Unsound vision

Another aspect of presenting the audience with a more 'even' quality of sound loudness was the presentation technique we developed for transitioning from quiet, intimate segments of a movie to commercial breaks, by using slide and playoff music at the top of those breaks. This was necessary because most TV commercials are produced with idealised audio tracks, equalised, compressed, or expanded to achieve maximum listener impact from their duration. They often compare unfavourably with the widely varying audio levels within a movie soundtrack which intentionally possess vast differences.

Sometimes, early television commercials resembled radio with pictures; the visual storyline was just an accompaniment to an audio track. Even today, some modern cheap retail commercials use this technique. Try watching them with sound turned off, and see what kind of message they communicate.

Also jingles, proven effective aids for memory recall, sometimes place high reliance on words alone to tell the message in some poorly-produced commercials. If they are hard to hear or understand, then the impact of the product offer is possibly lost. Mainstream techniques have evolved to the point where writing has become a holistic endeavour, telling a visual and audio story. If well-written and well-produced, the commercial blends picture narrative and sound in total harmony

The traditional times when viewers would accept eagerly whatever the television programmers gave them, at whatever times deemed suitable, are gone now. The internet, and receiver technology, has made it possible for viewers to choose what they wish to view at a time convenient to them, not that of the stations. Today, with the number of different electronic media spin offs available, advertising has had to become very selective and targeted.

Which leads me to the place of sound in this visual medium.

The original silent movies were enhanced later with live musical accompaniment, so as to highlight mood and emotion. The next significant step was the use of synchronised disc recordings which, as well as dialogue, allowed music and sound effects to be presented. Then followed the ability to replay sound on film from an optical stripe adjacent to the image, or magnetic stripe positioned in a similar way.

The ability to couple sound to image gave the opportunity for directors to enhance the emotive effect of their visuals sometimes using solely music, sometimes with dialogue and effects. This led to the formation and growth of the massive sound recording craft of the movie industry. Film's communication impact changed radically from just mere pictures, to fully integrated performances.

Music has an enormous power of commentary. Whether orchestral works, choirs, jazz, rock, or military styles, all reveal a vast range of moods; panoramic scenic, romantic, dramatic action, tranquillity, speed, declamatory, introduction, or closings. Blend this with strong visuals and the result can be undeniably emotive - take Hitchcock's shower stabbing scene in 'Psycho', as an example.

The reasons for writing this article are some of my reactions to today's commercial TV channel operations; my responses could be similar to yours.

Usually the only stations which I watch are the ABC, fortunately commercial-free, although station promotional and corporate product advertising gives it a commercial look, and SBS which is straight commercial. My choice criteria are purely programme content and expected quality, particularly in news and current affairs given my broadcasting background.

I seldom watch commercial TV stations, or listen to radio other than ABC or a few niche FM stations, because to me they inhabit a realm of titillating trivia.

However due to my interest in aviation, recently I followed a programme about air crash analysis on Seven/TWO, and was pleasantly dismayed to find the commercials played with their audio so low in level compared to the host program, that I began to wonder whether the advertisers or their agencies might demand make-goods! The playout level was about one third to half that of the programme, a welcome chance for me to avoid being marketed at, but also to evaluate the communication soundness (no pun intended) of the commercials.