Editing by tom baker

Sound and Sound Design theory according to Fahlenbrach-

“Every time we percieve persons, objects, and spaces in audiovisual media, we are unconsciously guided by acoustic cues” (Fahlenbrach 2008) As Fahlenbrach tells us, no matter what we are watching we are always being guided by sound, wheter we realise it or not. Fahlenbrach empahsizes this claim Fahlenbrach explains that “Sound design refers to deeply embodied gestalts that guide our preceptive, cognitive and emotional experience.” (Fahlenbrach 2008) . This shows just how important sound design is to the media industry. Fahlenbrach goes onto say that acoustic cues carry spatial qualitites, meaning the sounds in film help us to understand the enviroment that the characters are in.

Whilst talking about individual pieces of sound within a film Fahlenbrach claims that “Each acoustic attribute, once introduced by an object or character, is connected to the narrative. Consequently, every acoustic quality can be a separate narrative element.” This shows that not only is every single noise heard by the audience important, but it was purposelly placed their by the sound designer to help further the narrative.

“When gang leader Rusty paces the empty corridors of the building the atmosphere is hearby with a threatening silence, futrther intensified by individual sounds” (Fahlenbrach 2008). This shows further how each individual sound is so important to a sound scape. Not only does each sound help to immerse the viewer/listener, it also helps to build suspense, particularly in thrillers/horrors. Fahlenbrach also indicats that not only is sound important, but so is a lack of sound. The phrase “threatening silence” tells us not only does sound help to build suspense, but so does a lack of sound.

During the fight scene in Rumble Fish, Fahlenbrach also communicates to us how emotions can change wiht the help of audio. She claims that “The emotinal change is performed audiovisually with recourse to the machine metaphor for anger” (Fahlenbrach 2008) This shows us that not only does sound help the narrative of a film, it is key in showing us the emotions of a character and the emotional journey the characters go through.