Thinking About Sounds and Pictures

Thinking about sounds   Classroom Activity

Now you have thought carefully about where you might hear sounds, and what associations you make with certain sounds, we're going to look further at the relationship between sound and pictures.

Preparation

Ask your teacher to download a clip of football and a clip of tennis. Here are some suggestions of places to find them:

http://video.google.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.soccerclips.net/uploadhttp.php

Remember, the clips should look like the sports coverage you're used to seeing on the television, and have real sound i.e. crowd noises and commentary. Use the search facilities on the suggested sites to find relevant clips, for example, to find tennis clips, try typing Wimbledon Match into the search box.

Ask your teacher to download or bring in the following songs:

• The Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss

• The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite

• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by Ennio Morricone

• Toccata & Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach

• JXL's remix of Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation.

Note: You could use different songs to the ones suggested. Make sure you have songs from a range of genres i.e. classical, music from films and pop songs. Make sure the songs you choose suggest different moods i.e. upbeat songs, songs that sound sinister and well-known songs that you might associate with certain films or advertising.

Activity

First, play the tennis clip with it's real sound. Watch the clip carefully.

Now, play the same clip again, but mute the real sound, and instead try playing The Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss, then The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and finally, try the theme from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly by Ennio Morricone.

How does each piece of music change the 'feel' of the moving pictures?

Next, play the football clip with it's real sound. Watch the clip carefully.

Now, play the same clip again, but mute the real sound, and instead try playing Toccata & Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Does this music 'fit' the image? Why?

Now play the same clip again, mute the real sound, and instead try playing JXL's remix of Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation.

Does this music 'fit' the image? Why?

Try playing some more clips and experimenting with different types of music. Write down your thoughts about the effect music has on images.