Sound in Visual Effects (Audiovisuals)

 Sound effects are artificially created or reproduced sounds that add to the storytelling of a film without using dialogue or music. These effects could enhance the film's drama by emphasising the bone-crunching sound of a fight, or add to its comedy by using a laugh track.

While initially conceived to describe the way sound is "hung" in the theatrical environment, ‘sound design' came to represent the design of specific sound effects, ranging from laser blasts and rumbling spacecrafts, which were often achieved through innovative recording and editing techniques. Sound design was also applied as a blanket term to describe the design of the overall sound track and its conceptual framework. Also important, one of the unifying factors in the expanding definition was the attention devoted to space, both cinematic and theatrical.

In the process of constructing the sound track, specific sound designs often elaborate upon or play with spatial considerations. By doing so, the sound effects gain an authenticity in relation to the image and establish emotional resonance as they relay narrative information and anchor audiences in the story world.

In the case of the animation or science fiction genre, sound artists must create sounds to give realism to a new universe. In the short clip below, Ben Burtt discusses his process of creating the effects for the Star Wars lightsabers.

https://sites.google.com/site/worldofvisualeffects/soundeffectsdesign