The History Of Sound And The Importance It Has On Cinema

By Josh Gasparro

Tuesday 16th January 2024

 The History Of Sound And The Importance It Has On Cinema

Since the distant world of silent films, the cinema industry has evolved at an ever-growing
rate. Star:ng as early back as October 1888, the oldest surviving film known, :tled the
Roundhay Garden Scene, according to Legacybox; the world has evolved from the past of
silent cinema to an immersive experience that surrounds you in sound and visual wonders.
But how did cinema evolve into what it is today?

In a world where technology has evolved at an exponen:al rate, with

smartphones being a powerhouse of modern technology, having the
ability to access so much on a :ny device, was once deemed a miracle is
now known to be the norm. But it has taken a long :me to get to where
we are today. The first sound recording technology was developed in
1877 with Thomas Edison’s phonograph, according to an ar:cle wriMen
by Legacybox. This was a machine that enabled a person to talk into the
device and the machine would then replay what the person had just
said, commonly known as a ‘Talking Machine’. Although a breakthrough
at the :me, it wasn’t un:l the late 1920’s that sound was used in films using phonographs
and other prototypes, up un:l then all films where silent and purely visual.

Times have dras:cally changed, and now more

than ever, the use of sound in film and TV is a
major factor in evoking emo:on to the audience.
Typically, sound is used to bring the prac:cal
elements of a film set to life, making a more
realis:c experience for the viewer. This can be a
number of things such as the sounds of city noises,
the sounds of trees swaying in the wind, a phone
ringing and much more. This is done to add detail
to the scene and make it as close to life as possible. For example, when talking to someone
in a busy public space, you don’t just hear the other person. Your filled with all types of
different ambient sounds that make that ‘city’ sound. Whether that be the sound of a car
horn beeping, people chaMering, footsteps or cars on the road, your ears are full of all types
of noise that you are hearing all at once. When filming, actors dialogue is the biggest priority
for sound when filming as it’s very hard to fix a bad job of recording the actors dialogue in
post. This is why when shoo:ng, the sound teams’ main priority is to hear the actors clearly
on set and then in post these sounds that will make the scene come to life are put in aZer.
Filling the scene with sounds that you will naturally hear give a much more pleasurable and
realis:c viewing experience.

When it comes to sound in film, there are really only three types, this being human voices,
music and sound effects, as men:oned in a blog wriMen by The College of Crea:ve Arts. This
can be broken down further into two very dis:nctly separate categories, diege:c and non-
diege:c sound. Everything you can hear when watching any form of media falls under either
of these two things. Diege:c sound is sound that is within the story’s world. This is
something that we can visually see on screen and a sound is added to match that ac:on
made on screen. For example, dropping a glass and it smashes would have the sound of
glass scaMering all over the floor. The glass smashing sound is diege:c as it’s something that
is true to life and what we can see on screen. Whereas non diege:c sound is the opposite
and is something that cannot be seen on screen or is not within the story’s world. A
soundtrack and music, a narrator or accent sounds used for effect within a film, such as
risers and hits, are all examples of non-diege:c sounds. Both work hand in hand to create
atmosphere to the scene. Although separate, they work together to piece the scene to life
and are arguably one of the most important things in film.

Sound design is a major factor into building the world in which you’re watching. It tells us
how to feel and dictates the flow of the film. George Lucas once said “Sound is half of the
picture”, showing how without sound in film, your senses are drained of enthusiasm and
interest to the film. The use of music and sound effects drives the temp. By using past faced,
ac:on packed music, naturally, tension is risen as an automa:c bodily response, aler:ng
your primal ins:nct of foreboding danger. When done correctly, the use of sound can engage
with the audience and truly bring out emo:on. Whether that be panic and fear, happiness or
laughter, sound design is paramount to extrac:ng emo:on to the audience. A truly
excep:onal piece that stands out to me is Christopher Nolan’s 2017 historical war thriller,
Dunkirk, which won academy awards for best Sound mixing and Sound edi:ng. The use of
music in this film drives the feel throughout. The use of it’s drowning mellow music that
keeps on adding throughout the film constantly puts that sense of danger wai:ng around
the corner, keep the audience nail-bi:ng throughout.

