Diegetic sound is any sound that emanates from the story (or narrative) world of a film, which is referred to in film studies as diegesis. Diegetic sound can include everything from the voices of characters to the sounds of objects or music coming from a radio or an instrument–anything that exists in the story world. In this clip from Zhang Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern, we hear several different elements, all of which originate in the story world.
Mahjong (1:06)
- Film:
- Raise the Red Lantern, 1991
- Director:
- Zhang Yimou
- Source:
- 2000 MGM Home Entertainment
- Annotated commentary by:
Richard Peña- This clip appears in:
- - Diegetic Sound
- Mise-en-Scène
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