Analysing sound with semiotics
Leo Murray · 2019
This chapter addresses the interrelated frameworks of the semiotic model which can be used as suitable tools for audiovisual sound analysis. Both the sounds or sound/image combinations and the process of creating them can be analysed. Film, television and game sound each contain a wealth of sound possibilities: speech – in any language, whether sung or spoken; music – of any genre, whether composed specifically for the film or co-opted into use; and other sounds – whether real, replaced, manufactured or designed. Beginning with sounds as signs this chapter examines various aspects of sound such as meaning making, context and ambiguity, natural and arbitrary sound signs along with a more pragmatic focus on areas of sound design such as music, voices and sound effects. A semiotic analysis is applied to the various functions of sound, along with discussion around sound realism and conventional sound codes.