this film uses words that children can understand, but also has humor that appeals to the adults. The scene below is one of my favorite, because of the aftermath of the mines detonating is unexpected. As the mind field detonates, there are bubbles that float up water. The scene cuts to two pelicans as if they were on a date and the bubbles float out to the top of water as if the female pelican passed gas. The male pelican says, “nice” and flies away from her. This was an unexpected sound effect that made the scene that much better. However, there are other sound effects that helped make the viewer feel as if they are under the ocean. These were the realistic sound effects. For example, the swimming and bubble sound effect is spot on within the film.
References:
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Finding Nemo. (2011, February 24). Nemo Coral Reef HQ [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4TrLRUqUs8
Finding Nemo. (2012, March 16). Death Scene: Coral from Finding Nemo (2003) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1k0IIpJOLM
Finding Nemo. (2010, December 25). Finding Nemo – Nice [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6MnK2DxEp8
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