Sound theory and visual theory within film.

1. Aoife Brown and
Shona Rooney
ARE AUDIENCES IMPACTED
MORE BY THE SOUND, OR
THE VISUALS OF A FILM
TEXT?

2. Silent films are the perfect medium for artistic expression due to its importance
solely on visuals. The visuals bring out more creative expressiveness to express
feelings, mood, thoughts and concepts to an audience. This style of film is most
commonly known as German Expressionism cinema.
In the early 1920’s, silent films used lighting, shadows and unusual camera angles
to create the mood and atmosphere they wished to convey. Themes that most films
of the1920’s expressed the culture and mentality of the period.
VISUALS IN FILM
1920 1990

3. A famous German Expressionist film is The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Robert Wiene);
it inspired a lot of filmmakers and directors for decades later. This film used a lot of
painted sets with harsh angular forms to express the narrative regarding mental
illness, fear and horror. All visuals express the illusion of Dr Caligari’s ‘sick mind’.
The use of a variety of camera angles and techniques it helps engage its audience
through the puzzling journey expressed.
Musical scores where engaged into silent
films to heighten emotions of characters
and create an atmosphere for its audience to
perceive.
VISUAL FILM EXAMPLE

4. Tim Crooks found that the first sound heard in early cinema was music, performed live
on acoustic instruments. He states although musical composition is a subject that
cannot be contained in a short chapter, it has aesthetic properties that blend strongly
in the mix with dialogic speech, narration, sound effects and ambience.
“Herrmann (1999) argues that ‘any film could not ‘come to life’ without the assistance
of a musical track.” Crook, Tim; The Sound Handbook Chapter 6, pg 171
Crook states “Film music must supply what actors cannot say” meaning music delivers
what the actual word can’t.
"Our response to certain kinds of noise is something so profound in us that we can't
switch it off,"
SOUND IN FILM

5. "Film composers know that and use it to shortcut the logical part of our brain and
get straight to the emotional centers.“ (Science writer Philip Ball, author of The
Music Instinct)
A profound example of how filmmakers create fear; low frequency sounds called
infrasound are created to induce anxiety, extreme sorrow, heart palpitations and
shivering. Infrasound has been associated with areas of ‘supernatural activity’, they
have also been produced prior to natural disasters, for example earthquakes.
In the 2007 horror Paranormal Activity, audiences also
reported toweringly high fear levels despite a lack of
action onscreen. Producer admit this was caused by the
use of infrasound.
EXAMPLE OF SOUND IN FILM

6.  “Sight and sound are equally
crucial to our understanding of
the world, yet the visual has
dominated discussions of
cultural experience. The very
way we relate to, and think
about, our everyday world has
been influenced by this
emphasis on sight over sound”
– Michael Bull & Les Black, The
Auditory Culture Reader
 How sound can completely
change a scene:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=7acI5z9vyok
 https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=5tMqcARKRSE
VISUALS AND SOUND

7. “Sound for film and television is an aural experience constructed to
support the story of a narrative, documentary or commercial film or
television programme” Tomlinson Holman (sound for film and tv)
“When you dedicate attention to every element that comprises the
whole soundtrack – dialogue, sound effects and music – your story will
hold more meaning to the audience, and you’ll deliver your message in
a more memorable way” Jeffrey P Fisher.
SOUND EXAMPLES

8. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Attack scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgHQa2V8yC8
E.g. An ECU heightens Cesare’s actions along with intensifying musical
score, this makes us feel uneasy to what will happen. Here both sound and
visuals are just as important.
VISUALS EXAMPLES

9. To conclude our seminar intervention, with gathering your research we hope to
develop the hypothesis “Are audiences impacted more by the sound, or the visuals
of a film text?” to a firmer understanding.
CONCLUSION

10.  We would like you to sit at table A if you think visuals are more important than sound in a film and table
B if you think sound is more important than visuals in a film.
 I would now like to start a debate on your own facts and opinions.
 table A student, why did you choose visuals rather than sound.....
 Table B student do u disagree? And Why?
[5 min debate recorded by Dictaphone]
Thanks for your participation, we can now use this live debate of information to capture data regarding our
proposed hypothesis/argument.
While sitting in these two groups I would like to ask six quick questions to get more articulate data.
 1. List a film you would describe to have a high standard of sound?
 2. List a film you would describe to have a bad standard of sound?
 3. List a film you would describe to have a high standard of visuals?
 4. List a film you would describe to have a bad standard of visuals?
 5. Have u ever watched film/sport/tv programme with no sound? If so what was it....
 On a scale of 1 to 5, how entertaining was this?
 6. Have u ever watched film/sport/tv programme with sound only? If so what was it....
 On a scale of 1 to 5, how entertaining was this?
ACTIVITY

11. Bull, M. and Back, L. (2003). The auditory culture reader. Oxford, UK: Berg.
http://www.ozsilentfilmfestival.com.au/cms/uploads/movies/the_cabinet_of_dr_calig
ari.pdf
Crook, Tim; The Sound Handbook Chapter 6, pg 171
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/0/24083243
Quote - Science writer Philip Ball, author of The Music Instinct
 Fisher, J. (2009). Soundtrack success. Boston, Mass.: Course.
 Holman, T. (1997). Sound for film and television. Boston, Mass.: Focal Press.
REFERENCES