What's it called · Sound 17

Diegetic / Non-diegetic

Also called: Diegetic sound

A distinction between sound that characters can hear within the story world (diegetic) and sound added only for the audience (non-diegetic).

Compare music from the radio in the scene with background music heard only by the audience.

Often confused with

• Ambience: Background sound that continues throughout a place, rather than a classification by whether characters can hear it
• Adaptive music: Game music defined by its response to game events rather than whether its source is within the story world