Everything you hear on film is a lie
-
0:01 - 0:03I want to start by doing an experiment.
-
0:05 - 0:08I'm going to play three videos
of a rainy day. -
0:09 - 0:13But I've replaced the audio
of one of the videos, -
0:13 - 0:15and instead of the sound of rain,
-
0:15 - 0:18I've added the sound of bacon frying.
-
0:19 - 0:23So I want you think carefully
which one the clip with the bacon is. -
0:24 - 0:26(Rain falling)
-
0:27 - 0:29(Rain falling)
-
0:32 - 0:34(Rain falling)
-
0:41 - 0:42All right.
-
0:43 - 0:46Actually, I lied.
-
0:46 - 0:47They're all bacon.
-
0:47 - 0:49(Bacon sizzling)
-
0:52 - 0:54(Applause)
-
0:57 - 1:00My point here isn't really
to make you hungry -
1:01 - 1:02every time you see a rainy scene,
-
1:02 - 1:08but it's to show that our brains
are conditioned to embrace the lies. -
1:09 - 1:11We're not looking for accuracy.
-
1:12 - 1:15So on the subject of deception,
-
1:15 - 1:18I wanted to quote one
of my favorite authors. -
1:18 - 1:25In "The Decay of Lying,"
Oscar Wilde establishes the idea -
1:25 - 1:31that all bad art comes from copying
nature and being realistic; -
1:31 - 1:36and all great art comes
from lying and deceiving, -
1:37 - 1:40and telling beautiful, untrue things.
-
1:40 - 1:44So when you're watching a movie
-
1:45 - 1:46and a phone rings,
-
1:46 - 1:48it's not actually ringing.
-
1:49 - 1:53It's been added later
in postproduction in a studio. -
1:53 - 1:56All of the sounds you hear are fake.
-
1:56 - 1:58Everything, apart from the dialogue,
-
1:58 - 1:59is fake.
-
1:59 - 2:03When you watch a movie and you see
a bird flapping its wings -- -
2:03 - 2:05(Wings flapping)
-
2:06 - 2:08They haven't really recorded the bird.
-
2:08 - 2:13It sounds a lot more realistic
if you record a sheet -
2:13 - 2:15or shaking kitchen gloves.
-
2:15 - 2:17(Flapping sound)
-
2:19 - 2:22The burning of a cigarette up close --
-
2:22 - 2:24(Cigarette burns)
-
2:25 - 2:28It actually sounds a lot more authentic
-
2:28 - 2:31if you take a small Saran Wrap ball
-
2:31 - 2:32and release it.
-
2:32 - 2:35(A Saran Warp ball being released)
-
2:36 - 2:37Punches?
-
2:37 - 2:39(Punch)
-
2:39 - 2:41Oops, let me play that again.
-
2:41 - 2:42(Punch)
-
2:43 - 2:46That's often done by sticking
a knife in vegetables, -
2:46 - 2:48usually cabbage.
-
2:49 - 2:50(Cabbage stabbed with a knife)
-
2:51 - 2:54The next one -- it's breaking bones.
-
2:54 - 2:56(Bones breaking)
-
2:57 - 2:59Well, no one was really harmed.
-
2:59 - 3:00It's actually ...
-
3:01 - 3:04breaking celery or frozen lettuce.
-
3:04 - 3:06(Breaking frozen lettuce or celery)
-
3:07 - 3:08(Laughter)
-
3:09 - 3:14Making the right sounds
is not always as easy -
3:14 - 3:16as a trip to the supermarket
-
3:16 - 3:19and going to the vegetable section.
-
3:19 - 3:21But it's often a lot more
complicated than that. -
3:21 - 3:24So let's reverse-engineer together
-
3:24 - 3:26the creation of a sound effect.
-
3:26 - 3:30One of my favorite stories
comes from Frank Serafine. -
3:30 - 3:32He's a contributor to our library,
-
3:32 - 3:35and a great sound designer for "Tron"
and "Star Trek" and others. -
3:36 - 3:42He was part of the Paramount team
that won the Oscar for best sound -
3:42 - 3:44for "The Hunt for Red October."
