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Film Sound
THEORY AND PRACTICE

Edited by Elisabeth Weis and John Belton

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK

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THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND t77
ments,
"'"D' rsgrsgdrcu'
segregated rn.rvloyal--
individual , rnilmate
intimate voices, and made them speak
to us
sepamtely it'
:1ryjt]v
uo*1,6o-@j*n""
in vocal,@o*,c_Ie'-u*hnn fho"o ir, imarort
isorared +-ir -^.,-J^ ..j,
detair-sounds wil
have bgome a new art. When the di
lirector..wilf he able. to lead lG-
Theory of the Film: Sound @intr-'ffi
guldance along a series of close-ups will
emohasizp qpnrra
be able to emphasize, n
separate, and
BELA BALAZS bring into relation with each othei the ,oun,
sights, then the rattle and cratter of life wiil
ir""i i;;ffi ;,il';:
no long". ovenwhelm us in a
lifeless chaos of sound. The sound camera
The Acoustic World r ntn-.n" in this chaos o
it and. interpret it, and then it will again be man
:::1,1 ,.rr"
speaks'to us from.the
himsel who
sound screen-

It is the business of the sound film togggt$or us

our tgFI9SryiPlIIlFBF
theacousticlandscapeinwhichwelive,thespeechothingsandtnelnn-
and human speech'
mate whisperi.tgs o nae; all that has speechbeyond
,p"f., to us wi the vast conversational powers of life and incessantly influ- The picture Forms the Sound
rom the muttering o the sea
'"., *a directs our thoughts and emotions, o
to the din o a great city,-om the roar of machinery to the gentle
,patler In a sound film there is no need to explain
autumn rain oria windowpane. The meanng o a floorboard creaking in a' the sounds. we see together with
the word the glance, the smile.,. the gsture,
deserted room, a bullet whistling past our ear, the deathwatch beetle ticking l-*f,of" .h"rd .i;;;;;J;;,
the exact nuanc. Together witti the oundr'unJ
in old furniture, and the forest spring tinkling over the stones. sensitive lyr- voices of things we see their \
ical poets always could hear these significant sounds of life and describe them
in words. lt is for the sound hlm to let them speak to us more directly rom
lli"n"ily }@+ggtflralug,hu,
see the whirling machinery at the same time,
u iff".unt coloring or us if we
The sound o
.
i, aitt",
qe1;Ure+t, Just as the shade and value or "Vg u.nungl, t:
the screen,
!i$ff_t9:.'t;.
accorcling to what other colors are next to it in a painting, ',r!
so the timbre-of ::
a sound changes in accordance with thelp_hy,siognomyr orlestu$o
tte .vis_
ible source of the sound seen together *h tnound itsf ir;ound 't.:l
ilm
in which acoustic and optical impredsions are equivalentii linked together :li
Disco-very of Noise into a single picture. ii

In',a radio play the stage has to be described in words, because ,ri

sound alone is not space-creatino.

The sounds of our day-to-day life we hitherto perceived merely as a con- @ ,:j
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fused noise, as a formless nrass of (rather as an unmusical person may
listen to a symphony; at best he may be able to distinguish the leading mel-
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ody, the rest will fuse into a chaotic clamor. @
analvze even,chaotj noisg_withroU! grr and rgrd the score of lie's svm- Silence ''
,{
phony" Our ear will hear the diferent voices in the general babble and dis- '.1

tinguish their character It is an old maxim Silence, too, is aq 4p11q1[ efe . but only where sounds can be heard. The
that presentation of silence is one of the most specific
1
:
kind o @ ,ll

Jm. n" other art can reproduce silence, neither painting norFJ;qlgture, nei-

redeem us from the chaos o shapeless noise by accepting it as expression, ther literature nor lhe"silent ilm could do.so. Even on the stffience ap- ..

as signiicance, as meaning. pears only rarely as a dramatic effect and then only for short moments. R-
Only when the sound film will have resolved noise into its ele- dio plays cannot make us feel the depths o silence at all, because when no

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THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND 119

has ceased' as w can- noise of the alien world reaches us rom bevond its boundaries. A com-
sounds come from our set, the whole performance pletely soundless space on the contrary n"ffiffiffiffirete,
of the ction. The sole material of the wire- and
not see any silent continuation quite real to our perception; we eel it to be weightless and unsubstantial,
sound is not silence but
irr of"ttg sound, the result o the cessation of or what we merely see is only a vision. We accept seen space as real only ,irl
just nothing.
when it contains sounds as well, or these give it the dimension of depih. , ',':

