Deck 7: Sound in the cinema

Question 1

Alain Resnais's Providence and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation both contain examples of

A) major characters whose voices are heard but who never appear on-screen.
B) scenes so dimly lit that sound becomes the main source of narrative information.
C) uses of sound that creates ambiguities.
D) the use of multichannel recording to create a dynamic sense of moving through space.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The prologue of Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons

A) contains a rare example of characters seeming to hear a nondiegetic narrator.
B) contains a rare example of a nondiegetic on-screen narrator.
C) consists of a lengthy soliloquy using internal diegetic sound.
D) includes a scene where violins are used to simulate a woman's screams.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The scene of the cavalry rescue in John Ford's Stagecoach

A) demonstrates how sound can call our attention to events happening offscreen.
B) shows that manipulation of a sound's fidelity can be used to create a striking transition.
C) greatly exaggerates the volume of the rifle shots to convey the characters' subjective reactions.
D) is an unusual case of a major action sequence being played with no music at all.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Film sound can include any mixture of

A) speech, music, and noise.
B) pitch, image, and loudness.
C) image, text, and dialogue.

Question 5

The pitch, or frequency, of a sound affects the

A) perceived color of the sound.
B) perceived loudness of the sound.
C) perceived texture of the sound.
D) perceived highness or lowness of the sound.

Question 6

Which of the following does NOT affect sound perspective?

A) timbre
B) volume
C) multichannel recording
D) synchronization

Question 7

The term dialogue overlap means

A) mixing sounds so that two or more characters speak at the same time.
B) creating realism by having one actor start to speak just before another finishes a line.
C) continuing a line of dialogue over cuts during shot/reverse shot.
D) a type of sound bridge that links one scene with the next.

Question 8

The term Mickey Mousing refers to

A) the use of fast, cheerful music to accompany comic action.
B) the post-dubbing of sound effects created in a special studio.
C) very close synchronization of sound with the movement on the screen.
D) redubbing objectionable language in preparing a film for television broadcast.

Question 9

In The Prestige, sound distinguishes Alfred and Robert's backgrounds and personalities through

A) sound cues such as pounding metal or soft piano keys.
B) orchestral soundtrack "themes" specific to each character.
C) accents that suggest different backgrounds.
D) different volume levels for each of their voices.

Question 10

The example from Chris Marker's Letter from Siberia used in Film Art demonstrates

A) the use of different images to accompany the same sound.
B) the use of very precise, rhythmic synchronization.
C) the use of different sounds to accompany the same images.
D) the use of multiple-track sound.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about diegetic sound is NOT true?

A) It can come from an off-screen or an on-screen source.
B) It can come from a time later or earlier than the events occurring on the screen.
C) It can come from a source inside or outside the world of the narrative.
D) It can be manipulated to lack fidelity to its source in the film.

Question 12

The angels in Wings of Desire violate the rule that one character cannot

A) hear the off-screen dialogue of another.
B) hear another's internal thoughts.
C) hear both on-screen and off-screen sound simultaneously.
D) speak while simultaneously listening.

Question 13

The Prestige is based on the narrative strategy of

A) circular sequencing.
B) short reveals.
C) parallels.
D) single-act structure.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT one of the three major perceptual properties of film sound?

A) loudness
B) pitch
C) timbre
D) texture

Question 15

In film sound, "fidelity" refers to

A) the sound that comes from within the diegetic space of the story.
B) the dialogue actually spoken by the actors during shooting.
C) sound that seems appropriate to its source in the film.
D) lip synchronization that has been done correctly.

Question 16

The Prestige employs dialogue hooks, the technique of

A) ending a scene with a line that prepares for the next scene.
B) offering music cues to indicate that certain lines of dialogue are very important for the plot.
C) using only one line of dialogue in an entire scene to give it added depth.
D) overlapping lines of dialogue by two different characters to emphasize conflict.

Question 17

A sound bridge is

A) a lightweight frame for quickly moving a microphone above the action while filming on location.
B) overlapping the sound of one scene into the next.
C) boosting the volume of the music to make it more prominent than the voices or sound effects.
D) transferring a sound from one channel to another in multichannel recording.

Question 18

Sound that represents a character's thoughts without the character speaking aloud is called

A) mental sound.
B) internal diegetic sound.
C) cognitive sound.
D) off-screen sound.