-
3:44 - 3:47In this Cold War classic, in the '90s,
-
3:47 - 3:52they were asked to produce the sound
of the propeller of the submarine. -
3:52 - 3:53So they had a small problem:
-
3:53 - 3:57they couldn't really find
a submarine in West Hollywood. -
3:57 - 4:00So basically, what they did is,
-
4:00 - 4:04they went to a friend's swimming pool,
-
4:04 - 4:08and Frank performed
a cannonball, or bomba. -
4:09 - 4:11They placed an underwater mic
-
4:11 - 4:14and an overhead mic
outside the swimming pool. -
4:14 - 4:17So here's what the underwater
mic sounds like. -
4:17 - 4:19(Underwater plunge)
-
4:20 - 4:21Adding the overhead mic,
-
4:21 - 4:23it sounded a bit like this:
-
4:23 - 4:25(Water splashing)
-
4:26 - 4:30So now they took the sound
and pitched it one octave down, -
4:30 - 4:32sort of like slowing down a record.
-
4:33 - 4:35(Water splashing at lower octave)
-
4:36 - 4:39And then they removed
a lot of the high frequencies. -
4:39 - 4:41(Water splashing)
-
4:41 - 4:43And pitched it down another octave.
-
4:44 - 4:47(Water splashing at lower octave)
-
4:47 - 4:49And then they added
a little bit of the splash -
4:49 - 4:51from the overhead microphone.
-
4:51 - 4:55(Water splashing)
-
4:55 - 4:57And by looping and repeating that sound,
-
4:57 - 4:58they got this:
-
4:58 - 5:01(Propeller churning)
-
5:04 - 5:11So, creativity and technology put together
in order to create the illusion -
5:11 - 5:14that we're inside the submarine.
-
5:15 - 5:18But once you've created your sounds
-
5:18 - 5:21and you've synced them to the image,
-
5:21 - 5:25you want those sounds to live
in the world of the story. -
5:25 - 5:29And one the best ways to do
that is to add reverb. -
5:30 - 5:33So this is the first audio tool
I want to talk about. -
5:33 - 5:38Reverberation, or reverb,
is the persistence of the sound -
5:38 - 5:40after the original sound has ended.
-
5:40 - 5:43So it's sort of like the --
-
5:43 - 5:46all the reflections from the materials,
-
5:46 - 5:49the objects and the walls
around the sound. -
5:49 - 5:51Take, for example, the sound of a gunshot.
-
5:51 - 5:54The original sound is less
than half a second long. -
5:56 - 5:57(Gunshot)
-
5:58 - 5:59By adding reverb,
-
5:59 - 6:03we can make it sound like
it was recorded inside a bathroom. -
6:03 - 6:05(Bathroom gunshot)
-
6:05 - 6:09Or like it was recorded
inside a chapel or a church. -
6:09 - 6:10(Church gunshot)
-
6:11 - 6:13Or in a canyon.
-
6:14 - 6:16(Canyon gunshot)
-
6:16 - 6:19So reverb gives us a lot of information
-
6:19 - 6:24about the space between the listener
and the original sound source. -
6:24 - 6:26If the sound is the taste,
-
6:26 - 6:30then reverb is sort of like
the smell of the sound. -
6:30 - 6:32But reverb can do a lot more.
-
6:32 - 6:36Listening to a sound
with a lot less reverberation -
6:36 - 6:39than the on-screen action
-
6:39 - 6:42is going to immediately signify to us
-
6:42 - 6:44that we're listening to a commentator,
-
6:44 - 6:49to an objective narrator that's not
participating in the on-screen action. -
6:50 - 6:55Also, emotionally intimate
moments in cinema -
6:55 - 6:57are often heard with zero reverb,
-
6:57 - 7:01because that's how it would sound
if someone was speaking inside our ear. -
7:01 - 7:03On the completely other side,
-
7:03 - 7:06adding a lot of reverb to a voice
-
7:06 - 7:09is going to make us think
that we're listening to a flashback, -
7:10 - 7:13or perhaps that we're inside
the head of a character -
7:14 - 7:16or that we're listening
to the voice of God. -
7:16 - 7:19Or, even more powerful in film,
-
7:19 - 7:20Morgan Freeman.
-
7:20 - 7:22(Laughter)
-
7:22 - 7:23So --
-
7:23 - 7:25(Applause)
-
7:26 - 7:29But what are some other tools or hacks
-
7:29 - 7:31that sound designers use?
-
7:32 - 7:34Well, here's a really big one.
-
7:40 - 7:41It's silence.
-
7:42 - 7:45A few moments of silence
is going to make us pay attention. -
7:46 - 7:48And in the Western world,
-
7:48 - 7:50we're not really used to verbal silences.
-
7:50 - 7:54They're considered awkward or rude.
