All sounds are first recorded before the cameras begin to turn in cartoons. The sounds are then synchronised with movements and are recorded onto the basis of units of time. Sound effects and action must be timed accurately and accordingly since there are 24 ‘frames’ or separated pictures that run through the projector every second. Each beat of music is timed by an electrical metronome, and everything else is related to these beats.
There is a work chart that is prepared and ready for the entire feature, this is because the action must be parallel with the sound to the fraction of a second. Each drawing carried notes in order to help guide the artists in their work, and their drawings later were produced and spaced. From the chart, artists, cartoonists, and sound men followed, frame by frame, to build their parts of the picture.
In the film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’, there is use of all three categories of sound throughout the whole film. There is cheerful music that starts playing right away as it is going through the opening credits. Also, when the evil queen is being shown in scenes; the music is more dark and slow with certain places of loud music. However, when Snow White is shown in scenes, the music is very light, cheerful, fast paced, and makes you feel happy. These changes in music allows the audience to know there is going to be a change of pace in the movie or that maybe something is going to happen. It also helps them realise who the good and bad characters are by playing a specific the of music in their scenes.
Games may employ two soundtracks and mix between them, for example Faster Than Light, when the player is in battle with another ship, the audio fades into the “battle” version. This battle version is usually very similar to the “explore” version with the addition of drums and similar dark timbres. Because of this, the transition is smooth and doesn’t ruin the player’s focus. This is in contrast to the invincibility theme in the Super Mario series which aims to stick out, and makes the change sudden and obvious.
The reason why games are entertaining to some people is because they usually teach us to expect rewards (in game currency, experience points, new abilities, unlocked secrets, etc) for winning a game (solving puzzles, defeating enemies, etc). There’s something about this reward scheme that works really well and attracts humans, it’s why people get hooked on games like Warcraft or Candy Crush, they also bring the reality of you and put you in control.
Caren Lamaa 