On the stage, a silence which is the reverse of speech may have r ,ri
,.
a dramaturgical function, as for instance if a noisy company suddenly falls i
Silence and SPace silent when a new character appealg._Ert such a ritnn. cannot last longer
than a few seconds, otherwise itcurdlej as it were and seems to stop the
j,
performance. On the stage, the effeif-silence cannot be drawn out or made
r.:,
other' appear even more to last.
Things that we see as being dierent rom each, In the ilm. silence can be extremely vivid and varied, for al-
They all sound different *1",:".th"y.t
diferent when they emit sou"nds' lltl
of diferent sounds though it has no voice, it . A silent
;6].nlll;ffi,i;'iit;; *uy.-Th"r" are thousands
, - r rL ^ ^^*^ ^. ll glance can speak volumes; its soundlessness makes it more expressive be-
cause the facial movements of a silent igure may explain thegggggfor the
That is at first hearing silence, make us feel its weight, ih menace, its tension. ln the film, silence
qlesp, to each other a.nd-.r.n-9hes-!henn lels'=q!$Lnilsr',tl:,-"^ l"i:t"n^::.:"
this happy harmony, tnnffi laguage
of mute things-t:i:":
each others' shapes' and entering into re- a
i"g *itn ach other, recognizing
of men is more intense when they are silent.
common to them all' This was a
laiions with each other in a composition
grui uauuntuge the silent film had over the sound filq For- its silence was even thines drop their masks and seem to l't
you with wide-open eyes. I a sound film shows us any object sunounded
not mute; it was given u in the background music' uldlendSeg ?nd
"oi." on the screen against by the noises of everyday life and then suddenly cuts out all sound and brings
men and the obfets surroundng them were shown
'.]--;; *il*tn'o*d, ffi
'"udn @t
it up to us in isolated close-up, then the physiognomy o that object takes
ffi
, il";ffiffi-Wq.$J
wascdmmon to them all.
*iF. *hi'n on a significance and tension that seems to provoke and invite the event
which is to ollow.
roundaboul
But the siteni film could reproduce silence only by
siage cessation o{ the dialogue does not touch o
means. On the theatricai
the space o the stage is
in gr""t emotional experien-ce o silnce, because
i" tnar for that, and the expgrience qf silence is essentialy.q*qplqe-exp9- Sound-Explaining Pictures
rience.
4-- How do we peceive silence? By hearing nothing? That
is a rnere
positive than the experience Not only the microdramatics expressed in the microphysiognomy of the ace
negative. yt mun has iew experences more
can be made intelligible by the sound which causes it. Such a c,lose:_up:Blgg-
But i a moming breeze blows
;:;;." Dea people do not know what it is'the neighboring vilage, if rom sound can have the inverse efect. The close-up_of a listener's face can e;-
the sound of a cock crowing over to us from
thetopoahighmountain-wehearthetappingofawoodcutter'saxear I'tB, I" LUl.Ts
.s"i,n d
cance of some sound*'noise if we had not
awag-then seen its effect in the minor o
uo*'in the vlley, i{ we can hear the crack of a whip a mile a human ace. For instance we hear the Such a sound
does not acquire a dramatic significance unles w can see the expres-
sion on hqnan faces thgt it is a danger-signal, or a call to revolt.We may
tti"S lV on the windowpane fills the
hear the sound ofJ&,hg,illut how deep
" "
ffi";;l;; ;;th"s time into fragments with sledsehammer blows' sl&g!]lgis will become evident
sounds in a very large on,ly trom the expression of sympathy and ndersAnding appearing on some
"'Jn" ,.Sst_when we can heaivery distant
iil.hUman facer Further, the acoustic character o a sound we understand is
space The widest space hear right across it and the
i, ou, o*n i we cn
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120 BELA BALAZS THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND \27
dierent too. We hear the sound o a siren diferently if we know that it is a sounds because thev are in the general din. possibly they even
warning o impending deadly peril. !1ow.1ed
have an efect on us but this effed neverb-.o*", .onr.ious. If a crose-up
may also show two kinds picks out such a sound and thereby
,nut nr u, *ure of its effect, then at the
of things. The reflected effect of the music may throw light into the human same time its infruence on the action wiil
have been made maniest.
soul; it may also throw light on the.$Uilillf and suggest by means of the
.On the stage such things are impossible. If th";tri;;l;roducer
listener's acial expression some experince touched off by this musical ef- wanted to direct the attention of th audienc" " auaiur" sigr,,,
to s.ar."ry
ect. I the director shows us a close-up o the conductor while an invisible cause that sigh expresses a turning-point
tors in the same scene would have to be
in the action, thn th";i;; ;-
orchestra is playing, not only can the character o the music be made clear very quiet, or else"ilthe actor who
j:i"1'$,,,j,: j:::'ir*
by the dumbshow of the conductor,'his iacial expression may also give an
interpretation of the sounds and convey it to us. And the emotion produced
in a human being by music and demonstrated by a close-up of a ace can
ii.,i:*:i:ffi:*:i#:,fi:::
it shy and retiring and musr remain ,.irJy
that is
audible.
'enhance the power of a piece of music in our eyes far rnore than any added As in the sirent
ilm so in the sound film, scarcely p"r."pti:;;;mate
things can be con-
decibels. veyed with all the secrecy o the unnoticd
Nii,ing ;
silenced in order to demonstrate such "urrnrropp"r.
sounds for at r,""r-.",iv.,.'
yet be kept intimate. The-general
din can go on, it may even drown com_
pletely a sound like the soft piping of
u -or"q"iio,'uu, *n can get quite close
synchronous Sound to the source o the sound wiin ne
-icropnon'and with our ear and hear
it nevertheless.
subtle associations and interrelations of thoughts
and emotions
ln a close-up in which the surroundings are not visible, a sound that seeps can be..conveyed by means of,very low, soft round Sr;h
nto the shot sometimes impresses us as mysterious, simply because we can- or intellectual linkages can play a ecisive "ff".r.
dramaiurgical ";;;;;
part. Tht-;;;';
not se irs, gpurFe. It produces the tension arising from curiosi! and expec- anything{he ticking o a cloci< in.an too, a slow drip from a srf
taon. Sometimes the audience does not know what the sound is they hear, pipe, or the moaning of a little child "n'ptv
in its sLep-
but the character in the ilm can hear it, turn, his face toward the sound, and
see'its source beore the audience does. This handling of picture and sound
provides rich opportunities for effects o tension and surprise.
esgbrqnqus-sQugd (that is, when there is discrepancy be- Sound Cannot be Isolated
tween the things heard and the things seen in the ilm) can acquire consid-
erable importance. I the sound or voice is not tied up with a picture of its
source, it may grow beyond the dimensions o the latter. Then it is no longer ln such close-ups of sound. we must be qpreful,
however, to bear in mind
the voice or sound o some chance thing, but appears as a pronouncement the specific nature of sound which ,o,ror l^,,-, ,^ L^ :^-r_. , .
--*il
o universal validity. . . . The surest means by which a director can convey sg':-S:*"lylg:1nl"q'-u
the patho,s- or svmbolical significance of sound or.voice is precisely to use it the film r..nn.unnot
.#8-
asthchronously.
-' :y,:E}-r,_ti{jfhitnin
r it is.immediately beside the things
be seen by us, even
tn"t *. ln or shadow can be thrown
into the picture from outside and-the
outrine oia snuao* .un "tr-r. th;
spectator what is outside the frame but
stilr in the same sector of space, al-
though the picture will show only ,':1

