Enjoy the Silence – The Use of Quiet in Cinema

One of the most important aspects of any film is the score. Music can set the mood, add drama, or create emotion from a fairly dull scene. However, sometimes, no music at all can portray a scene better than if it had a track behind it

Nowadays it seems that to be entertained, we as moviegoers have to be bombarded with constant sweeping scores and over-the-top tracks as the movie plays. Of course, the biggest offender being Marvel films. Yes, I am well aware of the controversy of Scorsese vs. The Marvel Mafia (article by The Verge’s Julia Alexander) and his comments on Marvel films. I have read his criticisms and I agree with them. I won’t parrot everything the man says, but Scorsese has a definite point. The Marvel movies both tell you how to feel while still playing it safe. Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel studios, claimed that they shattered the predictability of Marvel films by killing off almost all of the characters they had established over the years. He failed to mention bringing every one of them back in the next movie, and then defeating the bad guy and saving the day.

It would seem that this trend of movies is only going to get bigger with the expansion of “new” markets (Hollywood Reporter’s Paul Bond). With these movie studios playing it safe, it leaves a barrier in the film industry: Profit over expression or take a risk on expression and only succeed within the US?

I was watching the very first Transformers movie (from the 80s, not the Bay ones.) and noticed that almost every second of the film was taken up by background music. Of course it’s a movie geared towards children, but it really had me thinking about how different the film would be if you removed the music from a lot of scenes.

Movies without a heavy use of music use their scores both sparingly and effectively. 2001: A Space Odyssey uses a lot of its silence to convey the emptiness of space. Another film, Alien uses the same silence but for a different reason: tension. The alien creature slithers around the Nostromo and the only sound effects we get are purely diegetic, adding to both the immersion and suspense of the scene. Characters are killed off and left in silence. No added music to emphasize the drama or impact of the situation. When the first crew member is killed, the audience is left to sit in silence, letting the weight of the situation sink in.

Blade Runner 2049 (yes, I know, choosing a movie I worship is low-hanging fruit) has a very short list of tracks on its album. Many of the scenes go minutes without any sound. Even the introduction scene: K (played by Ryan Gosling) meets Sapper, a replicant (synthetic human) that the LAPD wanted to decommission. The first few minutes of the scene are spent with K and Sapper talking, all while in silence, of course. The scene then later escalated to the two fighting, throwing each other around, through walls, etc.. The entire fight is silent. No music is added to fill the tension. You as the viewer feel the tension already without any score telling you that.

Silence is a tool that is seemingly being left behind in the new era of movies. With the state of the cinema economy, it’s going to be less and less common to find films that use its sound design to its full potential. This isn’t to say movie soundtracks are bad. In fact, a good movie soundtrack can make a movie even better (Tron: Legacy). The overuse of music in film, however, is the issue with modern blockbusters. I believe that supporting the indie film industry is a great way to see the artistic expression of individuals.

Watch an indie film, then go out and compare it to a film in theaters.