Language Features

Hello,
I have some confusions regarding language features in the 2.2 English Standards.

In a fighting scene between a lot of people, there’s sounds of fighting, yelling, and hitting. If I want to comment on this, could I say that the director used the language feature of sound effects? Or is there another language feature that describe the fighting sounds better (such as use of voice)? I also want to say that this evokes a major scared and uncomfortable emotional response within the viewer, allowing them to gain a deeper understanding of how the fighting characters may be feeling. Additionally, the sound involved a lot of yelling and hitting overlapping on top of each other. Could I link this to how there is a lot of people fighting at once, highlighting that almost everyone in this setting is filled with hatred?

Another language feature I want to discuss into another paragraph is music, where the director added music over another scene. Is music and sound effects of fighting considered two different language features that I can write 2 different paragraphs about?

Thank you for any last minute help before the exam, it would be much appreciated! :slight_smile:

Kia ora Cheeseman :slight_smile:

A good term to use would be diegetic sound. This describes any sound that characters within the film can hear. Dialogue is another example of diegetic sound. You could say something like, “The director uses diegetic sound during the fight scene. The characters are creating a lot of chaotic noise through the sounds of them yelling and hitting each other. The diegetic sound develops the intense and scary atmosphere of the scene, causing the viewer to feel scared and uncomfortable.”
I think a comment about the combination of yelling and hitting sounds would be a fine way to describe how the sounds overlap.

Background music would be non-diegetic sound. Non-diegetic sounds are things that only viewers hear, not characters. Noting that one technique is diegetic and the other is not is a good way to differentiate more between the music and sound effects.

Remember that it is good practice to explore how directors use a combination of film techniques for effect. Discussing how the music works alongside the sound effects would make for one stronger paragraph than if you wrote about them separately.

1 Like