Analysis Application of Non-diegetic Sound on Animation Movie

“Battle of Surabaya” to Human Perception

Charista Elliani¹ and Jack A. Simanjuntak¹

Conservatory of Music, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Kelapa Dua, Tangerang, Indonesia

Keywords: Non-Diegetic Sound, Animation Film, Human Perception

Abstract: Exploration of the used of sound, particularly non-diegetic sound, on animation film has been done frequently.

So far, few research has been carried out on the usage of non-diegetic sound. Therefore, research about the

impact of non-diegetic sound to human perception while watching films should be done any further to

investigate the level of satisfaction from the audience. Data were collected with qualitative method, by

distributing questionnaires to two groups consists of 13 respondents, the first group includes of Universitas

Pelita Harapan (UPH) , Faculty of Art, Conservatory of Music college students whose major in Sound Design

& Music Production while the second group includes of Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) , Faculty of Art,

Conservatory of Music college students whose major besides Sound Design & Music Production. Data were

analyzed by using validity analysis, realibility, and basic statistic. This study has identified that the usage of

non-diegetic sound on film has a significant effect to human perception.

1 INTRODUCTION

One of the biggest industries in the world is film

industry, especially animated films (Beane, 2012).

The film industry is built to create and sell artworks

for the audience. There are several important aspects

that can support the storyline in animated film, such

as audio. The audio can bring atmosphere to the film

that helps audience in understanding the storyline that

is conveyed by the director. Therefore, the role of

sound technicians in making audio for films is very

important to make the audience understand the real

intention of every part of the movie (Anestis and

Anestis, 2015).

Audio in film production is made by audio post-

production division. This division is divided into four

major sections – automatic dialogue replacement

(ADR), foley, sound effect, and ambience. This

journal is focused on research about sound effect.

Based on audiovisual theory, sound effect is

classified into diegetic and non-diegetic sounds

(Cecchi, 2010). Diegetic sound is a sound that can be

heard by characters in the film and audience at the

same time, while non-diegetic sound is a sound that

can only be heard by the audience themselves, not by

the characters in the film (Beauchamp, 2015).

Emotions in a film can not be created only by

using images, but mostly by audio, especially the

usage of non-diegetic sound (Cecchi, 2015). Diegetic

and non-diegetic sounds are processed by the brain to

produce different perceptions based on the experience

of each individuals (Martin, 1962). Both sounds have

enormous influence to human perception.

Therefore, the topic of this study aims to analyze

the application of non-diegetic sound in animated

film entitled Battle of Surabaya to the perceptions of

Universitas Pelita Harapan Conservatory of Music

students as respondents. A one-minute scene from

Battle of Surabaya will be remade into two different

kinds of audio. The first video contains only diegetic

sound, while the second video contains a combination

of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.

Respondents are divided into two groups, 13

students whose concentration are in Sound Design

and Music Production and 13 students outside that

concentration. This research will be conducted using

a qualitative method through questionnaire which

then distributed to respondents. Respondents have to

Elliani, C. and Simanjuntak, J.

Analysis Application of Non-diegetic Sound on Animation Movie “Battle of Surabaya” to Human Perception.

DOI: 10.5220/0008546701230127

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities (ICONARTIES 2019), pages 123-127

ISBN: 978-989-758-450-3

123

compare those two audio-remakes and fill the

questionnaire given.

There had been no studies that investigated the

effects of non-diegetic sound to human perception. In

this study, subjective listening test is presented to

examine respondents’ preferences on the impact of

non-diegetic sound.

determine the effects of non-diegetic sound to human

perception in animated film.

2 METHODOLOGY

The current investigation involved recording and

mixing diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in Battle of

Surabaya to examine students’ perceptions of non-

diegetic sound.

2.1 Research Concept

2.1.1 Production Preparation

The animated film chosen as the object of the research

is “Battle of Surabaya” because the film has a warfare

background which could be explored more in the

application of non-diegetic sound. Non-diegetic

sound has an important role in causing emotional

warfare situations even though the film is an animated

work (not real).

The one-minute scene was analysed in each shot.

Diegetic and non-diegetic sound that were going to be

used were determined after scene analysis. Diegetic

sound that would be used are wind, explosion, flame,

running footsteps, people screaming, planes, etc.,

while non-diegetic sound that would be used are low

frequency, distortion, whoosh, low frequency impact,

etc. Furthermore, diegetic and non-diegetic sound

that had been classified would be recorded, collected,

and edited into sound bank as well as the mixing

process such as giving filters, reverberation time,

balancing, and panning.

