Analysis of Sound in the 'World'

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Since the first ‘appearance’ of sound on the Hollywood movie scene in 1926, the ‘talkies’ set the pace for the rapid technological development and enhancement in the concept and art of sound design in the film industry. An often underrated component of film; sound and hearing seems to be locked in an eternal struggle for value and independence against the dominance of the visual in terms of perceived importance. Groundbreaking sound designer and sound engineer on films such as the original Star Wars trilogy, Walter Murch commented on the hierarchal relationship between sound and vision stating that, in terms of what we see and what we hear, film sound is rarely appreciated in its independent entirety but instead functions as an enhancement of the visual (Paine, 1985). Ideally however upon closer analysis of cinematic sound in all its forms from Foley to ambient to narration, music and dialogue there is a realisation that the imbalance in recognition between the auditory and the visual senses on screen should be courted in the terms of French film director Robert Bresson when he stated in his seminal work, Notes on Sound, ‘image and sound must not support each other, but must work in turn through a kind of relay’ (Weiss & Belton, 1985). It is this concept of a relay and the associated interplay between sound and vision that provides a concrete basis for an analysis of sound in film and other emerging entertainment technologies such as the computer game cinematic.

The following analysis will examine the complex interplay between sound and vision as it is expressed in the computer game cinematic created by Blizzard Entertainment to promote and introduce their now hugely successful massively multiplayer online game (MMO), World of Warcraft. The World of Warcraft cinematic, first released November 23 2004, is a successful demonstration of how sound and image work as Bresson’s relay to create a convincing environments, characters and conflicts that are designed to immerse the viewer in the world; of Warcraft.

Gaming cinematic Sound Design is an evolving technology that has its roots in film sound and in the early arcade based computer games of the 1980s. Sound in the context of gaming not only works in a relay with vision to create an entire world, it furthermore acts as an anchor and identifier with the additional purpose of attracting the gamer to invest time and energy playing the game. This is noticeable in early arcade games (Space Invaders) wherein their addictive appeal can be attributed to the loud thumping repetitive sound schemes (McDonald 2009) that become associated with in game failure and also in game success thus becoming a part of the personal investment of the gamer in the game.

The World of Warcraft cinematic is a 2min segment of computer generated 3D animation that was released independently of the actual game. It has a dual purpose, first and foremost it is an advertising mechanism designed to attract prospective gamers to the game through the use of sound and vision. The second purpose of the cinematic is to introduce the concept and characters of the game and in keeping with the fantasy role playing genre and gamer expectations of an MMO, ensure that the ‘lore’ and back story is illuminated. The opening sequence details the lore of the created world with the use of non diegetic sound in the form of a female voice over narration accompanying a map of the game world. The voice is calm, melodic and barely above a whisper as if the narrator is sharing a secret. There is an increased bass in the voice that adds depth and in turn a sense of authority and ‘truth.’ In this particular segment it is clear the non diegetic sound dominates the static visual of the map. The final line of the narration, ‘the drums of war thunder once again’ leads the audience to assume that the next section of the cinematic will be loud and chaotic punctuated by the sounds and images associated with a war, however this line is applied ironically with the next scene juxtaposed through the use of a ‘J ‘ sound edit wherein the background timbre of the choral music becomes the whistling wind that contrasts the expectation of a thundering war with peace and quiet in an isolated alpine region. This opening segment demonstrates Bresson’s ‘sound relay’ in action with neither the sound or the vision relying upon each other. The relay is a concept employed both holistically throughout the cinematic and additionally within each of the six mini self contained vision and sound scapes that serve to introduce the viewer to the characters, environments and basic combined conflicts found within the game.

Each of the six segments in the cinematic provides insight into the character type through the deliberate choice of sound and vision. To establish both character and context the Dwarf character is introduced firstly through sound. An atmospheric layered diegetic wind sound with accented higher pitch ‘whisp’ sounds indicate not only the character’s proximity to the camera but also eludes to his environmental context being alpine, outdoors, desolate and exposed even before vision is revealed. Once the visuals are revealed, the small whisp accents in the wind give a sense of mass to the character, suggesting that the wind is not only whirling past him but also around him. Body mass and movement of the character is further enhanced by the Foley noise of snow crunching footsteps that are slow in pace indicating a heavy set character moving laboriously. Bresson’s relay is capitalised again in this segment with sound firstly identifying the presence of the hunter’s pet bear. The animal groan and heavy breath are heard before the full visual reveal of the animal. As the camera draws away from the hunter and bear to a panoramic shot of character in context, there is an amplification of the higher tones in the ambient layered wind sound that successfully indicates the isolation of the character and the distance between the audience (camera) and the Dwarf. The high pitched wind tones are minimised as the exposed alpine wind then becomes the sound of leaves on the breeze in a ‘J’ sound edit that where sound pre-empts the visual for the next segment of the cinematic.

