Sound in Documentary Films
Published by Emil Abraham,
Sound is as important as the image. Unfortunately, this fact wasn’t realized until quite recently. Sound has always been an extremely underrated aspect of filmmaking and, consequently, sound syntax and even technology developed quite slowly compared to its visual counterpart. One of the reasons this may have happened is because the audience does not ‘read’ sound in the same way that it does the visual image. Sound is not only omnipresent but also omni-directional and this pervasiveness led to it being traditionally discounted as an important medium of film.
These days, the same pervasiveness is considered beneficial and filmmakers have learnt that sound can be manipulated effectively to enhance a film. The fact is, sound is sometimes far more effective a medium in film than the visual image. Christian Metz identified five channels of information in film: (a) the visual image (b) print and other graphics (c) speech (d) music; and (e) noise. Interestingly, three of the five channels are auditory rather than visual, giving testament to the importance of sound in any film. However, even though it’s given its due by filmmakers, fiction and documentary alike, sound is often not considered enough at the scriptwriting stage. A soundtrack can strengthen script moments and sequences and realize both space and time. In documentary, sound can be a vivid counterpart to the visual, adding to the drama and realism of the overall film. It is for this reason that the scriptwriter must incorporate sound into the script.
Normally, there are six types of sound in a film:
1. Narrative commentary / Voice over
Narration is the sound-track commentary that sometimes accompanies a visual image in a documentary. It’s also often called a ‘voice-over’ and it can be spoken by one or more off-screen commentators. The commentator can be virtually anybody, from a character in the film, the filmmaker to even someone completely unidentified, whom the audience only relates to by his/her voice. Voice-over narration has always been a very popular tool in documentaries because it is an easy and effective way to communicate verbal information in the absence of dialogue between actors. However, many filmmakers choose to do away with narration, preferring to communicate verbal information to the audience through talking heads.
2. Talking heads
The speech element of talking heads, or interviews, is an important element of the soundtrack and also an effective way to communicate information to the audience. In documentary, filmmakers often choose to discard narration completely in favour of talking heads, as they come across as more credible and in keeping with the non-fiction nature of documentary. The audience is able to identify the person talking, thus making their experience more organic for them. The filmmaker is then also able to show the interviewee talking, cut to visual images while continuing the voice of the interviewee over these images, which may support or supplement what he is saying. This provides a smooth flow of sound for the audience, who will ‘know’ the voice they are listening to and thus feel more empathy with it.
Narration and talking heads are not exclusive of each other as audio communication techniques. Even though some filmmakers prefer only using talking heads these days, many documentaries have a bit of both and they work quite well together.
3. Music
Feature films have traditionally always relied heavily on music as part of the soundtrack. Music directors and composers would create masterpieces, which sometimes carried entire visual sequences. Some films were even defined and identified by their trademark musical soundtracks. It is often said that the musical theme of the feature film Jaws (1975) created an entire generation of people afraid to swim in the ocean for fear of a shark attack. Like feature films, documentaries also use music to enhance moments and create moods and cultural flavour in the film. Background music appeals on an emotional level with the audience and increases the level of empathy with the events on screen. Music is also used to establish a particular geographical location or identify a particular community; for example, images of a rice field, accompanied by Indian folk music, easily identify the location as somewhere in India.
4. Ambiance sound
The sound that is naturally present in the atmosphere surrounding the visual image and is recorded simultaneously with it is called ambiance sound. Traditionally, this sound was referred to as ‘noise’ and speech and music were given more attention. However, as sound technology developed, filmmakers realized its importance in the construction of a complete soundtrack. More than anything else, this type of sound is essential to the creation of a location atmosphere. The environment’s sound or what is often called ‘room tone’, based on the reverberation time and harmonics of a particular location is its signature. In documentary, ambiance sound is a necessary part of the soundtrack as it establishes the film’s visual in reality and gives the audience a realization of space and time. This is invaluable when dealing with non-fictional subjects. Normally, ambiance sound is used continuously, along with other types of sound, throughout most of the documentary.
5. Sound effects
Any sound that is not speech, music or ambiance and is artificially injected into the soundtrack to enhance it is called a sound effect. This could be a natural sound like a bird chirping to a digitally created or distorted sound like microphone feedback etc. In the old days of film, sound technicians would have to create thousands of sound effects to put in a film in the absence of ambiance sound. This was needed when either the camera was unable to record sound or when shooting took place in studios, where the ambiance would have been at odds with the visuals on screen. These days, sound effects are used to enhance the film’s subject or mood, during recreations or when the required sound is missing from the recorded ambiance. For example: sounds of horses galloping, men screaming and the clang of weapons against each other could be used while showing a recreated sequence of an ancient battle; or the sound of a helicopter could be injected into a shot of a helicopter flying that was shot from too far away to catch the original ambiance.
6. Silence
It may sound odd to add the lack of sound as a type of sound element, but in the world of film, where everything is deliberate, even silence within the film means that the filmmaker has chosen to put it there.
In the days of silent films, filmmakers used to hire live orchestras to play while the film was being screened to add to their entertainment value. Today’s filmmakers have realized the power of silence. The lack of any sound over a particular moment in a film forces the audience to focus on the visual and heightens their anticipation for the moment when the something happens or when sound re-enters the picture. This is a technique used quite frequently in horror films. In documentary, the scriptwriter can use this technique when he wants the audience to hone in on the visual to such an extent that it takes them into a kind of suspended or unnatural reality. However, unless it is a silent film or silence plays a thematic role in the film, this element should be used sparingly. Too long a gap between sounds will struggle to hold audience attention.