Pacific Treefrog Calling Sounds Used Incorrectly In Movies
Every kind of frog and toad makes its own unique calling sound during its breeding season. The sound made by the Pacific Treefrog, which can only be heard in western North America, has been used as the background frog calling sound for night scenes or scenes near water since sound was first added to movies, in movies set all around the world.
We also frequently hear the sound of the Pacific Treefrog when we see another kind of frog on screen that should be making a completely different sound.
(You can hear a small chorus of Pacific Treefrogs here: http://www.californiaherps.com/sounds/ptfrogsimdb.mp3)
Most sounds in movies are recorded then added to the movie soundtrack. Pacific Treefrogs are the frogs most often heard at night in southern California where most movies used to be made, so when Hollywood sound recordists went outside the studios at night to record nocturnal sounds to add to movies, they often recorded the calls of Pacific Treefrogs. Those sounds were added later to the soundtracks of many films. Pacific Treefrog sounds also ended up in pre-recorded sound effects tapes, LPs, and CDs used by film sound designers when they needed nighttime background frog sounds.
Pacific Treefrog sounds became what filmmakers and audiences expected to hear outdoors at night when they watched a movie. Since most film sound design is concerned with what the audience expects to hear, not with what they would actually hear at a location in a movie, and since the precedent was already set, the mistake was repeated throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. If the audience heard the sounds of the frogs that really called in a location outside of the West, they would be confused. Nevertheless, hearing Pacific Treefrog sounds in a movie that is set anywhere outside of the western part of North America is a mistake.
We also frequently hear the sound of the Pacific Treefrog when we see another kind of frog on screen that should be making a completely different sound.
(You can hear a small chorus of Pacific Treefrogs here: http://www.californiaherps.com/sounds/ptfrogsimdb.mp3)
Most sounds in movies are recorded then added to the movie soundtrack. Pacific Treefrogs are the frogs most often heard at night in southern California where most movies used to be made, so when Hollywood sound recordists went outside the studios at night to record nocturnal sounds to add to movies, they often recorded the calls of Pacific Treefrogs. Those sounds were added later to the soundtracks of many films. Pacific Treefrog sounds also ended up in pre-recorded sound effects tapes, LPs, and CDs used by film sound designers when they needed nighttime background frog sounds.
Pacific Treefrog sounds became what filmmakers and audiences expected to hear outdoors at night when they watched a movie. Since most film sound design is concerned with what the audience expects to hear, not with what they would actually hear at a location in a movie, and since the precedent was already set, the mistake was repeated throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. If the audience heard the sounds of the frogs that really called in a location outside of the West, they would be confused. Nevertheless, hearing Pacific Treefrog sounds in a movie that is set anywhere outside of the western part of North America is a mistake.
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