Is A Visual Journey Or Sound Experience More Compelling?

If you aim to make TV or an advert that has a truly great impact, balancing the sound and visuals may not always be the first thing that comes to mind. But it could be more important than you think.

In the first instance, there is the obvious point to make: What is visible on the screen offers a chance to communicate, entertain and amaze in a way that is not possible with other media. Moving pictures provide an opportunity to do what billboards can’t, while radio ads are totally reliant on what the listener can hear.

For that reason, it may be tempting to think that the focus is entirely on the visual element. It is true, for example, that in an advert the product usually needs to be very visible, ideally embellished if possible (a prime example being travel company ads featuring happy people enjoying beautiful holiday destinations in bright sunshine).

A Question Of Balance

However, that does not mean the work of a TV production agency should be just about what people see. It is just as important that the sound is still good. In advertising, the narrative may not be everything as it is on the radio, but it still tells a message, in concert with the visual images.

A good way to consider this is in some of the most compelling adverts. The Cadbury’s Dairy Milk ad with the gorilla playing the drums is a prime example of a production where both the visual element and the music (the Phil Collins song In The Air Tonight) both stick in the memory.

This is a highly unusual advert, as the product doesn’t appear and generally speaking, drum-playing gorillas are not the likeliest buyers of confectionery, but the idea was to get people talking and create an atmosphere of celebration and happiness.

As My Hoardings explained, there was a particular reason for this: This shift from traditional chocolate ads, with their close-up visuals or images of people enjoying the products, came at a time when Cadbury had been hit by a couple of scandals and needed to bring back the feel-good factor. It worked as sales jumped by nine per cent.

Know The Score

Of course, the balance of visual images and sound is not just to be seen in adverts, but in all TV and film. The best example is to be found in the epic scores that accompany great films. Some of these are such great pieces of music themselves that they get played on the Classic FM radio channel.

Many scores were inspired by classical music pieces that were purely about sound. For example, composer John Williams was inspired by the Planets Suite by Gustav Holst in writing the score for Star Wars.

However, there was adaptation: while Mars, the Bringer of War was an entirely audio experience (composed during the First World War), the Imperial March was produced to accompany the visually intimidating stride of the fearsome Darth Vader.

This principle extended to other works by Williams and can also be seen in the work of fellow leading film composers like Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard. Gladiator, for example, has an outstanding score, from the battle scene music to the slow, dramatic build-up to the infamous scene where Maximus reveals his true identity to the emperor.

Keep It Clean

Of course, music alone is not everything. Clarity of sound is vital. This is especially true in dialogue, but also with special effects. After all, Darth Vader would have been far less scary without the deep voice and deeper breathing.

This is where the technical elements of post-production come into effect. This can improve sound clarity, amplifying something that is too quiet, cleaning up anything that sounds a little fuzzy.

Of course, the same can be true with visual quality, although in many cases, what is needed is a total re-shoot. The problem, of course, comes when something is being broadcast live and you cannot blot out what is happening in the background. This can have interesting consequences, such as an animal deciding to acquaint itself with whoever is talking.

The simple reality of TV and film remains that it is the combination of the two that makes it what it is. Once, there was radio and silent film, each of them entirely reliant on the respective mediums of sound and sight. For a century, that has not been the case.

What matters now, more than ever, is not only that you make the best of both of these to produce the most compelling and memorable production, but that you make use of the best technology in both production and post-production to ensure it looks and sounds the very best it can be.