1:lg5!gp. in sounO things are different. i

lntimacy of Sound Ah acousc enronmentr inetab
rcroac; h" .Io."-up shot and what r1

1
h"1rl this case is not a .naffiam of
risht, bur the sounds
themselves, which can always. be heard $
Acoustic cose-ups make us perceve sounds which are included in,the.ac- picture, however small a qrction of
throughout the*whole
d;;" ;iil;
that ,pu. i, included i" th;-;;;p. ,$
customed noise o day-to-day;lie,'but which we never hear as indidr,ral S"".at.""""t U"fmt ,'d
.H
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122 BELA BALAZS THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND 123

tenor toward the sound and the spectators tense in their seats. The camera,
Music played in a restaurant cannot be completely cut out i a
too, turns toward the sound. And behold the hiss is that of a kettle boiling
special close-up of-say two people softly talking together in a corner is to be
on the gas-ring.
,'ho*n. The band my not always be seen in the picture, but it will always
Such surprising disappointnents may be tragic too. In such cases
be heard. Nor is there any need to silence the music altogether in order that
the slow approach and the slow recognition of the sound may cause a ar
we may hear the soft whispering o the two guests as i we were sitting in
more terrif5ring tension than the approach of something seen and therefore
their immediate vicinity. The close-up will contain the whole acoustic atmo-
instantly recognized. The roar of an approaching flood or landslide, ap-
sphere of the restaurant space. Thus we will hear not only the people talk-
proaching cries of grie or tenor which we discern and distinguish only grad-
ing, we will also hear in what relation their talking is io the sounds all round
ually, impress us with the inevitabili of an approaching catastrope with
ihem. We will be able to place it in its acoustic enronment'
almost inesistible intensity. These great possibilies o dramac effeci are due
Such sound-pictures are often used in the film or the purpose
to the fact that such a slow and gradual process o recognition can symbolize
of creating an atmosphere. Just as the ilm can show visual landscapes' so
the desperate resistance of the consciousness to understanding u t"uty ruhi.h
it can show acoustic landscapes, a tonal milieu.
is already audible but which the consciousness is reluctant to accept.

