Examining the Sound/Image Relationship in Film: Walter Murch and the Perceptual Vacuum
Introduction
In the article “Stretching Sound to Help the Mind to See”, Walter Murch muses on the on the idea that until birth sound is the only active sense. Once born, sight becomes the dominant sense and sound recedes and becomes a “shadow” of the visual sense, an accompaniment to what we see. Due to this sound in film generally has the effect of enhancing the visuals:
‘Film sound is rarely appreciated for itself alone but functions largely as an enhancement of the visuals…sound [is] largely perceived and appreciated by the audience in visual terms. The better the sound, the better the image.’
(Murch, 2000)
But Murch believes that this relationship between visual and auditory stimuli can be used in another way, as a device within film to convey concepts far beyond what could be conveyed with image alone.
The Metaphoric Use of Sound
‘by choosing carefully what to eliminate, and then adding back sounds that seem at first hearing to be somewhat at odds with the accompanying image, the filmmaker can open up a perceptual vacuum into which the mind of the audience must inevitably rush.’
(Murch, 2000)
What Murch is saying here is that as sound is so inherently related to vision any non-diegetic sound (sound with no causal origin) or any ambiguity between what is seen and heard will cause the minds of the audience to consider the presence of that sound. When the auditory and visual stimuli are at odds this creates an ambiguity in the minds of the audience. This is what Murch is referring to when he uses the phrase “a perceptual vacuum”. This ambiguity will last for a fraction of a second before the mind will attempt to resolve this ambiguity and reassociate the context of the sound in relation to the image. This use of sound is a form of imagery.
In the above mentioned article Murch immediately goes on to say:
‘As a result the film becomes more 'dimensional'. The more dimensional it is, the more impact it has on the viewer, the more it seems to speak to each viewer individually, and the more the sound can become a representation of states of mind of the central character’
(Murch, 2000)
The Godfather
Murch uses this metaphorical technique in the film “The Godfather”. In a scene preceding the moment in which the main character Michael is required to assassinate two people, Solozzo and McCluskey, the sounds of a steam train is the overriding sound present. As there is no visual stimuli present on the screen that is related to it the audience must question the presence of that sound in the context of that scene. The audience therefore associates that sound as an indication of the state of mind that Michael has at this time.
If music were to be used to convey the emotional content of this scene I believe it would not have the same impact as the use of the sound. Because the distance between the images in the scene and the sounds used is greater it therefore causes more ambiguity within the minds of the audience and hence a stronger re-association of the sound and image is formed.
Other Uses of Sonic Imagery in Film
This metaphoric use of sound and the relationship between sound and image that Murch discusses can be used in other ways, and to varying degrees. Any image onscreen can be given new characteristics or have their characteristics reinforced or enhanced through the use of sound and causing the audience to associate the sound with the image. An example of this in film is
Even images that are not present on the screen can be indicated as present or not through the use of sound. For example, John Williams’ classic score for the film Jaws was used in this way. Although the shark was rarely present as an image onscreen viewers were alerted to the fact of its presence by the use of a recurring theme which represented the shark (and hence danger).
This relationship between the shark and the musical theme was reinforced into the minds of the audience early in the film, and it can be said that much of the success of the film is due to this relationship.
Metaphoric Use of Sound in Animatrix: Kid’s Story
Whilst putting sound to our chosen film clip, Animatrix: Kid’s Story, we utilised this technique effectively. The clip’s most powerful moment, the climax, occurs when main character lets go of the railing and falls to the ground. For over 30 seconds the character is falling to the ground. Initially we had chosen to simply have a low rumble and whooshes to represent the sound of the air rushing past the characters ears. Although this helps the audience to experience the moment from the characters perspective, it did little to indicate the state of mind of the character. We therefore chose to build up a collage of sound, using sounds disconnected from any visual stimuli (clips of dialogue taken from earlier in the piece), in which the audience could infer the state of mind of the character. The sounds themselves are given an ethereal and unnatural quality through the use of filters, delay and reverb, and are intended to represent the thoughts of the character.
The collage builds up from a bed throughout the fall, climaxing and then abruptly cutting off as the character hits the ground. This is intended to portray the increasing turbulence within the mind of the character as the inevitable moment nears. It also reinforces at the end the belief of the character that “it wasn’t a dream”.
References
Bridgett, R. (2003) Aural Imagery: Sonic Ambiguity in Time Based Media http://www3.sympatico.ca/qualish/aural.htm [accessed: 28/04/2006]
Bridgett, R. (2003) Non-Diegetic Sound and Aural Imagery in the Films of Andrei Tarkovsky.
http://www.filmsound.org/murch/stretching.htm [accessed: 28/04/2006]
Murch, W. (2000) Stretching Sound to Help the Mind to See
Schaeffer, Pierre, 'A la recherche d'une musique concrete' Editions du seuuil, Paris. 1952
Lucas, G. (2001) Revvin’ it to the Next Level: Sounds from a Galaxy Far, Far Away. ‘Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones’ DVD.