We have already done some basic exploration of sound when we did the foley sound exercise. This week we are going to go into much more detail in terms of how to describe sound in film and analyse the meaning communicated.

You will be completing an analysis for independent study.

Terms

You need to be able to describe all the elements of sound that feature in a film. Here is a diagram of those elements that you need to describe and analyse.

Diegetic Sound (includes foley)

Non-Diegetic Sound

We’re going to do an analysis of the sound in this sequence from The Return of the Jedi (1983) Marquand, from the beginning to 5.04.

Watch through the clip and make notes using a copy of this document to make your notes.

They key to this is to describe the examples of the various sounds from your text clearly. Here is a blog with some useful ideas about how to describe music.