Sounds in the film play an important role in how we view a movie. It can shape or prolong our expectations. Sounds and even silence can create different feelings. A quiet passage can create an almost unbearable tension while an abrupt silence in a noisy passage can jolt us. It can also steer our attention within images.

The film sounds familiar to us from everyday life includes loudness, pitch, and timbre. In the Grand Budapest Hotel, the filmmakers use high-pitched music when Zero and Gustavo are running away from Jopling to create tension. We were kept on our toes wondering if he would catch them. Manipulating loudness in films is probably the most common. For instance, we see this when the loudness of traffic gets quieter when two people start to speak. This allows us to focus on the character’s speech. Loudness also relates to distance. With sound perspective, the louder the sound is, the closer the subject is, and vice versa. Rhythm, melody, tempo, volume, and instrumentation of the music can strongly affect a viewer’s emotional reactions. 

Additionally, the sounds of cinema consist of three types: speech, music, and noise. Similar to how the mise-en-scene in film can be manipulated (such as lighting and color), sound can also be manipulated. One way to do this is by blending a mix of sounds to create the desired product. Also, sounds recorded during filming are not the same sounds in the final product. Most sound effects are added during post-production. 

What stood out to me was that sound was said to be the hardest technique to study. This surprised me because sound is all around us. However, as we get older, we learn to ignore most sounds in our environment. I then had a moment of realization that this is true. In Texas, I lived near train tracks where the train would pass every day. It wasn’t until a friend who came to visit me pointed out that the train was making noise. After living there for so many years, my brain learned to ignore it so I didn’t notice it anymore. We tend to pay more attention to sight, leading sound to become a background to our visual attention.