I decided to stick with Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life for this week’s blog on the categories and functions of sound in film. There are two different types of sound diegetic, which takes place in the world of the film, and non-diegetic, which takes place outside the world of the film. There are three basic categories of sound in film. These three categories are dialogue, sound effects, and music. Dialogue is most easily defined as the words spoken by the characters (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, 6.4). Sound effects are the sounds that occur in the scene and help to set the mise-en-scene. They can be explosions or laughter that helps to establish action or comedy (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, 6.4). The third category is music. Music can be a score made exclusively for the film or a song that fits the scene, but either way this music helps to convey the mood and set the scene (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, 6.4).
I am going to look at one scene from It’s a Wonderful Life in particular. I am going to look at the sound in the pool party scene. All the sound in this scene is diegetic as it takes place in the world of the film. The dialogue in this film sets the entire movie, as dialogue is the main way of communicating the mood and theme of the film. In this particular scene, the dialogue does not play too much of a role. It does help to establish some comedy by illustrating George Bailey as clueless to his current situation. The sound effects in this film are not over the top, but instead establish a real feel by mainly being sounds of day to day life. This scene demonstrates that as there are no large or over the top sound effects. It is obvious there was some post filming dubbing as the sounds of the crowd are clearer than one would expect with a large band playing in the background. This is probably the greatest extent of sound effects in the film. The music in this film tends to be a mix of established songs and scores made just for this song. It is also the best example of sound that is diegetic and non-diegetic. Some scenes have non-diegetic music solely to set the mood, such as when George is at what was his house during the fantasy sequence. The pool party in particular is an example of diegetic music doing the same thing. The music in this scene is all from the band at the school dance, but it effectively establishes the jovial and happy mood of the scene.
If you removed any aspect of sound from this scene, it would definitely have a negative effect on the scene. The combination of the music, crowd noise, splashes, and dialogue all work together to establish the jovial and happy mood of this scene. If any one part of that were to be taken away, the scene may still be established, but not to the same affect as all three working in concert.
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint
Education, Inc.
Movieclips (2014). Pool party. It’s a Wonderful Life Retrieved from
http://movieclips.com/6WwU4-its-a-wonderful-life-movie-pool-party/
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