This document discusses sound design in several films from 1942 to 1994. It provides examples of how different directors have used sound effects, music, and their combinations to create atmosphere and perspective. Some key points made are that sound can be used to situate the viewer, blur boundaries between music and effects, and create a sense of reality or alienation. Films discussed include Alien, Aliens, Forbidden Planet, THX 1138, and The Sacrifice.

1. MUSICOLOGY 3
TOPIC 1: FILM MUSIC
SOUND DESIGN AS
COMPOSITION

2. SOUND DESIGN IN FILM
Film Date Director Sound / Music
Saboteur 1942 Alfred Hitchcock Frank Skinner
Forbidden Planet 1956 Fred Wilcox Louis Barron
THX 1138 1970 George Lucas Walter Murch
Alien 1979 Ridley Scott Jerry Goldsmith
Aliens 1986 James Cameron James Horner
Ian Underwood
Robert Garret
The Sacrifice 1986 Andrei Tarkovsky
Three Colours 1993-4 Krzysztof Kieslowski Zbigniev Preisner

3. NATURAL SOUND
• Sound on-set
• Foley sound

4. SOUND V MUSIC
• Normally sound is ‘reality’ and music is something
different

5. ALIEN (1979)
MUSIC: JERRY GOLDSMITH
ALIENS (1986)
MUSIC JAMES HORNER
SOUND (AUDIO + SYNTHESIS) IAN
UNDERWOOD
(MOTHERS OF
INVENTION)

6. ALIEN……SOUNDS: CHAINS,
WATER

7. ALIENS…SOUNDS: WIND – OR
NOT?

8. ALIEN…FINAL SCENE

9. FORBIDDEN PLANET
1956
• Director Fred Wilcox
• Music/sound Louis Barron

10. FORBIDDEN PLANET…MACHINE

11. FORBIDDEN PLANET…TITLES

12. THX 1138 (1970)
• Director: George Lucas
• Sound: Walter Murch

13. THX 1138…MACHINES, SYNTHS OR
ORCHESTRA?

14. THX 1138…COMPUTERS: SOUND OR
MELODY?

15. THX 1138…INTERVIEWS: WALTER MURCH &
GEORGE LUCAS

16. SOME FUNCTIONS OF SOUND
DESIGN
• to be the imaginary sounds of non-existent
objects
• to alienate
• to create a world
• to blur the boundaries between ‘real sound’
and ‘music’…
…i.e. between the ‘natural’ and the ‘artificial’

17. KRZYSZTOF KIESLOWSKI
ZBIGNIEW PREISNER
1993-94
Three Colours Blue …liberté (freedom)
Three Colours White …egalité (equality)
Three Colours Red …fraternité (brotherhood)
…the colours of the revolutionary French tricolor

18. THREE COLOURS: BLUE…SOUNDS: CAR
ENGINE, WHEELS

19. THREE COLOURS: RED…TITLES CUE

20. THREE COLOURS: RED…CATWALK CUE

21. ORCHESTRATION / PROCESSING
AFFECTS PERSPECTIVE OF
MUSIC:
THREE COLOURS: RED
• catwalk: diegetic …orchestra
• car: non-diegetic …harp
• wet street: non-diegetic …distorted, inflected; distanced
• car radio: diegetic …static
• hits dog: non-diegetic …fragmented + string pedal

22. THREE COLOURS: RED…CATWALK CUE

23. SPECTRUM: FROM ‘MUSIC’
TO ‘SOUND’…
• Music …melody, harmony, rhythm etc
• Scoring …instrumental sound
• Production …dealing with sound in
mixing
• Sound Design …pure sound

24. THREE COLOURS: BLUE…ORCHESTRATION
CUE

25. • Sound design can be used to situate the viewer in relation to
action, objects or environment…
• …a similar role to ‘presence’ or ‘perspective’ with music
soundtracks e.g. in The Sopranos

26. SABOTEUR
1942
• Director Alfred Hitchcock
• Composer Frank Skinner

27. SABOTEUR…CUE WITH SCORE

28. SABOTEUR…USE OF SILENCE

29. ANDREI TARKOVSKY
THE SACRIFICE
1986

30. THE SACRIFICE
• Alex and his family are on a remote Baltic island
• Over the horizon, nuclear war is destroying the world
• Alex makes a pact with God
• Suddenly it’s as if the war has never happened
• So Alex has to burn his house and all his possessions

31. THE SACRIFICE
• Natural sounds (thunder, planes, fire, breaking
glass)
• Distant raucous shouting / singing
• Bach:‘Erbarme dich’ from St Matthew Passion

32. THE SACRIFICE…CUE 1: STRONG USE OF
NATURAL SOUND

33. THE SACRIFICE…CUE 2: USE OF ‘STRANGE’
SOUNDS

34. THE SACRIFICE: ENDING
• We see the house collapsing in flames
• The camera pans to a different part of the island
• The child is watering a tree he and Alex has planted
• He doesn’t understand what has happened
• We are left with images of the tree, the boy and the
maid (who represents something unearthly)
• Bach’s music releases emotion built up during the film

35. THE SACRIFICE…CUE 3 (FINAL CREDITS):
SOUND TO MUSIC