Books on 'Sound'

[peacemaker]

Hi:

I am a film student focusing on direction and I have directed few short films. One area I severely lag is the usage of sound in films. I have worked with very good sound designers/mixers in the past and they have taken care of the issues. My professor told me that I don't need to know the in-depth details about the sound but as a director, I should know how to use the sound in films as a story telling device and how to communicate those ideas to sound designers. One of the sound designers recommended me this book "Sound for Film and Television" by Tomlinson Holman but the book is too technical to me. Can anyone recommend me sound books that focus mainly on "how to use sound in films"?

Thanks

 

[AudioPostExpert]

My professor told me that I don't need to know the in-depth details about the sound but as a director, I should know how to use the sound in films as a story telling device and how to communicate those ideas to sound designers.

That is very good advice, although I would go a little further and state that you need to know how to plan for sound design (as a story telling device) and therefore how to communicate it to the wider cast and crew, not just the obvious sound personnel, particularly the DOP for example. An important point to remember is that sound design is not just about designing the sound for a film but is just as much about designing the film for sound! This is a point which is generally poorly taught in film schools and rarely identified by self-taught filmmakers/directors.

Regarding books on the subject. there are in fact hardly any and those which there are, tend to be more along the lines of academic analysis/classification than practical filmmaking advice. There are certain aspects of sound design, sound mixing for example, for which there are no books at all and not even much in the way of articles/postings on the internet. I'm not sure why there aren't any good books on sound design, beyond the obvious fact that none of the great sound designers have ever written one. The only book I do frequently recommend is:

Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art. I consider this book essential reading for directors as it covers the history and broader aspects of sound (beyond just the dialogue) and is not too technical.

The best online resource is www.filmsound.org and it's well worth spending some considerable time studying the available articles. You might also find a thread here on indietalk useful, "The Principles of Sound Design", which gives a basic intro to what sound design is and an example of how sound design is used as a storytelling device.

G

 

[Alcove Audio]

I'll agree with APE on Dialog Editing by Purcell and spending lots of time at filmsound.org.

I would also add the following:

The Foley Grail - Vanessa Ament
The Sound Effects Bible - Ric Viers
The Location Sound Bible - Ric Viers
Sound Design - David Sonnenschein
Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound - David Yewdall
Audio-Vision - Michel Chion
Audio Postproduction for Film and Video - Jay Rose

 

[peacemaker]

Thank you both for all the recommendations.