Look Around You is a BBC show running from 2005-2007. It is a series that satirises educational programs from the 70s and 80s.

Find a piece of video with an interesting soundtrack – describe it carefully and think about how it works with the images. 

Is it naturalistic/diegetic/non-diegetic?

The sound is barely naturalistic. It features an excellent synthesised score, building excitement for the potential scientific wonders the viewer might witness. The foley deliberately brings attention to its contrived quality through the sound not being mixed in accordance to spatial relationships. The foley also drops in and out, sometimes objects would be interacting onscreen but without a diegetic sound.

 

Humorous usage of sound include the finger skate board accompanied by the sound of a car backing up, the disposal of a bunch of items and only hearing one large clank, and the very modern/clear gun sound that is obviously a stock sound.

Is it emotional or unemotional? What is the pace, volume, musicality etc.?

The music builds excitement and wonder through its synths. The narrator’s voice, though not emotional, is definitely energised and expressive to an extent. The sound moves at an engaging pace. The voice’s tone uses a deliberately contrived British accent with exaggerated pronunciations as well as an undulating musicality in his phrasing to mimic those of documentary narrators. The voice, aside from being informative, leads the viewers’ anticipation and excitement.

The music does not have a steady rhythm for the most part, more like incidental music than a song. However the music becomes rhythmic at the climax when the magnet/sulphur relationship is being tested.  It is then comically cut off by the narrator when the experiment and excited tension proves futile.

What effect does the soundtrack produce with the images? Watch the same footage without sound and compare the effect.

The soundtrack elevates the image, granting it dignity and value – in fact, it grants it ALL of its value. Without the sound, we notice how poor the quality of the props are and furthermore, how amusing it looks for the hands of grown adults to be playing with these makeshift science tools. Without sound, the very slow deliberation of hands suddenly becomes even more exaggerated and melodramatic. The video’s satire is even more heightened without sound because we notice the awkwardness and disjointedness of physical movement – movements that are only suitable if underscored by an equally camp soundtrack.