2.1.2 Materials

Materials used in this research were Macbook Pro 15-

inch 2016 Laptop, Logic Pro X Digital Audio

Workstation (DAW), BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro 250

ohm Headphone, Avid Fast Track Duo Audio

Interface, and Sennheiser MKH 416 Microphone.

Laptop was used as a medium for audio

engineering, DAW was used in editing and mixing

audio, headphone was used as hearing aid for

researcher to mix the audio and respondents to listen

to the audio-remakes, audio interface was used as a

tool for processing analogue to digital signal from

microphone to laptop. Microphone was used to

capture and record the sound that is needed to

2.1.3 Questionnaire Making

The questionnaire contains four questions – three

closed questions and one opened question. The closed

questions contain three main statements of non-

diegetic characteristics, which are non-diegetic sound

that can influence audience in perceiving ambience

sound, perceiving emotions (in this case tense

emotion in war), and perceiving supporting objects

reality in film. Every closed question consists of four

options (which are no effect, small effect, medium

effect, and large effect) that respondents have to

choose after watching the second video (diegetic and

non-diegetic sounds) compared to the first video

(diegetic sound).

2.2 Research Procedure

This research was conducted using qualitative

methods. This study consisted of four stages. The first

stage was a production preparation stage, the second

stage was remaking audio stage, the third stage was

questionnaire distribution, and the last stage was

research results analysis.

In the first stage, production preparation was done

by elaborating the movie scene. After that, a list of

diegetic and non-diegetic sounds was arranged

according to the sound classification that had been

made before. Next, the sounds that are needed would

be recorded and collected in the form of sound

effects. Questionnaire would also be made at this

stage.

In the second stage, audio engineering would be

done by editing the sound effects and audio

recordings, then would be collected to the sound

bank. Afterwards, the sound would be synchronized

according to the image in both videos. Only the

diegetic sound would be applied to the first video,

while diegetic and non-diegetic sounds would be

applied to the second video. The video chosen was a

one-minute video (00:00:30 to 00:01:30).

Furthermore, both audios would be processed using

filters, reverberation time, balancing, panning, and

mixing.

In the third stage, the questionnaire would be

distributed to respondents. Respondents had to

answer which effects (no effect, small, medium, and

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large) they feel after watching the second video

compared to the first one and fill the opened question

with their opinion about the audio itself.

In the fourth stage, questionnaire analysis on

closed questions would be conducted by looking for

the highest to lowest percentage of the effects of non-

diegetic sound elements in delivering the story, while

questionnaire analysis on opened question will be

transcribed.

2.2.1 Remaking Audio

Audio compilation would be carried out separately in

the first and second video according to the list of

sound that had been made previously. After the audio

compilation process was completed, audio would be

mixed based on each video. Audio would be filtered,

given reverberation time, panning, and balanced into

one audio unit. Filters that were applied to the audio

were adjusted to the objects on the video. For

example, using filters by adding low frequencies

when an explosion occurs, made the audience able to

feel more tension. Reverberation time applied to the

audio was adjusted to the space where an object

produces sound. If the object produced sound in an

open space, the reverberation time produced is small,

different from the sound in a large closed empty

space. In addition, the sound would also be panned

depends on the direction of the sound produced. For

example, if a video explosion occurred on the right,

then the panning would also be placed on the right

side so the audience know where the explosion took

place. Then, the audio would be balanced by listening

to all audio in the video at the same time, both diegetic

and non-diegetic sound, so that the sounds could be

adjusted to one another in balance. The sound needed

to be balanced so the audience did not feel disturbed

and feel natural while watching the film.

2.3 Research Analysis

After all the results were gathered, data analysis

would be carried out by filling in analysis table that

had been made before. Table can be seen in Table 1.

On each of the first to third questions, there were

columns of 0, 1, 2, and 3. 0 states that respondents did

not feel any impact after watching the two videos, 1

states that respondents feel small impact, 2 states that

respondents feel medium impact, and 3 states that

respondents feel large impact. In the fourth question,

respondents gave other response to any other

perceptions that they felt besides the three previous

questions. The answers chosen by the respondents

would be highlighted in the analysis table. After that,

all answers would be totalled. After getting the total

answers to each question, each total answer would be

calculated in a form of percentage so that the most

and least choices percentage would be known.

Percentage was calculated by the formula seen in

Figure 1.

