At school we have been asked to write our final papers and my topic is going to be on culture differences. My hypothesis is the following:
"Cultural differences in perceiving music background for documentaries, based on a comparison between Singaporean and Swiss documentar films."
I came to realise that just talking about it with some friends of mine, that their opinion and culture is really complex yet intersting.
My asian friends will often use the word "boredom" or the sentence like "it's boring if there is no music in the background. Who did this production??!". Now, compared to some Swiss friends, they will often refere to "nature's reality" or "true sounds".
What is boring and why would nature's true sounds be "boring"? Where does this perception come from? Why do we perceive things so differently and from where is this concept coming from?
Being half Swiss and half Vietnamese, i do have even more difficulties to understand this. In the other hand, i probably am more capable in understanding both opinions and follow their trail of thoughts.
During my research, i came across some words like "religion", "nature", "forest", "perfectionism". The meaning of music was very different in both cultures and their perception was focusing on a very different aspect already in the past.
It seems like in the Asian culture, music was meant to be played perfectly. Perfectionning ones instrument was more valuable than anything else. For the Chinese opera big orchestras were used. At least 200 musicians were part of this opera. All playing their instrument to the perfection or they wouldn't even be part of this orchestra.
Compared to the Swiss culture, music is a form of expression. Playing an instrument was considered an opportunity to get into a higher class, because one could be the entertainer of an important person or even a teacher. But it also was a form of simple entertainment and distraction after a battle, for example.
"Grandios" and "dramatic" effects were not given an importance like in Chinese operas, for example. The value lies in being able to express emotions (love, anger, protests). It was a form of open communication, if I may call it.
But now, how does that affect documentar films, you may say. Strangely enough it does have a connection.
I have worked on some projects with Discovery Channels and i know their procedure. I also did some corporate videos where speech should be more relevant and audible, in my opinion. But in Singapore, i have been asked many times to increase the volume of the music. I often told them, that it can mask the speech and the interview. The reply was: "Yes, but it will be boring for them to listen to. That will wake them up." Well... and so i did. I increased the volume. At the end, you really did hear more music than the speech. I never managed to listen to what is being said. The music was distracting me, especially being a musical person reacting easily to music, i couldn't focus on the speech.
Here in Switzerland i just finished a work on the Swiss Guards. A documentar film that will be shown in the cinemas in Switzerland (i think, this is still under discussion, apparently.) next year. My friend asked me not to put any music in the background.... Although it was the first time i work on a project for a Swiss audience, i didn't expect it to have NO music at all.
She tried to explain to me, that she wanted the audience to get the feeling of St. Peter's place natural ambience. The bell, the birds, the fountain in the background, the people and children passing by, all these needed to be heard, she said.
First i really tried to put my "Singaporean style" of having some music in the background, but after watching the 40mins docu film, i realised that, it would have distroyed the entire mood. I really didn't feel like putting any music at all in it. I wondered why...
I recently presented this Swiss documenatry to my Singaporean friend and althought there were no English subtitle, her first impression was to say it looked boring. Even though i trranslated almost every important (in my opinion) phrases of the interviews, she just could not get into the story and history of the Swiss guard. She only said that it was a very different perspective on how one produces documentary. Basically, she said it sucked... (laughing).
She also showed me here she would have put music in the background. She would have put music for all cut outs, but when i told her that my friend wanted to transmit the ambience of the place, the true sounds of that place, she looked at me with a big question mark over her head. It did not make sense for her.
It seems like music evoques more emotions than feeling the emotions of a place, which speaks "history" by itself. Would this be the rerason why Chinese Drama on TV are so.. dramatic and emotional?
It is strange that i can understand my Singaporean friend's point of view. Yes, it would create even more emotions and let the audience "feel" the place of Saint Peter. However, i also understand my Swiss friend and i got trapped in the effect the place had by itself. Maybe because i went to Rome before and ran on that same place, when i was younger, but that was almost 20 years ago...
Maybe if i had some original recordings of the sound in the sixtin chappel, while they were having a mass, maybe that would have been "better" for Asian taste.
