The article begins by speaking about realism for sound not being the same as cinematic realism. Which is governed by our expectations and perceptions of cinematic wolds and not the real-world experience. Recording sound effects as well are not just recording but more construction of sounds. Sound for film isn’t about just capturing but performing as ben Burt did for the lightsaber.
The article also compares sound and image construction in unison to be the process of representation and abstraction which I agree with what’s said. It is the balance between what’s seen and the idea of what it could be.
When designing star wars they wanted to make sure the film and its world were reliable, realistic and authentic. Before this most sci-fi soundscapes were using the theremin and other electronic sounds which seemed cliche and took the context out of films. This meant that when designing the sound for this film Ben Burt decided to go against that and make something more realistic and industrial. They wanted it to sound like a “used future”
The sound design in the first scene for StarWars uses the laser sounds to incorporate more than just shooting. It shows a sense of space, temporality and depth/continuity of the environment. You can hear the laser shots you see on screen and others off-screen. Which creates a sense of a world that is alive and exists beyond the limits of what we see.
Ben Burt speaks on his thoughts on field recording. It’s more than recording a source or sound its also the relationship between that sound and the space around it. The air has a lot to do with it. It’s a perfume of sound he says.
Motifs in sound are also added towards the picture, with good vs evil, love and romance, Industrial future. This allowed for sounds to portray these motifs as well. With more heavy mean sounding vehicles using low end and harsher sounds for enemy dark side ships and lighter smoother sounds for the rebels.
The rebel ships were also sound designed to be jankier and put together like scrap ships through sound and the empire was more high tech, well constructed.
He also pitched the lightsabers to different tones, Darth faders being a minor key and ben Kenobi’s is more of a C major chord. And when they get together to fight there is disharmony.
With R2D2 they managed to convey emotions and communicate without speech but using sounds and bleeps. Performing with sound the same way a human does with language. The tone, the speed, the pitch, the performance made a difference in understanding R2D2.
Overall this article brings critical reflection on the abilities of sound design to convey messages and meanings. As well as motifs, space, georgarphy. Time, power, struggle. Evil, good. Anything to an extent, and also touches on the ability we have to passively relate that to common contexts in our society. And the balance between abstract and reality can create a buffer zone in which sound design exists.