Micro Feature: Sound

Sound

 In films, sound is very important. It is used to create an atmosphere, to create emotion, and many other things. There are two types of sound within a film: diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic is the sound that can be heard by both the audience and the characters within the film. This means things such as dialogue, sound effects, and music within a source of the text, like a radio, are all diegetic sounds.
 On the other hand, non-diegetic sounds are sounds that can be heard by the audience, but not necesssarily the characters. This means that things such as music played over the top of the film, shouting from afar, and voices in someones head are all non-diegetic sounds.

 These sounds are always used in films and it is a rarity to see a film that doesn't have non-diegetic sounds. This is because of the effect that the sounds have on viewers. If you decide not to include the non-diegetic sounds, then you run the risk of failing to create emotion. However, as long as it is used in the right way, it can be extremely effective.
 Other sounds are on-screen and off-screen sounds. The on-screen sounds are sounds that can be identified by the audience due to the source being visible. Off-screen sounds are sounds that can be heard and maybe identified but are out of sight of the audience.
 There are sounds called parallel sounds and contrapuntal sounds. Parallel sounds are those that match the action and contrapuntal sounds are sounds that do not match the action.