Exercise: diegetic and non diegetic sound

The exercise consists in identifying different kind of sounds used in films. When making it, the line between diegetic and non diegetic sound should be clear. These are the examples to practice and understand how the soundscape contributes either to create an specific atmosphere or merely to enhance the shots. 

Intentional confusion of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. I've chosen a scene from a series where a man is running around a neighborhood. He wears clothes for running and uses earphones. We listen to music as we see how things evolve. Apparently, this music is a soundtrack but once the guy stops, the music stops as well. This is because he has removed the earphones from his ears. So, we had been listening to the music that the protagonist was listening to. This means, it was in truth diegetic sound and not non-diegetic. I have to say that I really like this trick. 



Sound that is hard to identify as either diegetic and non-diegetic. I couldn't find any examples of this. But, as soon as I found one, I'll post it. 

Music (non-diegetic) used to identify social and cultural references. I chose the last scene of the film 'Slumdog millionaire". We see there a group of dancers together the two protagonists, dancing while an Indian song is being played. I must admit that it might be considered as nos typical, due to the people are not dressed as the Indiand stereotype. Yet I think the example is good.  



Music and other non-diegetic sound used to create, for example, atmosphere, tension and emotion. In this case I picked a film called Fargo. There's no music at all there but when particular things happen. For instance, a woman is kidnapped and, when the kidnappers are going to meet the rescuers - with the money - we listen to music that builds up an atmosphere of tension. 



Non-diegetic sound that sets the pace of a scene and non-diegetic sound that give cues to action. I put these two together as I found another scene in the previously mentioned Fargo that contains both ideas. We see a man trying to fix a TV. Music is behind, accompanies the footage. The man can't fix the TV set up and started to hit it. Music turns louder until the last punch, when we can see the screen clear and there's no sound. That's because we are seeing another telly, that of the house of a woman who is relaxed at home.  


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