The Influence Of Sound In Cinema

The partnership between the visual and sound in media presentations has been present for many years. While it has become common practice to put a larger emphasis on visual aides, it is imperative that we recognize the fundamental contributions that aural additions make to the overall quality and presentation of any medium. It is not uncommon to witness a larger emphasis on things that we can touch and see, given that we operate as a visually emphasized society, but that does not mean we should ignore the influential presence of sound. For the purposes of this research paper, I will be demonstrating the impact that the inclusion of sound — both diegetic and non-diegetic — has had on the production on films, looking specifically at how it has

As the availability of new technologies increased and resulted in the successful addition of sound into cinema, it begun to allow the cinema space to engage its spectators in a new, multi-sensory way (Elsaesser & Hagener 130). With the newly added use of our ears in what was once a visually dominated practice, hearing created a new acoustic space where we could experience film in a multi-directional, three dimensional space that was not possible through our eyes alone. (Elsaesser & Hagener 129-130). Within the diegetic film space, the ability to use ones hearing greatly advanced the spatial presence of the acoustic space — sound contributes significantly to the creation of a films imagery (Elsaesser & Hagener 130). Not only does sound work to effectively capture and hold the attention of audiences — something that is rarely voluntarily sustained for more than a few seconds at a time (Cutting, DeLong & Nothelfer 432) — but it also works as an anchor and stabilizing force towards how the spectators body responds to what is presented on screen (Elsaesser & Hagener

Donnelly highlights that horror scores tend to aim at a direct engagement with the physical in that they produce physiological effects… viewers emotional responses to horror scores do not seem to require understanding of musical language, conventional meanings, formal elements … yet the scores are capable of inserting into the audience frames of mind and attitudes (Yeung 84).
Sound works to remove all barriers or frames from the image and therefore puts it in a position barley recognizable from which it originated; it becomes far superior due to its undefined position (Elsaesser & Hagener 142). Without the restraints of purely visual representation, the stories and emotions that unfold onscreen have the freedom, largely through sound, to resonate with viewers on a whole new and more diverse level. Both Elsaesser and Hagener, and Yeung refer to Michel Chion’s notion of audio-vision and how the duality of a films soundtrack and camera movements (referring specifically to Yeung’s coverage of the film Gemini) accurately convey’s how these cinematic devices work together to show the spectator the subtle feelings experienced by the onscreen characters (Yeung 82). Yeung’s thesis, that sound can be used to evoke emotion within the cinematic space, is largely under-appreciated in philosophical inquires into cinematic horror