ANALYZING A COMMERCIAL

Sound Perceptionfrom the aural to the psyche

Aural Perception: what & why we hear

Psychoacoustics (meaning)Frequency (pitch)Amplitude & Direction (volume)Direction & Distance (panning)Timbre (sound, collection of

sound)

Frequency (pitch)

Range of hearing (2o-20,000 Hz or vibrations per second)

Musical sound – regular vibration rateNoise / speech – irregular vibration

Regular vibration rate

Irregular vibration rate

Amplitude & Direction

Sound loses energy when traveling (fades out)

Levels on a channel can determine direction (left or right)

Precedence effect – we can distinguish 1/10,000 second difference of a sound entering one ear then the other.

Direction & Distance

The amount of time for sound to decrease from original level

Spatial sense (reverberation), what type of room?

Timbre

Harmonic series – mathematical relationship of the multiple frequency components of a single sound through time.

Sound – what kind of sounds are you hearing. Single sound, ambient noise, a specific instrument?

Layered Sounds Add More InterestAnd Illusion like this image. The sameImage is repeated and expanded.

Analyze TV Commercial

PLAY THE CLASS EXERCISE MOVIE WITHOUT AUDIO. Make some notes to the following questions. Narrative/Linear Structure: What happens in the commercial? How are the actions and events

affecting the viewer? What is the story-line? Dialogue/Language: Do characters speak to one another? What devices are used to gain our

attention or affection? Observe facial expressions, body language, and setting. Technical Matters: Lighting, cuts and shot selection are important. Are the images close-up, wide

angle? Many quick cuts? How are things lighted? Signs, Symbols and Intertextual Devices: Signs and symbols that represent something that refers

to a cultural norm like a religious icon. Intertextuality refers to interpret text in terms of another such as in a parody – based upon ridiculing a text (or idea). Are there any signs used to influence your perception?

What kind of music do you expect to hear?

PLAY THE CLASS EXERCISE MOVIE AGAIN WITH AUDIO. Make some notes to the following questions.

Sound and Music: What kind of music is used? (Express in terms of language from Sound & Function powerpoint & all subsequent lectures such as literal/non-literal, energy, leitmotif, etc.). How does the music affect your group?

Did your perception of the commercial purpose change with audio? How?

Citations

Asa Berger, sfsu “The Manufacture of Social Desire: Alcohol Commercials and Society” Intel, USB Guy Commercial (extract from Hulu) Wired for Sound: Engineering and Technologies in Sonic Cultures. Ed. by Paul D. Greene and Thomas Porcello. pp. viii + 288. (Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Conn., 2005. ISBN 0-8195-6516-4/-6517-2.) http://www.cafemuse.com/soundgarden/perception.htm IMAGES: games.cs.uni-magdeburg.de/ audio/3d_sound.htm http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/uploads/VMC/TreatmentImages/2199_sound_pub_275.jpg http://ci4me2007.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/kitaoka-outoffocus333.png?w=240&h=240 www.owlnet.rice.edu/ ~psyc351/imagelist.htm http://web.science.mq.edu.au/~cassidy/comp449/html/vowel-waveform.gif