-
7:55 - 7:58So silence preceding verbal communication
-
7:59 - 8:01can create a lot of tension.
-
8:01 - 8:05But imagine a really big Hollywood movie,
-
8:05 - 8:09where it's full of explosions
and automatic guns. -
8:10 - 8:14Loud stops being loud
anymore, after a while. -
8:14 - 8:16So in a yin-yang way,
-
8:16 - 8:19silence needs loudness
and loudness needs silence -
8:19 - 8:22for either of them to have any effect.
-
8:22 - 8:24But what does silence mean?
-
8:24 - 8:27Well, it depends how
it's used in each film. -
8:27 - 8:31Silence can place us inside
the head of a character -
8:31 - 8:32or provoke thought.
-
8:32 - 8:35We often relate silences with ...
-
8:37 - 8:38contemplation,
-
8:39 - 8:40meditation,
-
8:41 - 8:43being deep in thought.
-
8:45 - 8:48But apart from having one meaning,
-
8:48 - 8:50silence becomes a blank canvas
-
8:50 - 8:54upon which the viewer is invited
to the paint their own thoughts. -
8:55 - 8:59But I want to make it clear:
there is no such thing as silence. -
8:59 - 9:04And I know this sounds like the most
pretentious TED Talk statement ever. -
9:05 - 9:10But even if you were to enter
a room with zero reverberation -
9:10 - 9:12and zero external sounds,
-
9:12 - 9:15you would still be able to hear
the pumping of your own blood. -
9:16 - 9:20And in cinema, traditionally,
there was never a silent moment -
9:20 - 9:22because of the sound of the projector.
-
9:23 - 9:25And even in today's Dolby world,
-
9:26 - 9:29there's not really any moment of silence
if you listen around you. -
9:30 - 9:33There's always some sort of noise.
-
9:33 - 9:36Now, since there's no such
thing as silence, -
9:36 - 9:39what do filmmakers
and sound designers use? -
9:39 - 9:44Well, as a synonym,
they often use ambiences. -
9:44 - 9:48Ambiences are the unique background sounds
-
9:48 - 9:51that are specific to each location.
-
9:51 - 9:53Each location has a unique sound,
-
9:53 - 9:55and each room has a unique sound,
-
9:55 - 9:57which is called room tone.
-
9:57 - 9:59So here's a recording
of a market in Morocco. -
9:59 - 10:02(Voices, music)
-
10:05 - 10:08And here's a recording
of Times Square in New York. -
10:09 - 10:13(Traffic sounds, car horns, voices)
-
10:15 - 10:19Room tone is the addition of all
the noises inside the room: -
10:19 - 10:21the ventilation, the heating, the fridge.
-
10:22 - 10:24Here's a recording
of my apartment in Brooklyn. -
10:24 - 10:29(You can hear the ventilation, the boiler,
the fridge and street traffic) -
10:35 - 10:40Ambiences work in a most primal way.
-
10:41 - 10:44They can speak directly
to our brain subconsciously. -
10:45 - 10:50So, birds chirping outside your window
may indicate normality, -
10:51 - 10:54perhaps because, as a species,
-
10:54 - 10:58we've been used to that sound
every morning for millions of years. -
10:58 - 11:02(Birds chirping)
-
11:06 - 11:09On the other hand, industrial sounds
have been introduced to us -
11:10 - 11:11a little more recently.
-
11:12 - 11:14Even though I really like
them personally -- -
11:14 - 11:16they've been used by one
of my heroes, David Lynch, -
11:16 - 11:18and his sound designer, Alan Splet --
-
11:18 - 11:21industrial sounds often carry
negative connotations. -
11:21 - 11:24(Machine noises)
-
11:28 - 11:33Now, sound effects can tap
into our emotional memory. -
11:35 - 11:37Occasionally, they can be so significant
-
11:37 - 11:40that they become a character in a movie.
-
11:41 - 11:45The sound of thunder may indicate
divine intervention or anger. -
11:46 - 11:49(Thunder)
-
11:52 - 11:56Church bells can remind us
of the passing of time, -
11:56 - 11:58or perhaps our own mortality.
-
12:00 - 12:03(Bells ringing)
-
12:08 - 12:12And breaking of glass can
indicate the end of a relationship -
12:12 - 12:14or a friendship.
