When it comes to filming movies, there are two types that are easy to distinguish when it comes to sound, they are real-life and animated. In real-life movies the voices are recorded as the movie is being filmed. Music, sound effects and any hard to understand or missing dialogue is added in during the editing process. For my blog, I am going to talk about animated film because the sound editing process is different.
In the movie The Lion King, because it is animated, all of the sound is added in after the fact. The voices and dialogue are recorded and then matched to the animation as well as the music and sound effects and all of this is blended in during the editing process. When the score is broken down into its three components, it is easy to understand their role in the creation of the movie. The first component is dialogue and this is non-diegetic because animals cannot speak, at least in manner in which we can understand them. This is where actors come in. They are given a script, guidance and direction and as they read the lines they are being recored for later use. The next component is sound effects and they are diegetic. If the editor and foley artist are good at their craft, they will match the natural sounds to the animated action and make the scene appear as real as possible. The third component is music and it is non-diegetic. The music in The Lion King is used to give the story real emotion. In the scene-Stampede-if there isn’t any music playing while the herd is stampeding and Simba is in danger then the scene isn’t suspenseful or strong enough to catch our attention.
The sound used in The Lion King made the movie very fun and entertaining. It held kids captivated as they watched. The music was lively and easy to follow, the dialogue between the animals allowed the kids to follow the story and not get distracted by outside influences and the sound effects give the movie a real life like quality.
The use of sound in the movie made it an adventure and taught a lesson about facing your fears and doubts and don’t let someone else control your destiny. The overall feel of the movie was that of a drama because of the intensity of the action, the sadness of the loss of Mufasa and the evilness of Scar. The sound that made this movie a drama is the background music. If the movie was just of talking animals and there wasn’t any sort music or tone to set the mood of the scene then we would lose interest very quickly. The sound effects gave this movie a real feel. It was easy to visualize the Wildebeest running with the soundtrack used and the other natural animal sounds used gave the appearance of being on an African Savannah.
If any one of the components were left out, the movie would be incomplete and I doubt it would have even been released since the soundtrack really made the movie stand out.
Goodykoontz, B, & Jacodbs, C.P. (2011) Film: From Watching to seeing. San Diego, CA
Youtube.com/Movieclips
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