Sound in non-fiction
Leo Murray · 2019
This chapter examines the soundtrack in non-fiction. Documentary provides an excellent site for analysis of the various functions of sound. Whether analysing its truth-telling role, or its narrative or emotional functions, non-fiction sound can be described in the same terms as its fictional counterpart. Documentary examples include historical works and newsreels from British Pathé, to feature length works and animated documentary. Many of the same functions and practices exist in the realism of non-fiction with the primary difference being that any manipulations of the soundtrack are thought to be in the spirit of truth-telling. Compared to its visual counterpart the requirements of the soundtrack are less onerous. Although equally based in truth-telling the public’s relative inability to critically examine the soundtrack for evidence of manipulation leaves enormous scope for creativity in non-fiction production. This chapter uses semiotics to both describe non-fiction sound practice and to offer a critical evaluation of sound in non-fiction. It includes a framework with which the ethics of sound practice can be discussed along with the implications of sonic manipulations that are encountered for practitioners and audiences alike.