The next segment of the cinematic exemplifies how the notion of a ‘relay’ is employed not only within each section, but also holistically throughout the cinematic. In this case, the concept of the relay refers to Blizzard Entertainment’s overall vision of the six self contained yet connected soundscapes and their placement in relation to each other. In order to demonstrate the diverse character types and environments found within the ‘World,’ the cinematic soundscapes are juxtaposed to create contrast between the aspects of sound elements in each section. For example the Dwarf segment is loud with a sense of vastness and isolation in an alpine environment contrasted with the Night Elf section placed within a nullified wooded forest. These elements as stipulated by Bordwell and Thompson (filmsound.org) include both the acoustic properties of the soundscape (volume, pitch and timbre) and the dimensions of film sound (rhythm, fidelity, space and time).

The Night Elf section of the cinematic creates a soundscape that contrasts with the open vacuous illusion created in the Dwarf section. High pitched wind tones are replaced with a dying breeze and sense of closeness that is articulated through a nullifying of the ambient and Foley sounds. Metallic sounds in the distance are offset to the left ear of the audience indicating a panning automation process has been used in the sound design phase to make it sound as though the fighting is in the near distance surrounding both the audience and the Night Elf character. The Foley sounds of footsteps are light, fast paced dull thudding sound as if the sure-footed elf character is running on a forest floor of soil and twigs. Diegetic ambient water trickle sounds increase as the elf approaches the stream and decrease as if she is moving past them at a running pace. To further elude to speed there is whoosh sound as the camera and in turn the audience move past a tree in the foreground. This sound could be deemed as both diegetic (is the camera or audience actually present) and non diegetic (sense of movement outside the realm of the screen) depending on the interpretation of the camera and audience in being a part of the on screen action. The inclusion of this sound also adds to the hemmed in density of the forest soundscape. Bresson’s concept of the relay of sound is also effectively employed in this forest scene wherein the Night Elf morphs into a jungle cat. The visual is delayed in favour of the seemingly out of place ‘magical’ sound which highlights the importance of this transformation to the audience and secondly allows the Night Elf to morph rather than simply change into the animal, a point that is important in terms of attracting gamers through innovative gameplay.

The next four soundscape segments (Undead character, Tauren, Orc and Human character) are shorter in length and are juxtaposed in terms of their diverse acoustic properties and dimensions of sound, thus enabling the audience to identify each distinct segment based on vision or sound alone as these components of the cinematic are not dependent upon each other. A detailed analysis of each of these soundscapes can be found in the attached appendix. (appendix 1:1) The final phase of the cinematic is designed to demonstrate how each of these characters clash in conflict to create a world ravaged by war.

To mark the change from single character sections to combined conflicts, the Blizzard sound designers used silence to signify this shift in content. Bresson’s concept of sound and vision as a relay is also deployed as the screen cuts to black and the silence is broken by the metallic sound of what is later revealed to be a musket rifle. The lock turning creak and metallic grind of the sound helps to identify the type of gun and place it in a historical era. The vision is revealed with the loud reverberating diegetic bass boom of the rifle which recommences the action on screen. This final phase of the cinematic sees Dwarf against Tauren, the Undead army begin to march forth, Orc versus Night Elf and the human character battling an elemental monster. A full break down of the sounds employed during these conflict segments can be found in the attached appendix. (appendix 1:2)

Conflict as found within the actual gameplay of World of Warcraft is demonstrated in the final phase of the cinematic, yet there is also a sense of conflict created at a sound design level. Whether intentional or not, there is a rising competition between the diegetic and non diegetic sounds, most notably with the overbearing volume of the music soundtrack. The non diegetic soundtrack in the earlier segments of the cinematic was initially a secondary aspect of the overall soundscapes, with a timbre and rhythm in keeping with the fantasy genre of folkloric irreverence, however in the final phase of the cinematic the soundtrack at times takes the place of ambient and Foley sounds that would have created a dynamic soundscape of war. This is particularly prevalent in the Orc versus Night Elf section wherein the full impact of the size and force of the Orc over the speed of the Night Elf is lost amidst the increased volume of the music. This increased supremacy of the non diegetic soundtrack (most notably the utilisation of rhythm directing visuals) however, could be an additional layering of the concept of conflict and chaos. The music combined with sound and vision creates a chaotic clash for the auditory and visual senses of the audience thus building tension and giving potential gamers a sense of the urgency and excitement found within the game itself.

Sound design within the World of Warcraft cinematic is a complex and multifaceted production that effectively employs Robert Bresson’s theory of the sound and vision relay to ensure that the visual and the audio can stand independent of each other whilst still retaining a sense of identity and connection to the holistic presentation of the cinematic. The power of sound in the cinematic echoes in longevity for the characters, their environments, their conflicts and their created fantastical worlds remain long after the images have faded from our minds.