Welcome to the second module where we will introduce you to a couple of the most influential directors in film history, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. Their innovations in sound led to the modern era of filmmaking with techniques like the lightning mix, overlapping dialogue, sound bridges, and using J and L cuts to build suspense. In your exercises, we’ll provide you with footage to make your own J and L cuts, and you can also experiment with sound bridges.

In this third and final module, we’ll look at the techniques used by the Foley artist to re-create sound in a film. Learn about the use of music scores and how they can be used to cue a theme, character, a place, or even an action. For example, the shark theme in “Jaws” or the Imperial March composed for “Star Wars.” We’ll ask when to use music and why, and give some tips on how to edit to music. You’ll also learn about sound transitions, such as the “whoosh!” and the different ways you can transition from one scene to the next using sound. Experiment with what you learned using footage we’ll provide to edit sound transitions. Finally, we’ll explore how sound effects can be used to intensify photographs, evoking a sense of experience to an otherwise still image. With photographs and sound effects that we provide, try creating the sound environment or an old naval battle.