Skip to main content

The Sound of Silence

There are three things that cause arguments in our house:
1) Someone standing in front of the television when we are trying to watch the television.
2) Someone adjusting the sound causing an interruption in the vital first 5 minutes of a film/programme.
3) WORST CASE SCENARIO: Someone turning the television off completely without warning or consultation.

 All three of the above cause auditory/visual disturbances. As soon as one of our senses is interfered with, our brains are physically affected. There is some indication of this problem in the quote:
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced" - Obi-Wan.


Some people say that silence is golden, whilst for others it is their worst nightmare. What is it about silence that catches our attention? If you turn off the visual aspect of a movie and listen to the sound there is still the ability to create a mental picture. It is not so easy vice-versa.
"The funny thing about silence is that you can't hear it coming" - E J White.
When silence ensues in a film, your senses immediately know that something is coming, or perhaps that the editor is trying to draw your attention. Silence is there to capture a moment, where no words or music is necessary. The audience is called upon to use the information given to them prior to this and use their intuition to understand the moment. Successfully, a scene with no sound is able to prey on your mind and draw your attention for the purpose of forcing an emotional reaction. This happens when all of your senses are called upon to compensate for the lack of or reduction in sound.

For example:The Lovely Bones - Lindsey finds evidence

In order to create suspense, the director directs the audiences' focus by deleting any unnecessary information. When watching the above scene, the viewer is concentrating so hard on what is going on that the interruption of noise would in fact ruin the sequence. the intensity is built on the visual rather than the auditory.

Narnia the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe- battle scene

In the clip above there is a split second of silence before the great battle. Here silence is given as a moment of reflection, a moment of calm before the storm. Though it lasts only a second or two, it is a noticable pause which is followed by the clash of battle into which the viewer is plunged.

The sound of silence very much depends on the context that it is in. It is empty; it is disturbing; it is peaceful; it is unnerving; it is relaxing; it is terrifying; it is beautiful. I think the best description of an image with no music or sound to accompany it is given in the lyrics to Simon and Garfunkel's:The Sounds of Silence

"Hello darkness, my old friend ,I've come to talk with you again, Because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping, And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains, Within the sound of silence" - Simon and Garfunkel.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hobbit - Defining the Look

A look into the use of lighting and colour to create emotion. Originally published in 1937, The Hobbit was written by J. R. R. Tolkien. It has since been made into a Trilogy by the film director Peter Jackson consisting of: The Unexpected Journey The Desolation of Smaug The Battle of the Five Armies What is most notable about these films is that they are very different to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Although set in the same universe of Middle Earth, there is a tangible contrast between them.  The Hobbit, some might say, is lighter, funnier and more suitable for children when compared with The Lord of the Rings. This being said, J. R. R. Tolkien did write the book for children and it was aimed at young readers around the ages of 9 and 10. One difference, for example, is the use of lighting and colour - which is used as a n extension of a particular character -  to provoke an emotional response from the audience. In general, the film is brightly lit,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gasman - the Importance of Trust between Characters

Gasman is a short film made in 1998 by Lynne Ramsay about a man who lives two lives. The film is shown mainly through the eyes of his daughter, in an innocent but hard-hitting way. It's the Christmas season. With her mom's help, Lynne, a girl of perhaps eight, dresses up; her younger brother Steven plays with a toy car. The children leave with their dad, who's affectionate with them. They walk down a railroad track where an unkempt woman waits with two children, about the same age as Lynne and Steven. The children go with them. They're all headed to a holiday party at a pub. Lynne notices that the girl acts all too familiar with her dad. What's going on?   Plot Summary - IMDB The film has an observant feel to it, like the camera itself is a 'third person' watching the plot unfold - sometimes from a distance and other times up close. The camera is mostly hand-held, free in a documentary style. It seems that the camera was left rollin...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are UFO's - working with children

How to interview children and young adults Introduction: There is much taboo about working with children in film. As W.C. Fields once said: “Never work with children or animals.” Sometimes they are too lively or energetic for a director to cope with; they may have short attention spans; they are unpredictable. "The audience always looks for the adorable young child or animal - they steal every scene. "many stars will never appear with animals or children in the belief that no adult can compete" has been cited in print since 1931, in a newspaer article indicating that this film tradition carried over from the stage."        - Barry Popik (2012), "Never work with children or animals" (Show Business Adage) But something special happens when you place a child in front of the camera, when you let them take centre stage and unleash their imagination. In taking away the pressure and the script, a filmmaker can use that unpredictability to cre...
Post a Comment
Read more