Question 19

Most of the story events in The Prestige

A) are presented in reverse order.
B) are presented chronologically.
C) are presented through flashback.
D) are presented as the internal diegetic fantasies of the competing magicians.

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT one of the dialogue motifs in The Prestige?

A) "It's sophisticated."
B) "Magic is of the mind, not the hand."
C) "Man's ______ should exceed his ______."
D) ". . . getting your hands dirty."

Question 21

Diegetic sound is defined as sound that comes from an on-screen source.

Question 22

In The Prestige, the two principal characters begin with similar personalities that increasingly show differences as the film progresses.

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT an example of the deliberate distortion of sound to further the story?

A) the amplified breathing of soldiers in A Thin Red Line
B) the use of a train whistle to replace a scream in The Thirty-Nine Steps
C) the use of sound effects to produce on-screen synchronous sound for a barking dog
D) the high volume of sound as the samurai horses gallop towards the village in Seven Samurai

Question 24

The Prestige uses the sound of iron and rasping metal to suggest an age of lumbering mechanical objects.

Question 25

In Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola manipulates sound in the hospital scene with Ben Willard so that the stereophonic sound systems in theaters would produce an effect that was

A) realistic and objective.
B) realistic and asynchronous.
C) nonrealistic and subjective.

Question 26

Jackie Brown repeats the same scene three times, using ______ in each version.

A) nondiegetic soundtracks
B) restricted narration
C) sonic flashbacks
D) internal diegetic sound

Question 27

In adjusting the rhythm of the editing in relation to the sound, the editor always tries to avoid "cutting against" the dialogue.

Question 28

In experimental films, the soundtrack is often made before the image track.

Question 29

Sound effects are the most common kind of nondiegetic sound.

Question 30

The final battle scene of Seven Samurai uses a dense mix of sound effects without music.

Question 31

The term sound over usually refers to nondiegetic and internal diegetic sounds.

Question 32

When the king puts on headphones in The King's Speech, what kind of sound do we hear?

A) off-screen restricted sound
B) on-screen restricted sound
C) off-screen voiceover
D) on-screen voiceover

Question 33

How would you describe Casablanca's soundtrack compared to film soundtracks of today?

A) empty
B) linear
C) full
D) noisy

Question 34

A category of film that typically uses sonic flashbacks intercut with diegetic synchronous sound is

A) animation.
B) trial films.
C) Westerns.
D) romantic comedies.

Question 35

The crossing of internal and external diegetic sound borders in The Snake Pit accomplishes what narrative goal?

A) It gives the viewer a better sense of the spatial dimensions of the mise-en-scene.
B) It gives the viewer access to the larger political context of the story.
C) It confuses the viewer in order to then reveal the protagonist's state of mind.
D) It provides the viewer with an intimate understanding of the protagonist's sexuality.

Question 36

Film soundtracks must include both diegetic and nondiegetic elements.

Question 37

Film sound can include any mixture of noise, music, and speech.

Question 38

To create suspense, horror and mystery films often use

A) digitally recorded sound.
B) sonic flashbacks.
C) voiceover commentary.
D) sound from an unseen source.

Question 39

The loudness of sound in film is measured precisely but is subjective for the listener.

Question 40

To aid in synchronization, the soundtracks of animated films are recorded after all the images are completed.

Question 41

Discuss the most significant aspects of the use of off-screen sound in this clip.Be sure to specify each type of sound that is used.Discuss also the narrative functions of the off-screen sound.What are two different ways in which filmmakers can use off-screen space? Draw on examples from Film Art, the lectures, and any of the films seen in this class.

Question 42

Diegetic sound is defined as any sound that is realistic.

Question 43

The use of subjective sound can parallel that of optical point-of-view.

Question 44

In this clip, which sounds are diegetic, and which are nondiegetic? Is significant use made of off-screen sound? Cite at least two narrative functions of the sound in this extract.

Question 45

Nondiegetic sound is the same as synchronous sound.

Question 46

A dialogue hook allows a character to revisit a previous conversation in the narrative.

Question 47

Describe what off-screen sound is and two major ways it can be used.Illustrate your answer with specific examples from Film Art, the lectures, and any film seen for this class.

Question 48

How does on-screen and off-screen sound work with optical point-of-view cutting to illuminate character perspective in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown?

Question 49

Sound perspective gives a sense of spatial distance and location.

Question 50

Off-screen sound can provide a sense of how a scene will develop.