Function and Importance

The two subjects were asked to arrange the cards in order of their importance. In un- dertaking this task they were asked to justify their choices. Both based their importance order on the intended function of each sound. These intended functions were captured and are included in the results.

At one point during the category reduction exercise the Sound Designer and the Producer agreed on grouping the sound cards into three categories, described by the Producer as

Text, E↵ects and Atmospheres and the Sound Designer as Speech, Spot E↵ects and Beds.

Pinocchio voiceover Pinocchio voiceover

Pinocchio dialogue Pinocchio dialogue

Coachman dialogue Coachman dialogue

Splash of Pinocchio landing in the sea

Splash of Pinocchio landing in the sea The sound of

coachman putting the rope around Pinocchio’s feet

The sound of coachman putting

the rope around Pinocchio’s feet The sound of

coachman putting the stone around Pinocchio’s neck

The sound of coachman putting

the stone around Pinocchio’s neck Non-diegetic music

Pinocchio’s reins whilst walking to

the cli↵edge

Pinocchio’s reins whilst walking to

the cli↵edge

Wind sound

Wind sound Underwater sound

Underwater sound Birds sound

Birds sound Waves sound

Waves sound Market chatter as

they leave Market chatter as

they leave Non-diegetic music

Both the Sound Designer and the Producer arranged the cards based on which sounds they thought the audience should be focusing on. The Producer and Sound Designer arranged the sound cards based on importance, placing the most important sounds at the top, and the least at the bottom. The results were identical with one exception; the music. The Sound Designer placed much more importance on the music saying at times it was at the foreground. Both considered the Pinocchio voiceover the most important sound. The top three sounds for both were the three speech sounds. The next group of sounds were the

spot e↵ects. The least important sounds were beds and atmospheres.

“At times the music is the foreground, it’s all you should be listening to.”

Sound Designer, “Pinocchio”. The Producer gave the music the least importance, placing it at the bottom of the list. The Sound Designer considered the wind more important than the waves because the wind

had an intended unsettling emotional e↵ect, whereas the waves only told the audience the

action was taking place near the sea. Results are shown in table 4.7.

“The wind has an unsettling feeling, it puts you on edge a bit, but the waves tell you they’re near the sea. They sound nice but aren’t as important as the wind.”

Sound Designer, “Pinocchio”. “All the sounds are included for one reason or another, some are included because they are described in the script by the writer, others are added by Steve [the Sound Designer] during the mix, but there’s always a reason for them.”

Sound Function

1 Pinocchio - voice over To tell the story from Pinocchio’s point of

view

2 Pinocchio - dialogue Acting out the story, exposition and emo-

tion

3 Coachman - dialogue Acting out the story, exposition and emo-

tion

4 Splash sound of Pinocchio landing

in the sea

Informing the listener that Pinnichio has been thrown into the sea

5 The sound of the coachman putting

the rope around Pinocchio’s feet

Informing the listener that Pinnichio was tied up, conveying the feeling of claustro- phobia, being trapped

6 The sound of the coachman putting

the stone around Pinocchio’s neck

Informing the audience that Pinnichio was tied up, conveying the feeling of claustro- phobia, being trapped

7 Pinocchio’s reins whilst walking to

the cli↵edge

Informing the listener the characters have

moved toward the cli↵edge

8 Sound of the wind To create an unsettling feeling in the mind

of the audience

9 Market chatter as they leave the

market

To inform the listener they are alone when this sound stops

10 Underwater sound To inform the listener that Pinnichio is un-

der the water

11 Sound of the birds To inform the listener that they are out-

side, in the countryside

12 Sound of the waves To inform the listener that they are by the

sea.

13 Non-diegetic music Accentuate the emotions already being

conveyed by other audio objects

Table 4.8: Function of the sounds, according to the Producer and Sound Designer In identifying the importance of the sounds, the Producer and Sound Designer justified the inclusion of all the sounds in the scene, explaining why they were present. These

justifications are shown in table 4.8. The justifications for the sounds were easily grouped

into three categories each which had a clear function. The three functions were:

• To convey an emotion or feeling to the listener.

• To provide contextual information such as a location or time of day.

These reasons are grouped in table4.9 when their foreground and background category is

also shown. It is unsurprising that the Sound Designer and Producer agreed on these jus- tifications given they originally made the decision to include them jointly. These functions are shown alongside the foreground or background classification.

Sound Function Category

1 Pinocchio - voice over Events/actions Foreground

2 Pinocchio - dialogue Events/actions and emotion Foreground

3 Coachman - dialogue Events/actions and emotion Foreground

4 Splash sound of Pinocchio

landing in the sea

Events/actions Foreground

5 The sound of the coach-

man putting the rope around Pinocchio’s feet

Events/actions and emotion Foreground

6 The sound of the coach-

man putting the stone around Pinocchio’s neck

Events/actions and emotion Foreground

7 Pinocchio’s reins whilst walk-

ing to the cli↵edge

Events/actions Foreground

8 Sound of the wind Context and emotion Background

9 Market chatter as they leave

the market

Context Background

10 Underwater sound Context Background

11 Sound of the birds Context Background

12 Sound of the waves Context Background

13 Non-diegetic music Emotion Background

Table 4.9: Function of the sounds, according to the Producer and Sound Designer linked to the foreground and background categorisation.