The relationship between sound and image has been married with confusion for a long period of time from an audiences perspective. Effectively using sound has never been in the forefront of peoples minds when they view a film. People don’t walk out of a cinema describing how amazing the sound of a plane complimented the realism of the characters surroundings. No one says that, and it’s for a good reason. It sounds weird to compliment a film on it’s ability to select distinct sounds to reinforce a certain theme or atmosphere of a scene because we have been taught to ignore these factors. Too often we watch films without listening. Sound is… just there, it is seen to serve no purpose because we forget about the reality of it’s importance. To the more extreme use of sound in an action film, imagine James bond walking away from exploding car, but all you hear is Bond heavily breathing, because the sound department forgot to put in the piercing sound of the explosion, an integral part in creating the illusion that the fire ball behind him is real.
Sound doesn’t just relate to the “sound track”. Sure, this is a crucial part of a film, but sound is more than that. Music is important to compliment the mood of a film, but how are you going to sustain this tone. You can’t have Biggie Smalls dropping bars every second in a New York gangster film, just to reinforce how tough and badass the characters are. It won’t work. An important soundscape is the backbone of a film. It provides context to scenes, it reinforces moods and the illusion that what you are seeing is real. It draws you into the film, immersing you in the experience of the characters, allowing you to empathize and relate to a film that amazing visuals can’t achieve by themselves. David Lynch suggested that a film is “at least 50% sound”, highlighting not only the importance of sound, but how much sound actually goes “unheard” in films.
Although sound designers will always pin point fine details that a mere mortal film viewer will never pick up on, it is important to listen to films as much as watch them. When you begin to listen, you pick up on a range of sounds that begin to immerse you even more in the experience of the characters and makes you appreciate the technical efforts of a sound team to heighten the audiences involvement in a film. Nearly every part of the film is backed with a variety of layers that contribute to the soundscape of a film. Do you really think they would record dialogue in a Transformers film when explosions were going off? Or perhaps in Fast and the Furious where they slam the accelerator and you hear the roar of the engine? Of course not, all these sounds are added into the scene to compliment the image.
Sound and Image should always be seen as autonomous. It is like a dance of sorts throughout the film, where one element takes the lead and then comes back together in a uniformed flow. Sound enables characters to grow, it highlights certain ideas and concepts and it reinforces a certain environment the character it in. The relationship between sound and image is always shifting, both of these are important aspects of a film and should not be viewed as separate. To often the images reduce the sound to mere noise and we are not invited to hear the intricate details that make up the environment of a scene.
Silence can also be classified as “sound”. In a film there is rarely any real “Silence” even when characters are not talking, the absence of sound can be classified as “silence” and is just as powerful to reinforce the drama or perhaps the comedic merit in a film. Sometimes the ongoing onslaught of sound can reduce a scene to sheer noise, which is usually an attempt to cover up the “deafness” of a film and how much the film actually lacks in a narrative.
When viewing films in the future, take notice of the finer details that go into a scene. The creaks and cracks of floor boards in a horror, the sounds of traffic and echoes of people in an urban city, or the stillness of air and rustles of leaves in a long environment shot. Treat sounds like visuals and allow yourself to become immersed in a scene and feel different emotions that come through each sound. Perhaps take a moment to close your eyes and just listen. Listen carefully to all the layers of a scene, how carefully constructed the sound designers have laid each sound, acknowledge the hard work that has gone into creating an illusion that “you were there”. Perhaps, block your ears and just watch. You will notice how bland a film is, how much information is lost, not just through dialogue but through your ability to participate in the film. Listen closely and a whole other reality will emerge from the complex depths that often goes amiss in a film.
