As part of the industrial media assignment on the reading ”Conventions of sound in documentary” by Jeffrey Rouff, we had to share two points of our interest from it.
For my love for sound, amongst the various examples of sound practices in the documentary tradition, I found the aspects of Location Sound and Music most interesting! Am sharing a synopsis of these topics from the reading as below:
Location Sound in a Documentary
One of the major stylistic characteristic of documentary using location sound recording is a low signal to noise ratio, which demands greater attention from the viewer to decipher spoken words. Without recognisable sources in the image to anchor sounds, we bear a virtual cacophony of clanging, snippets of dialogues and music and other unidentified sounds. Because the scenes are usually not shot in optimal conditions, it signifies that the sound is created for the listener! Interestingly location sound recording in such observational documentaries does not differentiate between foreground and background spaces but all sounds compete in the middle ground. Shotgun microphones are used to allow for narrative information and to raise the ratio of direct to reflected sound, thus isolating sounds in the environment. Directional microphones are used by recordists to place certain sounds in the foreground while relegating other sounds to the background.
Location sound recordists stay as close to the speaker without appearing in the frame. Observational cinematographers prefer viewfinders to see beyond the frame of the film for the perfect space for the roving mic.in Alan Raymond’s words,” the cameraman must listen to the dialogue, and the sound recordist must watch what the camera is shooting”
Observational shooting and editing techniques often does not permit for elaborate supervision of scripts, props, costumes, lighting, performance ad shooting style Anything that contributes to the frame finds it’s way into the narrative. Hence the narrative considerations may necessitate the use of less than technically satisfactory footage. For the reasons of continuity, observational documentary follows the chronological order in which they are shot since continuity conventions make it difficult to edit together actuality material shot at different locations!
Music in a documentary plays an important role in the soundscape of the film. A very interesting find: In early days, a shot of radio or record player signalled the diegetic source of recorded music. By this, the filmmakers indicated that the music was found on location. This practice is also a result of legal and financial concerns. Filmmakers believe if they can prove that they are using a musical segment as social document, they will not be obliged to pay user’s fees to copyright owners.
While the conventions of observational film requires the music to be recorded at location, the function of music in the narrative is to provide continuity, cover up for edits, change of scenes, provides moods, allows for narrative interludes, comments on the action.
Lately documentary filmmakers have become as rigorous as their Hollywood counterparts in finding musical passages, which contribute to narrative and thematic concerns of the film.
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