Are audiences impacted more by sound or visuals in film?

Aoife Brown and Shona Rooney

ARE AUDIENCES IMPACTED MORE BY THE SOUND, OR

THE VISUALS OF A FILM TEXT?

Silent films are the perfect medium for artistic expression due to its importance solely on visuals. The visuals bring out more creative expressiveness to express feelings, mood, thoughts and concepts to an audience. This style of fi lm is most commonly known as German Expressionism cinema.

In the early 1920’s, silent films used lighting, shadows and unusual camera angles to create the mood and atmosphere they wished to convey. Themes that most films of the1920’s expressed the culture and mentality of the period.

VISUALS IN FILM

1920 1990

A famous German Expressionist f i lm is The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Robert Wiene); i t inspired a lot of f i lmmakers and directors for decades later. This fi lm used a lot of painted sets with harsh angular forms to express the narrative regarding mental i l lness, fear and horror. All visuals express the i l lusion of Dr Caligari’s ‘sick mind’.

The use of a variety of camera angles and techniques it helps engage its audience through the puzzling journey expressed.

Musical scores where engaged into silentfi lms to heighten emotions of charactersand create an atmosphere for its audience to perceive.

VISUAL FILM EXAMPLE

The first sound heard in early cinema was music, performed live on acoustic instruments. Although musical composition is a subject it has aesthetic properties that blend strongly in the mix with dialogic speech, narration, sound effects and ambience.

“Herrmann (1999) argues that ‘any fi lm could not ‘come to life’ without the assistance of a musical track.” Crook, Tim; The Sound Handbook Chapter 6, pg 171

Crook states “Film music must supply what actors cannot say” meaning music delivers what the actual word can’t.

SOUND IN FILM

TALK ABOUT HOW VISUALS AND SOUND TOGETHER. MAYBE TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT SLIENT MOVIES AND THE RELIANCE THEY HAD ON VISUALS, AND HOW SOUND FILMS CHANGED THE FILM WORLD COMPLETELY. BUT EVEN SO VISUALS KEPT IMPROVING ALONG WITH SOUND. GETS QUOTES ETC TO BACK THIS UP.

VISUALS AND SOUND

What other elements have heighten the atmosphere/emotions created?- - --

SOUND EXAMPLES

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, Attack scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgHQa2V8yC8

E.g. An ECU heightens Cesare’s actions along with intensifying musical score, this makes us feel uneasy to what will happen.

What other elements have heighten the atmosphere/emotions created?- - --

VISUALS EXAMPLES

Video of us showing people videos/sound clips and getting their feelings on both.

RESEARCH OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

To conclude our seminar intervention, with gathering your research we hope to develop the hypothesis “Are audiences impacted more by the sound, or the visuals

of a film text?” to a firmer understanding.

CONCLUSION

ACTIVITY

http://www.ozsilentfi lmfestival.com.au/cms/uploads/movies/the_cabinet_of_dr_caligari.pdfCrook, Tim; The Sound Handbook Chapter 6, pg 171

REFERENCES