ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a framework for the ethical use of dialogue, music, and sound effects in narrative and non-fiction media-making. How do technical and creative sound choices influence audience perception of a story? By examining the use of sound in public/private space, location recording, sound design, and sound editing, this chapter will offer guidance in the ethical use of sound for media creation.
Sound is all around us and always present. We cannot close our ears the way we can close our eyes. It requires conscious attention to listen closely, while looking in different directions and focusing requires almost no thought. I must use textural adjectives to describe sound-grainy, soft, edgy, smooth, bitter-whereas I can use adjectives to describe the visual world exactly: I see a small, blue wooden table with metal scissors, paper, and a black stapler.
