Creating Special Effects for TV and Video, 3rd Edition

The Importance of Sound

 

In this business it isn’t always what the viewers see so much as what they believe they see. An actor swinging a punch at another actor’s face will deliberately miss, knowing that a sound effect of knuckles striking flesh will be dubbed on to the sound-track.

Manipulated sound plays a most important part in special effects, and the effects designer should consider its use when planning a sequence.

The restaurant

Picture a scene in a restaurant where two people are dining. What the viewer sees is a table appointed with silver cutlery and elegant candles. A waiter enters, hands the pair a menu and, later, takes their order. We know that we’re in a busy restaurant because, although we see only this bit of it, we can hear ...