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Journal ArticleDOI

Making fictions sound real - On film sound, perceptual realism and genre

17 May 2010-MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research (Sammenslutningen af Medieforskere i Danmark (SMID))-Vol. 26, Iss: 48, pp 13
TL;DR: This paper examined the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form.
Abstract: This article examines the role that sound plays in making fictions perceptually real to film audiences, whether these fictions are realist or non-realist in content and narrative form. I will argue that some aspects of film sound practices and the kind of experiences they trigger are related to basic rules of human perception, whereas others are more properly explained in relation to how aesthetic devices, including sound, are used to characterise the fiction and thereby make it perceptually real to its audience. Finally, I will argue that not all genres can be defined by a simple taxonomy of sounds. Apart from an account of the kinds of sounds that typically appear in a specific genre, a genre analysis of sound may also benefit from a functionalist approach that focuses on how sounds can make both realist and non-realist aspects of genres sound real to audiences.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It was found that a small number of strong correlations exist between the features and that a greater number of features contribute significantly to the predictive power of emotional valence, rather than arousal.
Abstract: The field of Music Emotion Recognition has become and established research sub-domain of Music Information Retrieval. Less attention has been directed towards the counterpart domain of Audio Emotion Recognition, which focuses upon detection of emotional stimuli resulting from non-musical sound. By better understanding how sounds provoke emotional responses in an audience, it may be possible to enhance the work of sound designers. The work in this paper uses the International Affective Digital Sounds set. A total of 76 features are extracted from the sounds, spanning the time and frequency domains. The features are then subjected to an initial analysis to determine what level of similarity exists between pairs of features measured using Pearson’s r correlation coefficient before being used as inputs to a multiple regression model to determine their weighting and relative importance. The features are then used as the input to two machine learning approaches: regression modelling and artificial neural networks in order to determine their ability to predict the emotional dimensions of arousal and valence. It was found that a small number of strong correlations exist between the features and that a greater number of features contribute significantly to the predictive power of emotional valence, rather than arousal. Shallow neural networks perform significantly better than a range of regression models and the best performing networks were able to account for 64.4% of the variance in prediction of arousal and 65.4% in the case of valence. These findings are a major improvement over those encountered in the literature. Several extensions of this research are discussed, including work related to improving data sets as well as the modelling processes.

30 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
29 Apr 2022
TL;DR: This paper conducted a systematic review using thematic synthesis to distinguish between types of realism currently found in the digital games literature and created a hierarchical taxonomy and mapping of realism dimensions in digital games as a conceptual foundation.
Abstract: Researchers reference realism in digital games without sufficient specificity. Without clarity about the dimensions of realism, we cannot assess how and when to aim for a higher degree of realism, when lower realism suffices, or when purposeful unrealism is ideal for a game and can benefit player experience (PX). To address this conceptual gap, we conducted a systematic review using thematic synthesis to distinguish between types of realism currently found in the digital games literature. We contribute qualitative themes that showcase contradictory design goals of realism/unrealism. From these themes, we created a framework (i.e., a hierarchical taxonomy and mapping) of realism dimensions in digital games as a conceptual foundation. Our themes and framework enable a workable specificity for designing or analyzing types of realism, equip future work to explore effects of specific realism types on PX, and offer a starting point for similar efforts in non-game applications.

9 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
18 Sep 2019
TL;DR: In this article, audio features are extracted and used as the input to two machine-learning approaches: regression modelling and artificial neural networks, in order to predict the emotional dimensions of arousal and valence.
Abstract: In recent years, the field of Music Emotion Recognition has become established. Less attention has been directed towards the counterpart domain of Audio Emotion Recognition, which focuses upon detection of emotional stimuli resulting from non-musical sound. By better understanding how sounds provoke emotional responses in an audience it may be possible to enhance the work of sound designers. The work in this paper uses the International Affective Digital Sounds set. Audio features are extracted and used as the input to two machine-learning approaches: regression modelling and artificial neural networks, in order to predict the emotional dimensions of arousal and valence. It is found that shallow neural networks perform better than a range of regression models. Consistent with existing research in emotion recognition, prediction of arousal is more reliable than that of valence. Several extensions of this research are discussed, including work related to improving data sets as well as the modelling processes.

7 citations


Cites background from "Making fictions sound real - On fil..."

  • ...The use of the "affective qualities" of sound may communicate "dramatic tone, atmosphere and mood" [9], whilst also describing the fictional world, giving it a "particular toning" [20]....

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DissertationDOI
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider how immersive experiences are constructed in firstperson shooter (FPS) video games through the implementation of "realistic" audio, and argue that the history of FPS games is tightly coupled with the innovation of particular audio reproduction technologies, with the greater history of representation across forms of media and on a trajectory towards increased immersive realism.
Abstract: The following study is concerned with how immersive experiences are constructed in first-person shooter (FPS) video games through the implementation of “realistic” audio. Bringing together the three fields of video game studies, sound studies, and science and technology studies in its theoretical framework, this study approaches FPS games as commodities, marketed for their capabilities towards providing the player with an immersive and realistic experience, and constructed in particular ways, for particular ends. The first part of this study explores the context of FPS game audio development, from the earliest days of video games in the midtwentieth century, to the current day. It is argued that the history of FPS games is tightly coupled with the innovation of particular audio reproduction technologies, with the greater history of representation across forms of media, and on a trajectory towards increased immersive realism. The aesthetics of realism as presented in war cinema are taken as a fundamental influence for how immersive and realistic auditory experiences are constructed for contemporary FPS players. The second part of this study takes four FPS games and formally describes them in terms of how the player is positioned as a subject via the game and platform’s audio affordances and disaffordances. Finally, both sections are brought to bear on one another in a diachronic account of how subjects have been (re)positioned via game audio throughout the history of the FPS. Merging these threads, ultimately this study argues that the player-subject of FPS games has been aurally (re)positioned on a trajectory shared with the refinement of audio reproduction technologies towards greater immersive realism. Technological development and the aesthetics of realism, as well as the evolution of FPS games into competitive multiplayer formats, have been mutually influential in this, one necessitating the other in a constant cycle of refinement and occasional decline.

