Understanding Synchronous Sound in Films

One of the key experiences that movies offer, apart from visual spectacles, is their sound. The sound is essential to complete the movie-watching experience.

Whether it's the thumping sound of the T-Rex approaching in Jurassic World, the fluttering sound of Bats flying in Batman, or the eerie sound that engulfs us when Pennywise appears on screen in It, the movies pull us into these scenes thanks to these sound effects.

How do movies do that? Filmmakers make this happen with the help of synchronous sound techniques. They use various tools, systems, and editing software to sync diverse sounds to match what's happening on the screen for the best viewing experience.

But there's more to synchronous sound in films than meets the eye. In this blog post, let's explore everything about synchronous sound and how it enhances storytelling.

What Is Synchronous Sound in Movies?

Synchronous sound in movies refers to audio that aligns perfectly with the visuals on screen. It helps create a seamless connection between what the audience sees and hears, improving the overall movie-watching experience.

You can find several examples of this in movies, such as dialogues that match lip movements and sound effects corresponding to actions, like footsteps or crashing objects.

Imagine you see someone crashing into a door in a movie, and you hear it a few seconds later. This misalignment can ruin the movie experience for everyone. That's why synchronous sound effects are vital for creating an immersive experience for the audience.

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Historical Context and Evolution of Synchronized Sound

It's an understatement to say that synchronized sound has changed the movie industry. It changed the industry artistically and economically, making movies more appealing and immersive.

The efforts to sync sound with video began in the late 19th century and continued into the 1910s, when Thomas Edison synchronized his phonograph with visual recordings using his Kinetophone. However, his efforts suffered from poor amplification, and the phonograph failed to maintain sync between sound and visuals.

The breakthrough came in 1919 when three German inventors — Josef Engl, Joseph Massolle, and Hans Vogt — developed the Tri-Ergon System and recorded sound directly onto film using a photoelectric cell. Unlike early attempts, this was more stable, reliable, and consistent.

In 1923, Lee De Forest introduced an optical sound-on-film process for amplification in the US, but major studios dismissed the system. In 1925, Warner Bros. adopted the Vitaphone, a sound-on-disc system designed by Western Electric to enhance their films with synced orchestral scores.

Later, William Fox began using the Tri-Ergon system because of its superior performance compared to the sound-on-disc system. Gradually, the sound-on-disc system became more popular and accepted across the industry.  Subsequent technologies further refined the technique, shaping it into what we use today.

The Impact of Synchronous Sound on Storytelling

Synchronous sound has had a profound impact on storytelling in film. It has been instrumental in how narratives are constructed in movies and experienced by the audiences.

Here are three key ways synchronous sound impacts storytelling:

1. It helps improve realism and immersion in movies

Synchronous sound creates a seamless connection between visuals and audio, making scenes feel more authentic.

For example, hearing dialogue that matches lip movements or sound effects, such as footsteps, makes them feel like they are in the film's world.  In addition, the background sounds surrounding the scenes, like birds chirping and ambient sounds like a crowd talking in a hall, add depth to the scene. All these make the scene more realistic, and immersive, improving the audience's experience.

2. It helps improve emotional engagement from the audience

When you tell a story, it must pack an emotional punch that makes the audience empathize with the characters and experience the emotions with them.

While acting is the primary driver, the right sounds complementing the acting can evoke stronger emotional responses. Music and sound effects synchronized with visuals can guide viewers' emotions, heightening suspense, joy, or sadness.

That's why we feel the emotions of the character of Hazel Grace Lancaster, played by Shailene Woodley, as she delivers the eulogy for Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars.

3. It helps improve dialog-driven storytelling

Synchronized dialogs help filmmakers create compelling and complex dramas with little to no action. Through dialogue and accompanying music, the tensions in a scene can be shown with greater effect and impact.

An excellent example is the recent movie by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer. The film lacks any significant action scenes that we usually expect from a Hollywood blockbuster. However, the movie is carried by the stellar performances of its leads and the music, which connects the emotional state of the characters to the audience.

Without the masterful use of synchronous sound effects and Foley in the movie, many scenes might not have had the same impact.

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Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Sound Effects

Filmmakers use synchronous and asynchronous sound effects to achieve distinct purposes in movies.

For example, the footsteps of a person walking or gunshots when a gun is fired. On the other hand, asynchronous sound does not correspond to what's happening on the screen.

An example could be the background noise on a street when a character is walking on the sidewalk.  Here are a few key differences between synchronous and asynchronous sounds:

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Modern Applications and Techniques of Synchronous Sound

Synchronous sound is used by modern filmmaking to elevate the overall experience for audiences. Advances in the field also allow filmmakers to use it more creatively, delivering unique audio outputs that elevate movie quality.

