Sound Research - Filling the Atmosphere

First when researching sound design, I need to find the best way to set the atmosphere and mood by using sound. Atmosphere is set both by the visuals but also the audio, effectively using both is what fully immerses the audience into the world of the film. The goal for today is to research and dissect what makes effective atmospheric sounds.

There are two major factors that makes a film's atmosphere, the music choice and background sounds.

Music: Music does several things within a film, but making an atmosphere is one of its major roles. It does this with the film maker's specified genre and instruments. Different genre's of music exude different emotions, like how Jazz music has a calmness and rhythm compared to Rock's energy and intensity. So different film genre's will use their appropriate music to match. This goes the same with the instruments used as well. 

However, the sound of the music isn't the only thing that's important. How you place the music in the film massively effects how powerful scenes become. Well placed music sets good atmosphere and makes the action in the scene pop, while overused music makes the scene loose the sense of importance. Also while music can be used to add to the atmosphere, the lack of music can be just as powerful as long as the other element is used just as effectively. 

Background: The background sounds in a scene helps ground the scene to reality and set the atmosphere of the scene. You can use the background sounds as an ambience for the scene, and just like music different sounds can create different effects. A drip of water from a faucet and the sounds of an air conditioner running can build a sense of uneasiness, and the sounds of an owl and crickets builds a serine nighttime feel. All this goes with the side of effective placement, because just like music can get overused so can the effectiveness of sound effects.

With this analysis of standard sounds, why not divulge into a post production side of sounds. We don't have to solely rely on the original sounds, we can edit and morph them into completely different sounds using editing software. They can be sped up and slowed down, you can alter the pitch and alter how loud certain frequencies are, and finally cut and splice them up to the timing you desire. There are several software's both free and paid that can achieve this. "Audacity" and DaVinci Resolve's "Fairlight" are two free options with Adobe "Audition." 

The creator in this video explores how he created the atmosphere in his short film "Pandemic." He goes into the sounds he used, how he placed his music, and more.

"How to Create atmosphere for your film using music" by D4Darious

At the end of all this, this just shows me how deep the rabbit hole goes when it comes to selecting the sound and atmosphere for a film. Something that seems so simple and a side of the film production that most people will never appreciate takes so much effort and can make or break the film.