Comments are more than welcome! =)
"Cultural differences in perceiving music background for documentaries, based on a comparison between Singaporean and Swiss documentar films."
I came to realise that just talking about it with some friends of mine, that their opinion and culture is really complex yet intersting.
My asian friends will often use the word "boredom" or the sentence like "it's boring if there is no music in the background. Who did this production??!". Now, compared to some Swiss friends, they will often refere to "nature's reality" or "true sounds".
What is boring and why would nature's true sounds be "boring"? Where does this perception come from? Why do we perceive things so differently and from where is this concept coming from?
Being half Swiss and half Vietnamese, i do have even more difficulties to understand this. In the other hand, i probably am more capable in understanding both opinions and follow their trail of thoughts.
During my research, i came across some words like "religion", "nature", "forest", "perfectionism". The meaning of music was very different in both cultures and their perception was focusing on a very different aspect already in the past.
It seems like in the Asian culture, music was meant to be played perfectly. Perfectionning ones instrument was more valuable than anything else. For the Chinese opera big orchestras were used. At least 200 musicians were part of this opera. All playing their instrument to the perfection or they wouldn't even be part of this orchestra.
Compared to the Swiss culture, music is a form of expression. Playing an instrument was considered an opportunity to get into a higher class, because one could be the entertainer of an important person or even a teacher. But it also was a form of simple entertainment and distraction after a battle, for example.
"Grandios" and "dramatic" effects were not given an importance like in Chinese operas, for example. The value lies in being able to express emotions (love, anger, protests). It was a form of open communication, if I may call it.
But now, how does that affect documentar films, you may say. Strangely enough it does have a connection.
I have worked on some projects with Discovery Channels and i know their procedure. I also did some corporate videos where speech should be more relevant and audible, in my opinion. But in Singapore, i have been asked many times to increase the volume of the music. I often told them, that it can mask the speech and the interview. The reply was: "Yes, but it will be boring for them to listen to. That will wake them up." Well... and so i did. I increased the volume. At the end, you really did hear more music than the speech. I never managed to listen to what is being said. The music was distracting me, especially being a musical person reacting easily to music, i couldn't focus on the speech.
Here in Switzerland i just finished a work on the Swiss Guards. A documentar film that will be shown in the cinemas in Switzerland (i think, this is still under discussion, apparently.) next year. My friend asked me not to put any music in the background.... Although it was the first time i work on a project for a Swiss audience, i didn't expect it to have NO music at all.
She tried to explain to me, that she wanted the audience to get the feeling of St. Peter's place natural ambience. The bell, the birds, the fountain in the background, the people and children passing by, all these needed to be heard, she said.
First i really tried to put my "Singaporean style" of having some music in the background, but after watching the 40mins docu film, i realised that, it would have distroyed the entire mood. I really didn't feel like putting any music at all in it. I wondered why...
I recently presented this Swiss documenatry to my Singaporean friend and althought there were no English subtitle, her first impression was to say it looked boring. Even though i trranslated almost every important (in my opinion) phrases of the interviews, she just could not get into the story and history of the Swiss guard. She only said that it was a very different perspective on how one produces documentary. Basically, she said it sucked... (laughing).
She also showed me here she would have put music in the background. She would have put music for all cut outs, but when i told her that my friend wanted to transmit the ambience of the place, the true sounds of that place, she looked at me with a big question mark over her head. It did not make sense for her.
It seems like music evoques more emotions than feeling the emotions of a place, which speaks "history" by itself. Would this be the rerason why Chinese Drama on TV are so.. dramatic and emotional?
It is strange that i can understand my Singaporean friend's point of view. Yes, it would create even more emotions and let the audience "feel" the place of Saint Peter. However, i also understand my Swiss friend and i got trapped in the effect the place had by itself. Maybe because i went to Rome before and ran on that same place, when i was younger, but that was almost 20 years ago...
Maybe if i had some original recordings of the sound in the sixtin chappel, while they were having a mass, maybe that would have been "better" for Asian taste.
Comments are more than welcome! =)
