Part 4: Editing and Sound

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Related Units
Video: Telling Stories with Moving Images

Activity 4B: Working with Sound

Some examples of movie scenes that use music and/or sound effects to enhance a mood:

  • In King Kong (1933), the music rises and falls in direct relation to the movement of King Kong as he climbs the Empire State Building. (This technique, called mickey-mousing, in which the music blatantly matches the action, was used mainly in the 1930s and 1940s and is now somewhat discredited because of its overuse and lack of subtlety.)
  • In the final scene of Jurassic Park (1993), the music creates a climactic ending to an otherwise mundane sequence of shots.
  • The screeching violins of the famous shower scene in Psycho (1960) cause nightmarish feelings of tension and dread.
  • In Congo (1995), ambient jungle sounds are used to build suspense.

Sound Effects Libraries

Sound Board:  www.soundboard.com/

Partners in Rhyme: Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects:  www.partnersinrhyme.com/

PacDV: Free Sound Effects:  www.pacdv.com/sounds/index.html

Sound Effects Database:  http://listenup.org/resources/productiontools.php

Music Resources

Partners in Rhyme: Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects:  www.partnersinrhyme.com/

ccMixter: A music use, share, and remix resource from Creative Commons:  http://ccmixter.org/

Friendly Music: Allows users to license music for a small fee:  www.friendlymusic.com/