Educating the Ear

Sounds Throw No Shadow

Our eye recognzes things even if it has seen them only once or twice. Sounds
Auditive culture can be incresed like any other and the sQun! film is very
are much mre difficult to recognize. We know ar more visual forms than
suitable to educate our ear. There are however definiteffi
sound orms. We are used to inding our way about the world without the
ilities of finding our way about the world purely by sound, without any vi-
conscious assistance o our hearing. But without sight we are lost. our ear,
sual impressions. The reason for this is that sounds throw no shadows-in
however, is.not less sensitive, it is only less educated than our eye. science
other words that so,unds cann_o_! Etqdlgs S3pe9*ln_pgqe. Things which we
tells us in act thal
see we must see side by side; if we do not, one of them covers up the other
gve, The number o sounds and noises a human ear can distinguish runs
so that it cannot be seen. Visual impressions do not blend with each other.
il-rnuny thousands-ar more than the shades o color and degrees o light
Sounds are different; if several of them are present at the same time, they
we can distinguish. There is however a considerable difference between per-
merge into one common composite sound. We can see the dimension o
ceiving a sound and identifying its source. We may be aware that we are
space and see a direction in it. But we cannot hear either dimension or di-
hearing a dierent sound than before, without knowing to whom or what
rection. A quite unusual, rare sensitivi$ of.ear, the so-called absolute-is re-
the sond betongs. We may have more difficulty in perceiving things su-
quired to distinguish the several sounds which make up a composite noise.
ally, but we recognize them more easily once we have perceived them. Erd-
rnnn'r experiments showed that the ear can distinguish innumerable shades But their place in space, the direction of their source cannot be discerned
even by a perfect ear, if no visual impression is present to help.
and degrees in the noise of a large crowd, but at the same time it could not
be stated with certainty whether the noise was that of a memT or an angry It is one of the basic form-problems of the radio play that sound
crowd. alone cannot represent space and hence cannot alone represent a stage.
There is a very considerable dferencebelween our visual and
acoustic educalion. one of the reasons for this is that we so oten see with-
out hearing. We see things from aar, through a windowpane, on pictures,
on photographs. But we very rarely hear the sounds of nature and o life
wilhout seeing something.
I Sounds Have No Sides

s&lgjbeutgQug!_lbinqs rom sounds we,hear. This defective education of

our hearing can be used or many surprising efects in the sound film. We It is dificult to localize sound and a ilm director must take this fact into ac- :::
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hear a hiss in the darkness. A snake? A human face on the screen turns in count. l three people are talking together in a film and they are placerJ so ri!
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t24 BELA BALAZS THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND I25
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that we cannot see the movements of their mouths and if they do not ac- fixed, immutable, permanent distance between spectator and actor is elimi-
company their words by gestures, it is almost impossible to know which o g$pl'Ely ot only as spectators,
them is talking, unless the voices are very diferent. For sounds cannot be but as listeners, too, we are transfened from our seats to the space in which
beamed as precisely as light can be directed by a reflector. There are no the events depicted on the screen are taking place"
such straight and concentrated sound beams as there are rays of light.
The shapes of visible.things hae several sides, right side and left
side, front and back. Sound has no such aspects, a sound strip will not tell
us from which side the shot was made.

Sound Has a Space Coloring

Every rratural sound reproduced by,art on the,stage or on the platform al-

ways takes on a false tone-coloring, for it always assumes the coloring of the
space in which it is presented to the public and not of the space which it is
supposed to reproduce. I we hear a storm, the howling of the wind, a clap
of thunder, etc., ,on the stage we always hear in il the tmbre proper to the
stage not in the timbre proper to the forest, or ocen, or whatnot the scene
is supposed to represent. I, say, a,choii sings in a church on the stage, we
cannot hear the unmistakable resonance o Gothic arches; for every sound
bears the stamp of the space in which it is actually produced.
F,vpry sound ha a space-bound chretgrof its 9wn..The same
sound sounds different in a small room, in a cellar, in a large empty.hll, in
a street, in a orest, or on the sea.
Every sound which.is .really produced somewhere must o ne-
cessity have some such space-quality and this is a very important quality in-
deed if use is to be made o the sensul reproducing power o sound! It s
this fimbre lacal o. sound which is necessarily always falsified on the theat-
rical stage. One o the most valueible artistii aiulties o the microphone is
that sounds shot at the point o origin are perpeuated by it and retain their
original tonal coloring, A sound recorded in a,cellar remains a cellar sound
even i it is played back in a picture theater, just as a ilm shot preserves the
viewpoint of the camera, whatever.the spectator's viewpoint in the cinema
auditorium may be. If the picture was taken from above, the spectators will
see the object from above,,even if they have to look upwards to the screen
and not downwards. Just as our eye is identiied with the camera lens, so
our ar is identiied with the microphone and we hear the sounds aq llp
microphone originally heard them, jrespective o where the sound film is
being shown and the sound reproduced.'ln this way, in the sound film, the ';i
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