Sound: the Underdog in Film

Sound is not  only a very reliable tool to capture the emotion or setting of a scene in cinema, but the coherence with sound and the visual imagery on screen in film is an art form of its own.  Take Bela Belazs’s piece called Theory of the Film: Sound.  In this article, she goes in detail as how sound can give, as well as take away, from mediums of entertainment, making the production of sound as a standalone work of art rather than a tool, as I mentioned before.  Sound has not been always a part of cinema, but the inclusion of the vibrations allowed many creative doors to be opened.  Whether it is the slight whisper in the corner of the room, silence stricken down a narrow and dark hallway, or even a crowded building with people going in and out, sound is everywhere and, simply put, unavoidable.  As Belazs stated, sound can be used to augment visual cues on screen as part of a narrative or even to create an ambiance that was never done in the silent film era.  Though silent films did have some kind of background music incorporated in the presentation, the advances done with soundtracks and music now have evolved dramatically. Even when sound is absent, say in a tense scene of a horror film, the absence of sound adds dramatic effect.  Regardless of what film you are watching, silent or modern, sound is an essential part of what makes a film a piece of art that we see it as today.