6 citations


Cites background from "Making fictions sound real - On fil..."

  • ...There is certainly no shortage of work concerning film, sound, and realism (Chion, 2009; Langkjaer, 2009; Metz, 1974)....

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  • ...Conclusion This study has been my attempt at answering the call put forth by Lowood (2006), speaking at the merger of studies in the history of science and game studies: [Game studies] potential lies in critical engagement with games as symptoms of and impacts on society and culture—contextualization— but in ways that illuminate the structure of revolutions in design and game play....

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  • ...shortage of work concerning film, sound, and realism (Chion, 2009; Langkjaer, 2009; Metz, 1974)....

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References
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Dec 1976-Nature
TL;DR: The study reported here demonstrates a previously unrecognised influence of vision upon speech perception, on being shown a film of a young woman's talking head in which repeated utterances of the syllable [ba] had been dubbed on to lip movements for [ga].
Abstract: MOST verbal communication occurs in contexts where the listener can see the speaker as well as hear him. However, speech perception is normally regarded as a purely auditory process. The study reported here demonstrates a previously unrecognised influence of vision upon speech perception. It stems from an observation that, on being shown a film of a young woman's talking head, in which repeated utterances of the syllable [ba] had been dubbed on to lip movements for [ga], normal adults reported hearing [da]. With the reverse dubbing process, a majority reported hearing [bagba] or [gaba]. When these subjects listened to the soundtrack from the film, without visual input, or when they watched untreated film, they reported the syllables accurately as repetitions of [ba] or [ga]. Subsequent replications confirm the reliability of these findings; they have important implications for the understanding of speech perception.

5,506 citations


"Making fictions sound real - On fil..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...This also applies to speech perception as demonstrated by an experiment by McGurk and MacDonald (1976)....

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Book
23 Aug 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey on the relationship between voice quality and timbre modality in the context of Melody Voice Quality and Timbre Modality Afterword Index and Bibliography
Abstract: Introduction Perspective Time Interacting Sounds Melody Voice Quality and Timbre Modality Afterword Index and Bibliography

432 citations


"Making fictions sound real - On fil..." refers background in this paper

  • ...…that for various reasons are considered to be better or more convincing than the original sound recording, just like the mix of sounds and their volume are regulated in ways that sound more like movies than reality (see Leeuwen, 1999, on the use of sound perspective in film and other media)....

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Book
02 Aug 2004
TL;DR: The Nature of Visual Attention, Auditory and Crossmodal Attention, and Selection and Control of Action: Combining Attributes of Objects and Visual Search.
Abstract: Although attention, perception and memory are identifiable components of the human cognitive system, this book argues that for a complete understanding of any of them it is necessary to appreciate the way they interact and depend on one another Using close examination of experiments, studies of patients and evidence from cognitive neuroscience, each of these important areas in cognitive psychology is explored in detail and related to its counterparts Written by an established author, Attention, Perception and Memory: An Integrated Introduction explains clearly the evolution and meaning of key terminology and assumptions and puts the different approaches to this field in context

91 citations


"Making fictions sound real - On fil..." refers background in this paper

  • ...In general, we are better equipped to assess sounds relatively than in absolute measurements, a fact of human perception and experience that also accounts for how we perceive differences in temperature, in light intensity etc. (Styles, 2005)....

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Book
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the Third edition of their book, "The Eleven Commandments of Film Sound: From Print Masters to Exploitation", with a focus on sound design and editing.
Abstract: Preface to the Third Edition Introduction Chapter 1 Objective Sound Chapter 2 Psychoacoustics Chapter 3 Audio Fundamentals Chapter 4 Capturing Sound Chapter 5 Microphone Technicalities Chapter 6 Handling the Output of Microphones Chapter 7 Production Sound Mixing Chapter 8 Sync, Sank, Sunk Chapter 9 Transfers Chapter 10 Sound Design Chapter 11 Editing Chapter 12 Mixing Chapter 13 From Print Masters to Exploitation Appendix I Working with Decibels Appendix II Filmography Appendix III The Eleven Commandments of Film Sound Appendix IV Bibliography Glossary Index About the Author The Companion Website Instructions for the Accompanying DVD

85 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This issue of Organised Sound contains many different views of space, including articles about spatialisation techniques, the understanding of sound spatialisation, composition, performance and spaces inside music as well as the spaces and environments where music can exist, including virtual spaces.
Abstract: There has been an extraordinary amount of interest in sound spatialisation in recent years. The volume of work in this area has pushed many international organisations to feature sound spatialisation as a theme for conferences and publications, and Organised Sound is probably overdue in having a thematic issue based upon aspects of sound in space. This issue of Organised Sound contains many different views of space. We have included articles about spatialisation techniques, our understanding of sound spatialisation, composition, performance and spaces inside music as well as the spaces and environments where music can exist, including virtual spaces.

38 citations


"Making fictions sound real - On fil..." refers background in this paper

  • ...(Altman, 1992, p. 62) Two things in this quote appear strange to me....

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  • ...Rick Altman has described the norms for sound recording and mixing established in the early years of sound film as characterised by a non-match between visual and auditory space (Altman, 1992)....

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  • ...Especially the use of the boom mike has a great influence on the smooth dialogue recording: “The uniform sound track has become the rule, unmatched to and independent of the image” (Altman, 1992, p. 57)....

    [...]