A sudden loud clap of thunder, sound of horses’ hooves, a chilly sound of a man’s boots or a general whoosh-whishing of wind, all these have engrossed us in the happening of a film. But did you ever ponder how these effects are used to get the desired outcome? That’s what this edition of ‘How To’ deals with.

To get an in-depth knowledge of Sound effects used in films, we must know what they actually are. Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media.

While voiceover and dialog are well understood to be writers’ tools, few screenwriters approach sound effects with the same certainty. Yet sound effects are as much the purview of the writer as are visual symbols. In the same way a writer can create an extended visual metaphor, sound effects can also suggest an extended aural metaphor. They can add layers of meaning to a film that are hard to achieve in other ways.

Sound effects can be obvious or quite subtle. They can intentionally draw attention to themselves, or manipulate with stealth. They can expose, disguise, suggest, establish, or reveal. They can also be tagged to specific events or characters.

The most obvious soundtrack technique, known as ''mickeymousing,'' is just barely considered respectable by many film composers. In this technique, music blatantly matches the action. For Example, in film Taare Zameen Par, Darsheel’s answer to a simple question in his examination 3 *9 is explained from his point of view considering ‘3’ as planet Earth and ‘9’ as planet Pluto. When Earth dashes Pluto, the latter melts and hence the answer is the survivor planet i.e. the planet Earth or ‘3’. The sound that is used to explain the whole sequence; Earth dashing Pluto has a clashing sound of two objects and Pluto melting has sound fizzling out implying Pluto loosing the fight. And when earth wins at the end, the sound that is used implies victory.

In what has become a cliché, mickeymousing even has the music giving away the action about to happen. A heavy brass chord announces danger; a low, sustained tone creates mystery; sliding intervals of gliding strings imply seductiveness. This musical signal, that prepares the audience for the dramatic events to follow, is known as the stinger. Like in film Raaz - The Mystery Continues, every time Kangana is shown haunted it starts with a scary music implying that some thing unusual is going to happen now. The music starts slowly when she is about to get haunted and it gets louder at par with Kangana’s aggravating situation.

Music has a power to affect the visual field and the imagination. Different musical instruments and noises create different emotional impacts. Synthesizers are almost always used in SF and horror films because they can produce out worldly sounds. But for straightforward emotion, horns are used too. These are associated with pageantry, the military, and the hunt, so they are used to suggest heroism. In comedy films, composers can also use contrapuntal music that plays directly against the textual theme.

The length of a sound from its beginning to its peak is called attack, which may be fast (like a door slamming) or slow (like a dog growling). Fast attack sounds loud. Loud sounds are more frightening than soft sounds, and sudden loud sounds are the most frightening of all. If you are shooting a scene about a woman alone in a house on a stormy night and you want to show how terrified she is of the situation, one way is to use loud claps of thunder. The ticking clock, the thunder and rain beating against the window, the howling wind, the shutters banging against the side of the house, and – creepiest of all -- the sound of footsteps coming slowly up the creaking stairs. These are still very popular in films today, not because we need the audio clues, but because they are such familiar shorthand for this clichéd but still exciting situation. Though horror films can often feature supernatural creatures and events, ironically enough, what they need is an uncomplicated sound that will disturb the audience viscerally rather than interest them intellectually.

Kinds of Sound Effects

Sound that is natural to a scene is often called diegetic sound. These sound effects can be realistic or altered for effect. External sound effects, those not logically heard in the scenes can also be added for dramatic value. Eg: beating of a heart, falling drops of water, etc.

The external sound effects, that is, those not part of the story world, are called non-diegetic. Eg: train whistle, sound of cars, etc.

We can divide sound effects into four categories as follows.

Realistic

This is any sound effect that one could naturally expect to hear if situated in the filmed scene. The source of the sound might be on screen or off screen. Adding the most common sound effects like a car honking, a metronome, or a buzzing mosquito can greatly change the feeling of a scene. Eg: in A Wednesday, when the three demanded culprits are left alone near the bench as directed by the caller on the phone, a mobile starts ringing. Though the sound is of a ringtone, the effect it has on the onlookers is quite distinct as the freed culprits think it to be their master’s call for their next plan of action.

Expressive

An expressive sound effect is one that is realistic, but has been altered. This might mean that a phone's ring starts out normally and suddenly gets louder and louder. The sound comes from the scene but has been manipulated for effect. Eg: In Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Simran (Kajol) is shown quite attached to a tune played on a mandolin as it reminds her of Raj (SRK). Even though he was away from her, she could hear the same tune somewhere far in the farms, it is faint and seems to be coming from a distant place. But as soon as she realises it to be true and not one of her imagination, Simran runs towards the sound and it becomes more and more clear and also loud.

Surreal

Sound effects are often required to externalize a character's inner thoughts, nightmares, hallucinations, dreams, or wishes. We might hear, for example, the laughter of a child as a woman picks up a doll from childhood. This gives the scene a surreal feeling. This effect is often called meta-dietetic. Eg: In Devdas, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai, there’s a scene where Dev shows Paro her payal that he had stolen when they were kids and has still preserved it as a memory. When he lifts the Payal, a child’s voice is heard in the backdrop, “Deva Arre O Deva …Meri Payal Gum Gai Hai…Tumne Dekhi kya…” Here the dialogues of little Paro searching her Payal is used as a background score to imply the memories of the past without actually showing a flashback scene.

External

This is a sound effect that clearly does not come from the scene. It is an effect that is not heard or responded to by the characters. For example, if a character is making his last walk down death row, and slowly the audience hears a church bell, and we know there is no church for miles, we consider this sound external to the story world. The purpose of the sound effect is to make the audience understand the underlying meaning of the scene. This kind of effect is known as non-dietetic. Eg: In Gumnaam, starring Manoj Kumar and Nanda, the song ‘Gumnaam Hai Koi’ is used to imply the presence of a ghost while no where in the scene is the lady singing the song was visible. The song itself is used to create the fear factor in the film.

Although the sound editors contribute the bulk of these effects in most movies, a writer can suggest an aural metaphor or the tone of the audio world. These effects should be used sparingly and should not dominate the writing. The director might add to these ideas or alter them as he or she would do with any other part of the script. However, when used purposefully they are as potent a storytelling tool as movie’s dialogs or visuals.

Various usages of sound effects

While using sound effects, following things may be considered to give the correct feel to a film:

• they can be used as an important “prop” or plot point

• sound and picture don’t have to match

• realistic sound can be altered to behave expressively

• sound effects can be used to express internal thoughts

• the can be used as a character’s signature, or remind us of an event

• they can be entirely external to the scene

• two sound effects, like a match cut in picture, can be placed side by side and generate an entirely new third idea

Exercise:

Here is a scene that you have to create sound effects for:

The film's protagonist, Raj, is on a train that is about the leave the platform. He is obviously upset about something - it is revealed in a quick flashback that he's leaving his sweetheart, Aditi, behind and relocating to a new city. The flashback also divulges that the girl is to be married to another boy. Raj clutches his bag close to him, looks out the window and as the train pulls slowly out of the station, he sees Aditi in his compartment.

He is surprised and ecstatic and runs over to the end of the compartment where she is sitting at the window. As he gets nearer, he realizes it's just his mind playing tricks on him: 'Aditi' is actually some other passenger and not his beloved.

Now create an effective sequence of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds that will enhance the scene. Here's a tip - since the scene is already loaded with emotion (and lacks dialogue) try and get the emotional tone of the sequence right without overplaying it. Good luck!