Another film beautifully done in terms of its sound design, also

winning two academy awards for best Sound Mixing and Sound
Editing is the 2018 autobiographical musical drama, Bohemian
Rapsody. According to an article written by Sound & Picture, titled
“Oscars: How the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Sound Editing Team Re-
Created Rock & Roll Royalty”, They mention the difficulties in
matching the original music sung by Freddie Murcury to that of actor
Rami Malek. “That’s because the singing (for the most part) was
actually Freddie Mercury. Additional singing, particularly for the non-
concert scenes, was performed by Freddie Mercury sound-alike Marc
Martel. Putting those voices together and then making them come
out of Malek’s mouth required more than ‘careful’ editing. According to co-supervising
dialogue/ADR editor Nina Hartstone, it took brain surgery-style editing. And that’s just the
singing!” What I find so amazing about this film is how it really shows the actors who played
the members of Queen to be singing, when in reality they where not. The use of diegetic,
the music being played on screen, looks incredibly realistic. From the sound of the drums
being smashed, the guitars being plucked and most noticeably Rami Maleks recreation of
Freddie Mercury’s life on stage, all sound used is incredibly precise and intricate. From
watching, the sound design sounds as if you are sat there watching Queen live with the
music panning around you creating that perfect surround sound just as if you where they in
person.

Behind everything however is Foley. Foley sounds are recreations of sounds that would have
been made on set. To enhance the effect, to make it as true to life as possible, Foley artists
recreate nearly every sound from a film and match
them perfectly to the on-screen cues. For example, if
an actor is walking on wooden flooring, to enhance
this a Foley artist would recreate this by going in a
Foley studio and simply walking on a wooden flooring
in synchrony to that of the actor’s gait. Placing a
microphone directly above the flooring the artist is
walking on, they are able to catch the sound in
perfect precision and use it for the final edit. Now this
all may seem very extreme and over kill, but it’s for a very important reason. They are used
enhance the auditory experience of the movie whilst also acting as cover up to unwanted
sounds made on set, such as an overhead plane, traffic or extras and people talking. Most
sets do not act the same auditory as it’s real-life counterparts, so the use of Foley brings the
set to life to the ears and makes everything as true to life as possible. It originally originated
in the early 1920s to help add sound effects to live broadcasts and radio dramas.
Phonographs, which we spoke about earlier, where not capable of accurately playing all
sound effects from the tape on cue, therefore a person would create the sounds live in the
studio as the live broadcasts are being aired.

In conclusion, the art of sound is something that makes or breaks a film. It’s a way of
transporting the audience on an auditory journey and, in unison with the onscreen visuals,
transcends you into the world of cinema. Sound design pieces all the left-over details that
are missing from the onscreen edit and make the production come to life. Great sound
design can reflect that of the visuals, enhancing the audience’s emotion and the effect that
is given off from the production. It showcases the films technicality and its details. David
Lynch once said “Films are 50 percent visual and 50 percent sound. Sometimes sound even
overplays the visual.” Sound in film is an art form and a specific skill, something that is
detrimental to success of your production. My past productions, sound has always been the
thing that holds me down; and although gaining improvement through the experience of my
past productions, it is still something that I worry about when producing my film. I want to
showcase what I have learnt and use the art of sound design to better my production and
give the audience that true cinema feel.
 Bibliography

Wikipedia. (2020). Foley (filmmaking). [online] Available at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_(filmmaking)#:~:text=Foley%20sounds%20are%20used%20to.

nasacademy.com. (2022). Why Sound Design is Important | Nas Academy. [online] Available at:
https://nasacademy.com/blog/article/the-importance-of-sound-
design#:~:text=Good%20sound%20design%20not%20only.

Walden, J. (2019). Oscars: How the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Sound Editing Team Re-Created Rock & Roll Royalty.
[online] Sound & Picture. Available at: https://soundandpicture.com/2019/02/oscars-how-the-bohemian-
rhapsody-sound-editing-team-re-created-rock-roll-royalty/#:~:text=That [Accessed 14 Jan. 2024].

Rothstein, A. (2021). Why is Sound So Important in Film? [online] IPR. Available at:
https://www.ipr.edu/blogs/film-and-sound-design-2/why-is-sound-so-important-in-
film/#:~:text=The%20use%20of%20thematic%20music [Accessed 14 Jan. 2024].

Legacybox. (n.d.). What Was The First Silent Film? [online] Available at:
https://legacybox.com/blogs/analog/what-was-the-first-silent-film#:~:text=The%20First%20Film.

says, N.T. (2022). ADAM Audio [Blog] - The Importance of Sound Design in Film. [online] ADAM Audio Blog.
Available at: https://www.adam-audio.com/blog/understanding-the-importance-of-sound-design-in-film/.

Grainger, E. (2021). A brief history of sound in film. [online] National Science and Media Museum blog.
Available at: https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/brief-history-of-sound-in-film/.

Allied Productions | Grand Rapids Video Production, Photography and Digital Media Agency. (2018). Hearing is
Believing: Introduction to Sound Design. [online] Available at: https://www.alliedproductionsgr.com/photo-
video-blog/2018/6/21/hearing-is-believing-introduction#:~:text=%22Sound%20is%20half%20of%20the.