Sound - Titanic, Inception and The Oscars

I never really appreciated how much of an impact sound has to our daily lives. When I’ve considered which sense I find to be most important to humans, I always go back to sight. For example, what is the point in listening to a movie if you cannot see it? Wouldn’t you rather see the images? Reading the Cummings article and also through watching the Oscars last night, I realised how significant sound is to a movie and to our daily lives. My friend and I had put bets on who we thought would win each category and I bet that 'Inception' would win Best Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. The film won in both categories and although I have only seen 'Inception' once, I do remember how prominent the sound was throughout, especially in the dream sequences. However, I also remember how awesome the explosions were outside the cafe when Leo DiCaprio and Ellen Page are sitting outside a cafe. I think the two go hand in hand and this article reinforced the fact that sound is just as important as any other sense we have.

The concept of sound walking seems very interesting to me. I sat in my room and tried just to listen for a minute or two. The most prominent sound was the whirring of my laptop, and occasionally I could hear someone talking, noises from upstairs or a car driving past outside. This didn’t necessary lead me to hear that place differently, as the article suggests but it did make me realise that there are a lot more sounds going on around me than I realised and that I must block out an awful lot subconsciously.

With Chion, I agree that sound enriches a given image. If you think about a film such a 'Titanic', it would be nothing without the wailing of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ throughout the movie. It makes the movie what it is – a classic melodramatic love story. Again referring back to the Oscars from last night, they mentioned Titanic and the importance of its music. Thirteen years on it is still being recognised for the wonderful combination of aesthetically pleasing images and sound. Titanic also reflects what Chion describes as empathetic music – the sound in the film allows the audience to feel the love and freedom Rose feels when she is around Jack, and at the same time it permits us to feel Rose’s heartache and desperation towards the end of the movie. Therefore, both these readings have proved that sound is indeed a significant part to any movie or any day of our lives.