Tom Pearson's Multimedia

Recently had a seminar on sound design and how important & integral to AV production it really is. A film is 50% video and 50% Audio. Any unequal mix of these will result in a weird quality of production. I was asked to find an example I liked depending on it's sound design. My example would have to be the intro to Apocalypse Now.



It’s non-diagetic sound overlays the napalming of jungles from the Vietnam War. It gives the viewer a dream like state, an out of body experience. This is emphasised by the transparent images that are over-layed on top of the helicopters. However if the sound of the helicopters were to play, you would be much more focus on what was happening and have a much more selected focus on what you want to view. I think it’s a good example of sound design in film. This scene could be made so many other ways but the sound really makes it what it is.