How to add sound to amateur films (1954)

Not only have you compressed the story into half the time, but you have kept attention on the back of the lorry, where Jack is. When recording on tape, there is the added advantage that the sound synchronisation need not be so precise. Since you do not see the driver slam his door, the timing need be correct only to one second instead of one-tenth of a second. Sound can be valuable also as a continuity link. The squeal of brakes can change to the squeal of pigs at the feedingtrough. In this way you may lead from one sequence to another completely different one. Often, too, sound helps to maintain suspense. The audience are swept away from the traffic scene before they know whether the brakes were applied in time. A scream may turn into the whistle of a train — with the same tantalising abruptness. It is seldom that you can use pictures alone to change the scene at a climax in this way. How much Sound ? To reap the greatest benefit from sound, you must plan sound and picture together. There is a temptation to use sound when it is useful and forget about it at other times. But we have seen already (p. 114) that silence in a sound film must be regarded as an effect in itself. Except for the rare occasions on which you employ the dramatic qualities of silence, you must provide sound of some sort: music, commentary or effects. Suppose you show the postman calling at your door. It seems inevitable that you should add the sound as he knocks on the door. But if that is all you do, the rest of the shot will seem odd. Why can we not hear the slap of the letterbox, or his footsteps on the path, or the click of the gate as he leaves? If you add one synchronised sound, therefore, you must usually provide the lot. This is by no means a simple matter, 126