‘Exploring the possible sources of sound-making is one of the most joyous processes for the sound designers’
(Sonnenschien, 2001).
A sound designer uses sound to portray meaning and emotion and does this by representing the art that the animators are creating. The audience then interprets the sounds heard and derive meanings from this (Beauchamp, 2013). So, the combinations of visual art form and the art form of sound have to work hand in hand with each other, conveying meaning to the audience.
Audiation is a term used to describe the psychological effect that sound has on the brain (Beauchamp, 2013). Sound designers in effect enter the brain of the audience, allowing them to be immersed into any film, not only visually but sonically.
Sound design is both an objective and subjective experience (Sonnenschien, 2001, 176). Not only does sound tell you what an object seen in a scene sounds like (diegetic sound) but different sounds convey certain meanings to everyone.
The Sound Elements
Backgrounds play an incredible role in animation. They provide a sonic backdrop for an animation, creating depth within the world it is in. When looking at creating backgrounds within a scene, sound designers often look at the SFX Stem (Beauchamp, 2013, 72):
- Hard FX- Sourced sound FX that are edited and manipulated
- Background- What is being heard in the background: Ambiance
- Foley- Sounds that represent what is seen on screen. They are performed
- WALLA- Crowds
- Design elements- Sounds the drive the narrative forward: Sounds that explain the narrative
How we identify characters
In terms of describing characters in any film, not just animation, visuals aren’t the only character description. Sound plays a massive role in allowing an audience to have a subjective character experience (Sonnenschien, 2001, 178). By having the audience experience what the character is experiencing, it creates a bond. Emotional associates are sounds that define the characters surrounding. The personality of a sound in a characters surrounding can identify the situation they are in, creating an emotional response from the audience (Sonnenschien, 2001, 179). Subtle sonic elements can describe the emotion that character is feeling; from just the sound of footsteps, the audience knows what emotion the character is experiencing.
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