by Jim Greene – Boston Wedding Films
How important is the sound when you watch something on TV, or online, or in the movie theater? They all have moving images, so one might think that the sound is so much less important, right? Obviously a documentary, or the evening news has narrative that is often more important than the images. What about an action movie that has little dialog — think of the Fast & Furious or Transformers. Would these movies have the same impact without a soundtrack? You should try it sometime. You would still see the incredible action, but I would say that the movie would lose most of its impact without hearing it. In fact, I would say that the soundtrack, a good soundtrack, is more than 50 percent of the total impact of any movie or video. Even great narrative films have a great soundtrack, but you probably won’t even notice it (which is by design).
The same thing applies to producing a great wedding film. The flow and mix of the audio is extremely important, and can greatly enhance the impact of the film. Have you ever watched a wedding video and felt that although it had some great imagery, the piece just didn’t seem to flow well? It was most likely the way it was edited to the soundtrack.
For an example of using the soundtrack techniques described in this article, please watch this film:
The music added to your film should accentuate the images, by placing key scenes and cuts to the beat and rhythm. Most songs have one or more peaks, key dynamic changes of the music and/or lyrics. These are also key moments that should be reflected by the clips you choose, to flow with the dynamics of the music. For instance, you might place images of the bridal preparation to the portion of the song that starts out slow. Then with the dynamic change in the music, the scene changes to the processional, or maybe the bride & groom kiss, something that is dramatic in the story. This adds more “pop” to your film. The viewer intuitively expects something dramatic in the images when they hear the music change. Like an exclamation point in a sentence!
In addition to cutting scenes to the flow of the music, it’s also important to add narrative and “natural sounds”. Natural sounds are sounds you would expect to hear which are inserted into the soundtrack. For instance, when the crowd is seen applauding you would add the sound of clapping hands into the soundtrack. Sometimes this sound is not actually the sound recorded by your cameras because of other distracting sounds (like church organs), so you would add a similar sound effect – this is often called “Foley” in Hollywood films (named after Jack Foley).
Adding narrative can dramatically enhance the story of your film. For example, a great toast can add sincerity or humor. It is important to create space in your soundtrack to allow for placement of the narrative. This can be done by dropping the volume, but it is also best to use a portion of the music that becomes softer or during a musical interlude without lyrics. And it’s certainly OK to cut and/or loop the music to fit the scene.
So when you produce your wedding film, remember how important it is to create a great soundtrack, one that highlights the images and drives the story you are trying to tell. Then play it back without the sound and see if it has the same impact. I’m guessing the difference will be dramatic.
Beautiful Film!!