However, over the years, the applications and techniques of synchronous sound have transformed.

Modern trends in sync sound technology

Sound technology is constantly changing due to the emergence of new technologies and user demands.

Here are a few modern trends in sound technology

Spatial audio

Thanks to advanced technologies like Dolby Atmos, spatial audio is getting more traction and offers richer, more engaging user experiences.

Spatial audio turns regular audio into a 3D sound experience, making movies feel like the audience ris ight there in the scene. For example, if a helicopter flies overhead on screen, you'll hear it above you. If someone whispers from behind the character, it’ll feel like it’s behind you, too.

This also allows filmmakers to add accurate and detailed synchronous sound to scenes, making them more appealing and immersive for audiences.

High-resolution audio

Audiences are constantly seeking high-resolution audio for better and more immersive experiences in theaters.

Hi-resolution audio captures more detail and nuance from the original recording, making it sound clearer, richer, and closer to what the artist intended. This allows filmmakers to offer more natural, lifelike sound and better dynamic range in scenes. This also enhances sound clarity, leading to thrilling movie-watching experiences.

Movies like Interstellar, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Gravity have successfully utilized these techniques in sound design to elevate the overall experience of watching these films.

Adaptive audio

Adaptive audio refers to audio technology that dynamically adjusts sound based on environmental conditions, user preferences, or the type of content.

It uses features like environmental awareness, context-aware sound, and content-based sound to deliver accurate sound that fits the scene.

Games set in different environments and geographical locations, such as deserts, tropical forests, and glaciers, often use this technology to deliver an immersive gaming experience to users, depending on the area where the game is set.

Audio over the Internet

Audio over the Internet is a method for transmitting sound, such as music or voice, over the Internet. It enables real-time or on-demand listening across devices connected to the web.

Due to the rise of streaming, technologies like high-resolution audio streaming and adaptive bitrate streaming are gaining popularity quickly. Audiences expect top-quality audio over the Internet for a better viewing experience and are willing to pay for it.

This enables filmmakers to create top-notch sounds for their production to satisfy their viewers.

Digital sound synchronization methods

The movie industry has also adopted various digital audio synchronizing methods to improve the quality of sound effects.

There are several ways they do this:

Real-time recording

In real-time recording, sound is captured during filming in real-time, thanks to crystal sync technology, which keeps the audio and video feeds in sync reducing time and the chances of errors.

By doing that, filmmakers can focus on capturing more authentic performances of artists.

Post-production synchronization

Filmmakers use several technologies, tools, and software solutions to synchronize sound with their visuals after the visual is produced. This allows them to go more creative and in-depth with sound effects.

AI tools and platforms

The advancements in AI voice generator tools have also encouraged filmmakers to use them to achieve better synchronous sound effects for their films. For example, a tool like Murf AI allows filmmakers to use its voice generator to create unique sound effects and clone voices that match the visuals in a studio. This enables them to save time, effort, and money.

How Murf Helps with AI Voice Generator Tools

Audio is one of the essential pillars of movies that deliver immersive experiences for audiences. Movies can feel bland, emotionless, and weak without the proper sound effects. That's why filmmakers put a lot of effort into finding and capturing the right sound and syncing it with their visuals to create realistic voices and enhance the audience's experience. However, there are challenges to finding the right sounds for each scene and syncing them with the visuals. A practical solution for this is to use AI tools like Murf AI. While it cannot be used to sync sounds, it can help generate voices and adjust the sound recorded on set if it doesn't match what the filmmakers intend.

Apart from this, Murf AI also offers a plethora of features, such as:

Voice changer: Change the voice of your characters exactly as you need to fit your storytelling by picking a suitable voice from a library of 200+ voices.

AI dubbing: Murf AI allows you to create AI dubbing in over 20+ languages, exactly as you need for any of your creative, academic, or professional projects.

Text to speech: Turn text to speech in diverse languages with high accuracy and natural-sounding human voices.

Voice cloning: Clone the voices of your voice artists or lead characters to replace dialogue during the editing process without worrying about schedules.

With numerous voice generation capabilities and human-sounding voices, AI voice generator tools like Murf AI are changing how films use sound. That's why the AI voice tools industry has been growing exponentially, and it is expected to reach US$10.59 billion by 2032 with a CAGR of nearly 20% from 2023.

If you wish to explore Murf AI and how it can help you with your film sound effects and filmmaking, sign up for a free account now.