Onomatopoeia, Writing Sound Effects

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Westeford
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Onomatopoeia, Writing Sound Effects

#1 Post by Westeford »

There's something I've been struggling off and on with, sound effects. Specifically, writing them.

Note: I'm going to be writing this with the rash assumption that anyone who reads this can hear.

Most VNs will generally use sound effects (sfx) whether it's to illustrate where the scene is (Example: train sounds when in a train) or to give some "oomph" to an action (Example: The sound of shattering glass when breaking a window). Most Movies and video games will obviously use sound for the latter reason. (Have you ever watched a movie without the sound? It's really boring.) But generally we see the actions behind those sounds. VNs and books are another story.
VNs are in an awkward spot. They generally don't show every action behind every sound, but they aren't silent like books. Unlike movies, instead of using sound to enhance an action, VNs use sound to illustrate an action. There are a few approaches to using sound and I want to go over these approaches. These are a few I know of.


1. Onomatopoeia Approach.
This is simply writing the sound effects.
This approach I feel is pretty common. This puts the sound to words. It can also provide a pause between the action then follow it up with the reaction.
The only downside I can think of is that it can come across as silly.

Ace Attorney uses this approach quite a bit.
Danganronpa uses this approach when there's no visuals accompanying the action

Example text:

Code: Select all

"The man threw the bomb. As soon as the bomb landed..."
#Explosion sound
sfx "*Boom*"
"The bomb exploded!"

2. No Text.
Unlike the previous example this one only plays the sound. Generally I see this approach only when there's visuals to accompany the sound. But there are VNs that take this approach without visuals. The example I'm thinking about is Ace Academy, but to be fair it also describes the action before or after the sound.
Here's an example from the very beginning of the game.

Code: Select all

scene black
"..."
#poke sound 
pause(.5)
"?!"
"Something strikes my cheek! I turn away from the window and see a small hand beside me."
It works, but there's no indication of the sound taking place. If you couldn't hear the sound, then it's effectively an awkward pause followed by a reaction. To be fair the reaction is followed by a description.

From writing this post, I feel I can say that VNs follow a formula for sound.
(Set up) + (Sound Effect + Onomatopoeia) + (Reaction) + (Description)
Depending on the writer and situation parts can be omitted.
If the sound is supposed to be a surprise the set up is omitted.
The onomatopoeia is included or not depending on the writer.
If someone is supposed to react to the sound then a reaction is included.
If the writer describes things or use purple prose then a description is included.
Goes without saying I'm not an expert, but this is all based on my observations.

The point of this post was to sort out my thoughts on this topic and to share my observations, but I'd love to hear your take on this. What approaches have you taken with sound in your projects? Are there any approaches I haven't listed? What approaches do you think should never be applied? How many times did I write approach? Any resources related to the topic? Post them, I'd love to read them.
Thank you for reading and have a great day.

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