Table 1: Research Anal

sis Example

Figure 1 : Percentage Counting Formula

TOTAL RESPONDENT EACH SCALE

TOTAL OV ERAL L RESPONDENT S

100% = PER CENT AGE

NO. NAME 0 1 230123 012 3

TOTAL 0 4 560556 084 3

PERCENTAGE

0)0/13x100%=0%

1)4/13x100%=30,77%

2)4/13x100%=30,77%

3)5/13x100%=38,46%

0)0/13x100%=0%

1)4/13x100%=30,77%

2)5/13x100%=38,46%

3)4/13x100%=30,77%

0)0/13x100%=0%

1)7/13x100%=46,67%

2)3/13x100%=20%

3)3/13x100%=20%

R ESPON D EN T

TION 1 QU

TION 2 QU

TION

Analysis Application of Non-diegetic Sound on Animation Movie “Battle of Surabaya” to Human Perception

125

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Figure 2 displays a chart of sound design students

questionnaire results. In question 1, no respondent

(0%) answers 0 (no effect). Meanwhile, two

respondents (15%) answer 1 (small effect), five

respondents (38%) answer 2, and six respondents

(46%) answer 3 (large effect).

In question 2, no respondent (0%) answers 0.

Meanwhile, one respondent (8%) answers 1, seven

respondents (54%) answer 2, and six respondents

(46%) answer 3. In question 3, no respondent (0%)

answers 0. Meanwhile, one respondent (8%)

answers 1, four respondents (31%) answer 2, and

eight respondents (62%) answer 3.

Meanwhile, figure 3 displays a chart of non-

sound design students questionnaire result. In

question 1, no respondent (0%) answers 0 (no

effect) and 1 (small effect). Meanwhile, there are

seven respondents (54%) answer 2, and six

respondents (46%) answer 3 (large effect).

In question 2, no respondent (0%) answers 0.

Meanwhile, there is one respondent (8%) answers 1,

one respondent (8%) answer 2, and 11 respondents

(85%) answer 3. In question 3, no respondent (0%)

answers 0. Meanwhile, one respondent (8%)

answers 1, two respondents (15%) answer 2, and ten

respondents (77%) answer 3.

Based on these two figures, it can be concluded

that the two groups of respondents feel significant

effect after watching the second video compared to

the first one. None of the respondents feel no effect

and very small number of respondents feel small

effect from both groups.

Meanwhile, it can be seen that sound design

students’ answers between the option 2 and 3, do not

have a great difference in percentage, while non-

sound design students’ answers between choice 2

and 3, have a significant difference in percentage.

This can be caused by the perspective of non-sound

design students who do not study and have any

information about the sound itself so they will

perceive anything they heard neutrally, different

from sound design students who study about sound,

especially audio post-production. They perceive

sound differently depending on their knowledge,

opinion, and experience on sound. Each individuals

can have different preferences regarding the sound

itself. However, even though each individuals has

their own thoughts, it can be concluded that all sound

design respondents do feel the impact after watching

the second video compared to the first one.

The application of non-diegetic sound is very

influential, either small or large, on human

perception. Non-diegetic sound plays a role in

influencing human subconscious, especially in

terms of the sound of ambience, emotional tension,

and reality of objects. Non-diegetic sound can

improve human perception of the object they are

watching and make humans have more sense of

unity to the film itself. Therefore, the application of

non-diegetic sound to a film greatly determines the

emotion of the film so that the message hidden in

the story can be conveyed optimally by the director

to audience.

Figure 2: Sound Design Students

Questionnaire Result

Figure 3: Non-Sound Design Students

Questionnaire Result

Question1 Question2 Question3

SOUNDDESIGNSTUDENTS

0 1 2 3

15%

38%

46%

54%

31%

62%

46%

Question1 Question2 Question3

NON‐SOUNDDESIGN

STUDENTS

0 1 2 3

0% 0%

54%

46%

85%

15%

77%

8% 8%

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4 CONCLUSIONS

The main goal of the current research is to analyze

the application of non-diegetic sound in animated

film entitled Battle of Surabaya to the perceptions

of Universitas Pelita Harapan Conservatory of

Music students as respondents. This study has

shown that the application of non-diegetic sound to

animated films is very influential on human

perception because it can produce emotional

situations that are more dramatizing in audience

subconsciousness. The result of this study indicates

that respondents felt that the second video seemed

more real due to the use of non-diegetic sound

compared to the first one. The addition of non-

diegetic sound that is actually not a real sound is

very necessary to be combined with the use of real

sound (diegetic sound). The application of diegetic

sound without being added to non-diegetic sound

will make the film feel more monotonous because

the absence of emotions itself in the film.

Further research might be explored on another

film genres, besides animated films, as research

variable so the use of non-diegetic sound can be

compared from one genre to another.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to Dr. Jack A. Simanjuntak, M.Des.Sc.,

for your guidance throughout this research.

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