*APPLAUSE*

VOICEOVER: “..And here’s your host Grant Denyer!”

It’s one thing to observe how audio and sound effects influence the atmosphere and assist the portrayal of a story, it’s another to actually be the sound effects. I was able to be an audience member for two episodes of the Channel 10 show ‘Family Feud’ this week, and in return for being apart of the live audience, I was required to undertake rigorous training.

If you’ve ever watched the show you’ll know that audience reaction to contestants answers to survey questions is an integral  (and very loud) part of the show. Now I was skeptical, I believed to some extent that the audience’s applause and other various approving or condemning reactions to contestant answers was prerecorded and added in into the show later in the editing stage. Literally everything is filmed live. I mean everything, we practiced applauding on cue,  reacting disappointedly when the big red X appears with a solemn BAH BOW, reading out answers at the end of each round, yelling “PASS” or “PLAY”. We were utterly conditioned to react in the family feud audience way.

Energy is a massive part of family feud, if the audience is projecting energy, the competing families have more fun and viewers at home feel that (woo hoo ratings!), so the reactions and human sound effects needed not only politically correct and on cue, but complement the energy of the show. For example, take the family feud audience, and take the choir from songs of praise, both complement the aims of the show and project the story and emotion the producers are aiming for. Now switch them. And suddenly stained glass windows are shattering from the high decibels the audience can produce and family feud features The Christ family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph (and friend?).

The survey says it’s a delicate balance, achieving the appropriate amount, volume, frequency of sound effects and audio for any media content, it doesn’t seem so complicated or intricate until you find yourself on the front lines.

GRANT: “Thanks for tuning in, Goodnight Australia!”