DPHU1006 Chap.10 Sound Design and Location Recording
Sound Design and Location Recording
Sound design is the Week 10 lecture and the Week 11 tutorial, and the Video Project rubric gives a full criterion of five marks to the captured audio. At the top band it is clearly audible throughout, aligned with the visuals and creative enough to help tell the story; at the bottom it is often difficult to hear and out of step with the pictures.
The course's roles checklist makes the sound recorder responsible for clean dialogue and atmosphere: test the equipment, scout locations for sound, keep the boom pole and its shadow out of shot, record dialogue, ask for a minute of silence on set to capture atmosphere, record wild lines at the end of the shoot when a line was lost, and carry charged spare batteries.
This chapter separates the layers of a soundtrack, explains diegetic and non-diegetic sound and foley, follows the recorder through a shoot day, and builds a sound plan for three locations. The Week 11 tutorial also has its own Sound Design submission box. Sound is often the weakest layer of a first student film, and that is why it rewards planning.
The storyboard template has Music and SFX fields on every panel, so the sound design can be drafted before the shoot; the Moodle page links an Adobe Premiere video on working with sound for teams editing in that program; and the Week 12 reflection gives anyone who recorded or designed the sound a chance to explain those decisions with specific examples.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Dialogue, atmosphere, effects and music as separate layers
- 02
Diegetic and non-diegetic sound
- 03
Foley and recorded sound effects
- 04
The sound recorder's checklist on location
- 05
Wild lines and one minute of atmosphere
- 06
Planning sound across several locations
Worked example · free
Moving a sound from the story world into the score
- +1Start diegetic: the song plays thin and quiet from the phone speaker, mixed under traffic atmosphere.
- +1At the turning point, cross-fade to a full-quality version of the same song and let the traffic fall away.
- +1End non-diegetic: the score now carries the emotion, heard by the audience but not by the rider.
Key terms
- Diegetic sound
- Sound that exists inside the story world, such as dialogue or a door closing.
- Non-diegetic sound
- Sound heard only by the audience, such as the score or a narrator.
- Foley
- Everyday sounds, such as footsteps, performed and recorded in sync with the picture.
- Wild line
- A line of dialogue recorded again off camera when the version in a take was not clean.
- Boom pole
- A pole that holds the microphone close to the actors, just outside the frame.
- Sound designer
- The crew member who shapes the finished soundtrack, layering dialogue, atmos, effects and music.
Sound Design and Location Recording FAQ
How is sound marked in the video project?
One five-mark criterion judges the captured audio: whether it is clearly audible throughout, whether it lines up with the visuals and how creatively the sound design helps communicate the story.
Why record a minute of silence on set?
That minute captures the location's own atmosphere, which the editor lays under cuts so the background does not change from shot to shot. The course checklist asks the sound recorder to record it.
What is a wild line?
A line the actor repeats off camera, usually at the end of the shoot, when the version recorded during the take was not clean. The editor later lines it up with the picture.
What is the sound design submission?
The Week 11 tutorial has a Sound Design submission box on Moodle, where the team uploads one sound design file that includes each team member's name in it.
Who records sound on a student shoot?
The course checklist names a sound recorder, responsible for clean dialogue and atmosphere during production, and the Video Project crew roles also include a sound designer, who shapes the finished soundtrack in the edit.
What is the difference between atmos and sound effects?
Atmos is the continuous background sound of a place, recorded as a minute of silence on set. Sound effects are individual sounds, such as a door or a phone buzz, placed at precise moments in the edit.
Where should the boom microphone be placed?
As close to the actors as possible while staying just outside the frame, usually above and angled towards the mouth. The course checklist asks the sound recorder to keep both the boom pole and its shadow out of shot.
Assessment move
Record one minute of silence in three rooms you know and listen to them back to back on headphones: each sounds different. Then re-record a short scene from a film with your phone, adding footsteps and a door as foley, and compare it with the original. On the shoot day, label every audio file with its scene, shot and take number, and note any line that needs a wild line before the actor leaves.
A two-minute check of the labels at the end of each day saves an hour of searching in the edit.
