In this blog, I will go over non-diegetic and diegetic sounds.
Diegetic
Diegetic sound is a sound (man-made) that can both be heard and seen. These sounds can be sounds produced from Foley or an action to trigger the sound. Therefore, diegetic physically occur or can be seen.
Examples of diegetic sounds would be a character's mouth and voice producing sound to speak or to intimidate a sound effect. I.e talking, beatboxing, or woofs.
A person that uses a sword to 'swing' 'slash' 'clang' or 'sheath' etc produces multiple diegetic sounds.
Objects and actions are collisions in which can be produced with the sound being man-made.
An appropriate example of Diegetic sound would be this video:
Non-Diegetic
A sound that does not physically exist. Background music, voice-overs (in animation and games). Producing our own sounds rather than man-made, Usually this sets the atmosphere, changed the participant's mood. Meaning this would create a sense of immersion and overall mood to the emphasis of non-diegetic sounds.
Sound effects really benefit the sets of mood to create the immersion of non-diegetic sounds. Eerie and ominous sound effects are appropriate sound effects to create immersion and can impact the participant's mood.
An example of a change of the atmosphere is when non-diegetic sounds change from peaceful sounds to dark and eerie sounds. This will immerse the player and could be high alert for something that occur or that will occur. In video games, this is done superbly to reflect the immersion, atmosphere, and mood for the game itself.
So with non-diegetic sounds how does the participant make and implement sound into an animation or a game?
A sound effect artist or music composer will need to think the feel, immersion, and emphasis of sound based on the actions, atmosphere, or mood. Does the volume need to be high or low? What's the duration of a sound? Will it last for a split second or for a few seconds?
The Legend of Zelda Chest Openings has one of the most iconic non-diegetic sounds in video games. The suspense and tension with just opening a chest alone create a mood of excitement. It is definitely one of my favorite non-diegetic sound effects in any media of entertainment I have come across.
Foley
Foley sounds are refined as producing sounds that physically exist and are man-made on the action that is produced.
Examples of foley sounds are wrapping an item with wrapping paper and moving your chair.
Comments