Report on Sound Effects

Clips used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-ijyEEd6XU
(0:00 - 2:17)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpTTM9XEEFo
(0:00 - 0:53)

Clip A:

-Introduction-

This clip is a scene from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). It shows the dragon, Smaug attacking Laketown, a small city-harbor. The end result is that the town is completely destroyed with many of its population killed.

-Sounds used throughout the Clip-

The scene opens up with Smaug swiftly approaching Laketown, his large scaled body mirroring the night sky. He takes a steep dive towards his target as his stomach can be seen igniting with flames as a roaring sound can be heard, as if you can hear his insides burning with fury. The sound of his wings flapping can be heard as he breaks his descent.

When he reaches his target, fire comes spewing from his mouth, incinerating every person and structure in its path with sounds of incineration that have been exaggerated as a means to show its destructive power against those who are helpless, similar to a natural disaster. Closely followed by this, people can be heard screaming in panic as they run for cover or escape in boats.

Smaug’s killer, Bard is then seen breaking out of his prison cell by breaking the bars with the help of some rope attached to a boat, of which it pulls the bars out of their wooden frame with a large clang. His escape allows him to take his bow and shoot Smaug from the bell tower.

He breaks through the roof of a building to get a better view of the bell tower, of which it's bell can be heard ringing a short distance away, echoing among the searing flames. As he makes his way towards it, Smaug flies over him with a deafening sound, like a passenger jet.


-Diegetic Sound-


The diegetic sounds in this clip include the residents of Laketown screaming and shouting, the fires burning and the Smaug roaring. However, many of these sounds are exaggerated, making them hyper-real sound effects. All of these sounds contrast well with the visuals as when the citizens are screaming, you can see them getting consumed by the flames in extensive detail.


-Non-diegetic Sound-


The main non-diegetic sound used in this clip is the background music, which can at times be quite hard to hear when the louder sounds are used.


-Natural vs Hyper-real-


Throughout the clip, there is a huge contrast between realism and hyper-realism, and to some it can be hard to identify the category that each sound falls into. The natural sounds that can be heard are those of the panicked residents of Laketown and when the Master's gold begins splashing into the water from the boat. The hyper-real sounds that can be heard are the burning fires and Smaug roaring overhead.

Clip B:


-Introduction-


This clip is a scene from The Inbetweeners: Season 1 Episode 6 (2008). It takes place during the Sixth form Christmas party, which sees Mark Donovan getting into a fight with Will Mckenzie for talking to his girlfriend, Charlotte Hinchcliffe. Once aware of what is happening, John Webster shouts at Mark to leave will alone. The background music then pauses as everyone else in the room confronts Mark and tells him to leave will alone, as he organised the party in the first place.




Charlotte witnesses Mark's aggressive behaviour from the crowd, and proceeds to walk away in disgust. This prompts Mark to leave Will alone and rush after her. Will informs the others of how kind it was for them to step in and proceeds to make "a few words of thanks". However, as soon as he is about to get out his speech, everyone focuses their attention back on the party, and the music starts up again.


-Diegetic Sound-


The diegetic sound in this clip mainly consists of what the characters are saying and the background music.


-Non-diegetic Sound-


There isn't really a use of non-diegetic sound in this particular clip.


-Natural vs Hyper-real-


My theory is that when the music is playing, the dialogue has been slightly enhanced so that it is clear for the viewer to hear what is being said.