-
12:14 - 12:16(Glass breaking)
-
12:17 - 12:20Scientists believe that dissonant sounds,
-
12:20 - 12:25for example, brass or wind
instruments played very loud, -
12:26 - 12:31may remind us of animal howls in nature
-
12:31 - 12:34and therefore create a sense
of irritation or fear. -
12:35 - 12:37(Brass and wind instruments playing)
-
12:41 - 12:44So now we've spoken
about on-screen sounds. -
12:44 - 12:49But occasionally, the source
of a sound cannot be seen. -
12:49 - 12:51That's what we call offscreen sounds,
-
12:52 - 12:53or "acousmatic."
-
12:54 - 12:55Acousmatic sounds --
-
12:56 - 13:01well, the term "acousmatic" comes
from Pythagoras in ancient Greece, -
13:01 - 13:05who used to teach behind
a veil or curtain for years, -
13:05 - 13:08not revealing himself to his disciples.
-
13:08 - 13:11I think the mathematician
and philosopher thought that, -
13:12 - 13:13in that way,
-
13:14 - 13:18his students might focus
more on the voice, -
13:18 - 13:20and his words and its meaning,
-
13:20 - 13:23rather than the visual of him speaking.
-
13:23 - 13:26So sort of like the Wizard of Oz,
-
13:26 - 13:30or "1984's" Big Brother,
-
13:30 - 13:34separating the voice from its source,
-
13:34 - 13:36separating cause and effect
-
13:36 - 13:40sort of creates a sense
of ubiquity or panopticism, -
13:40 - 13:42and therefore, authority.
-
13:43 - 13:46There's a strong tradition
of acousmatic sound. -
13:47 - 13:54Nuns in monasteries in Rome and Venice
used to sing in rooms -
13:54 - 13:58up in galleries close to the ceiling,
-
13:58 - 14:02creating the illusion that we're listening
to angels up in the sky. -
14:02 - 14:06Richard Wagner famously
created the hidden orchestra -
14:06 - 14:10that was placed in a pit
between the stage and the audience. -
14:10 - 14:15And one of my heroes, Aphex Twin,
famously hid in dark corners of clubs. -
14:15 - 14:20I think what all these masters knew
is that by hiding the source, -
14:20 - 14:22you create a sense of mystery.
-
14:22 - 14:24This has been seen
in cinema over and over, -
14:24 - 14:27with Hitchcock,
and Ridley Scott in "Alien." -
14:27 - 14:29Hearing a sound without knowing its source
-
14:29 - 14:33is going to create some sort of tension.
-
14:35 - 14:40Also, it can minimize certain visual
restrictions that directors have -
14:40 - 14:44and can show something
that wasn't there during filming. -
14:44 - 14:46And if all this sounds
a little theoretical, -
14:46 - 14:48I wanted to play a little video.
-
14:49 - 14:52(Toy squeaking)
-
14:52 - 14:55(Typewriter)
-
14:56 - 14:58(Drumming)
-
14:59 - 15:01(Ping-pong)
-
15:02 - 15:05(Knives being sharpened)
-
15:06 - 15:09(Record scratching)
-
15:09 - 15:11(Sawing sounds)
-
15:11 - 15:12(Woman screaming)
-
15:13 - 15:16What I'm sort of trying
to demonstrate with these tools -
15:18 - 15:20is that sound is a language.
-
15:21 - 15:24It can trick us by transporting
us geographically; -
15:25 - 15:26it can change the mood;
-
15:27 - 15:28it can set the pace;
-
15:29 - 15:33it can make us laugh
or it can make us scared. -
15:35 - 15:38On a personal level, I fell
in love with that language -
15:38 - 15:39a few years ago,
-
15:39 - 15:44and somehow managed to make it
into some sort of profession. -
15:45 - 15:48And I think with our work
through the sound library, -
15:49 - 15:54we're trying to kind of expand
the vocabulary of that language. -
15:56 - 15:59And in that way, we want
to offer the right tools -
15:59 - 16:01to sound designers,
-
16:01 - 16:02filmmakers,
-
16:02 - 16:04and video game and app designers,
-
16:05 - 16:08to keep telling even better stories
-
16:08 - 16:11and creating even more beautiful lies.
-
16:11 - 16:12So thanks for listening.
-
16:12 - 16:16(Applause)
- Title:
- Everything you hear on film is a lie
- Speaker:
- Tasos Frantzolas
- Description:
-
Tasos Frantzolas speaks at TEDxAthens
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 16:35
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie | |
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Brian Greene approved English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie | |
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie | |
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie | |
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie | |
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Camille Martínez accepted English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie | |
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Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie | |
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Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Everything you hear on film is a lie |