The sound of cinematography: are your visuals getting the best sound?

You don’t need me to tell you why music and sound are so important to your visual content. Much has been written about that to date and there has been some interesting research in the area. 

A 2017 study published by The American Psychological Association hypothesised that “background music modulates the listener’s internal mood and arousal, putting them at optimal levels to enhance memory performance.” 

What I understand from that is two fold… get the music right, and you increase the chances of the viewer remembering your piece of content and the emotional response to that piece is likely to be a positive one.    

TV ads are not seen 61 per cent of the time, but they are heard.

And we all know that emotional connection plays a huge part in consumer choices, we buy with our hearts not our heads right? 

Recent research by Leicester University found that congruent sound and imagery can enhance the emotional impact of visual communication by more than 1200%. ONE THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED PERCENT! Win their hearts and their ££ will follow. 

And insights into consumer neuroscience-based advertising from a study by Nielsen Market Research found that TV ads are not seen 61 per cent of the time, but they are heard. 

And yet Some 83 per cent of advertising is said to rely almost exclusively on the sense of sight, giving short shrift to the other senses. What on earth are we playing at then?

In Akestom Holst's recent IKEA ad – an albeit nicely shot film about a bothersome zip – slapstick humour is counterpointed by solumn, slightly triumphalist music, elevating the whole film. 

So, my mission here is to remind advertisers of the value of sound in enhancing visual content. And I believe there is some good general practice (dare I say rules?) to keep in mind when finding, choosing and commissioning auditory gold. 

Collaborate

Directors of movies talk to their composer and music supervisor a lot. They work closely. In advertising it’s often less collaborative. Be choosy about whom you collaborate with, one music person/team is probably enough if they’re good. Too many people = too many music options = not enough time to listen. 

Trust your chosen collaborator, spend time with them, discuss, wrangle, try (almost) everything properly. Proper collaboration elicits better results.

Talk to the talent

It’s not all about the music supervisor; it’s really about the talent of composing when crafting an original piece of music. 

No one ever cried over good sound effects.

Most of the ad industry’s music supervisors have never learned music, so they lean heavily on the talent to produce the goods and the rationale. Fine. But if that supervisor can’t speak musical language back to the talent, interpreting and translating the director/producer’s feedback will propel you into an advertising circle jerk. (And musical circles are no good unless everyone is actually singing in the round). 

If your musical partner gatekeeps the talent, challenge that.