\

Film Sound
THEORY AND PRACTICE
Edited by Elisabeth Weis and John Belton

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

4qqs

PRESS

NEW YORK

((

K'r

THEORY OF THE FILM:

SOUND

t77

ments,
segregated rn.rvloyal-individual , rnilmate
intimate voices, and made them speak
"'"D' rsgrsgdrcu'
to us
sepamtely it'
in vocal,@o*,c_Ie'-u*hnn fho"o
ir, imarort
-^.,-J^ ..j,
isorared +-ir
detair-sounds
wil
:1ryjt]v

uo*1,6o-@j*n""

have bgome a new art. When the di

lirector..wilf he able. to lead

Theory of the Film: Sound

@intr-'ffi

BELA BALAZS

i;;ffi

The Acoustic World

lG-

guldance along a series of close-ups will

be able to emphasize,
emohasizp qpnrra
n
separate, and
bring into relation with each othei the ,oun,
ir""i
sights, then the rattle and cratter of life wiil
no long". ovenwhelm us in a
lifeless chaos of sound. The sound camera

;,il';:

r ntn-.n" in this chaos o

it and. interpret it, and then it will again be man

himsel who

:::1,1 ,.rr"
speaks'to
us from.the

sound screen-

our tgFI9SryiPlIIlFBF
It is the business of the sound film togggt$or us

theacousticlandscapeinwhichwelive,thespeechothingsandtnelnnand

human speech'
mate whisperi.tgs o nae; all that has speechbeyond
incessantly influand
life
of
powers
conversational
vast
the
,p"f., to us wi
o the sea
muttering
the
rom
'"., *a directs our thoughts and emotions,
o
gentle
to
the
machinery
of
roar
the
to the din o a great city,-om
,patler
autumn rain oria windowpane. The meanng o a floorboard creaking in a'
deserted room, a bullet whistling past our ear, the deathwatch beetle ticking
in old furniture, and the forest spring tinkling over the stones. sensitive lyrical 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
the screen,

Disco-very of Noise
The sounds of our day-to-day life we hitherto perceived merely as a confused 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 melody, the rest will fuse into a chaotic clamor. @
analvze even,chaotj noisg_withroU! grr and rgrd the score of lie's svmphony" Our ear will hear the diferent voices in the general babble and distinguish their character
It is an old maxim
that

The picture Forms the Sound

In a sound film there is no need to explain
the sounds. we see together with
the word the glance, the smile.,. the gsture,
l-*f,of" .h"rd
the exact nuanc. Together witti the oundr'unJ
voices of things we see their
u iff".unt coloring or us if we
}@+ggtflralug,hu,
see the whirling machinery at the same time,
The sound o
i, aitt",
qe1;Ure+t, Just as the shade and value or "Vg
!i$ff_t9:.'t;.
accorcling to what other colors are next to it in a painting,
so the timbre-of
a sound changes in accordance with thelp_hy,siognomyr orlestu$o
tte .vis_
ible source of the sound seen together *h tnound itsf ir;ound
ilm
in which acoustic and optical impredsions are equivalentii linked together
into a single picture.
In',a radio play the stage has to be described in words, because
sound alone is not space-creatino.

.i;;;;;J;;,

lli"n"ily

u.nungl,

redeem us from the chaos o shapeless noise by accepting it as expression,

as signiicance, as meaning.

Only when the sound film will have resolved noise into its ele-

t:

',r!

::
't.:l

:li

ii

,ri

,:j

:tl

l,:i

Silence

''
,{

'.1

Silence, too, is aq 4p11q1[ efe . but only where sounds can be heard. The
presentation of silence is one of the most specific

kind o

n" other art can reproduce silence, neither painting norFJ;qlgture, neither literature nor lhe"silent ilm could do.so. Even on the stffience appears only rarely as a dramatic effect and then only for short moments. Rdio plays cannot make us feel the depths o silence at all, because when no

,ll

Jm.

..

'fi

i.::i
:,,

,.1

THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND

has ceased' as w cansounds come from our set, the whole performance
material of the wiresole
The
ction.
the
of
not see any silent continuation
sound is not silence but
irr of"ttg sound, the result o the cessation of
just nothing.

Silence and SPace

other' appear even more
Things that we see as being dierent rom each,
*1",:".th"y.t
different
sound
all
They
sou"nds'
emit
they
diferent when
lltl
of diferent sounds
thousands
are
*uy.-Th"r"

;6].nlll;ffi,i;'iit;;

, - r rL ^ ^^*^

^. ll

That is at first hearing

qlesp, to each other a.nd-.r.n-9hes-!henn lels'=q!$Lnilsr',tl:,-"^ l"i:t"n^::.:"
of mute things-t:i:":
this happy harmony, tnnffi laguage
and entering into reshapes'
others'
each
recognizing
other,
i"g *itn ach
them all' This was a
to
common
laiions with each other in a composition
For- its silence was
filq
sound
the
over
had
grui uauuntuge the silent film

in the background music' uldlendSeg ?nd

not mute; it was given u
"oi."
on the screen against
men and the obfets surroundng them were shown

ffi

'.]--;; *il*tn'o*d, ffi

'"udn @t

il";ffiffi-Wq.$J
cdmmon to them
was

*iF. *hi'n

all.

119

noise of the alien world reaches us rom bevond its boundaries. A completely soundless space on the contrary n"ffiffiffiffirete,
and
quite real to our perception; we eel it to be weightless and unsubstantial,
or what we merely see is only a vision. We accept seen space as real only
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
a dramaturgical function, as for instance if a noisy company suddenly falls
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
performance. On the stage, the effeif-silence cannot be drawn out or made
to last.

In the ilm. silence can be extremely vivid and varied, for although it has no voice, it
. A silent
glance can speak volumes; its soundlessness makes it more expressive because the facial movements of a silent igure may explain thegggggfor the
silence, make us feel its weight, ih menace, its tension. ln the film, silence
a

of men is more intense when they are silent.

even thines drop their masks and seem to l't
you with wide-open eyes. I a sound film shows us any object sunounded
by the noises of everyday life and then suddenly cuts out all sound and brings
it up to us in isolated close-up, then the physiognomy o that object takes
on a significance and tension that seems to provoke and invite the event
which is to ollow.

Sound-Explaining Pictures

rience.
4--

negative. yt mun has iew

Not only the microdramatics expressed in the microphysiognomy of the ace

can be made intelligible by the sound which causes it. Such a c,lose:_up:Blgg-

thetopoahighmountain-wehearthetappingofawoodcutter'saxear
awag-then
uo*'in the vlley, i{ we can hear the crack of a whip a mile

I'tB,

tti"S

lV on the windowpane fills the

blows'
" "
;;th"s time into fragments with sledsehammer
ffi";;l;;
large
very
a
in
sounds
distant
heaivery
can
"'Jn" ,.Sst_when we
hear right across it and the

space The widest space

i, ou, o*n i we cn

,irl

',':

,ri
,.

j,

r.:,

roundaboul
But the siteni film could reproduce silence only by
touch o
not
does
the
dialogue
o{
cessation
siage
theatricai
means. On the
the
stage is
o
space
the
in gr""t emotional experien-ce o silnce, because
is
essentialy.q*qplqe-exp9qf
silence
expgrience
i" tnar for that, and the
is a rnere
How do we peceive silence? By hearing nothing? That
experience
the
than
positive
more
experences
But i a moming breeze blows
;:;;." Dea people do not know what it is'the
neighboring vilage, if rom
the sound of a cock crowing over to us from

','',li

sound can have the inverse efect. The close-up_of a listener's face can

I" LUl.Ts
cance of some sound*'noise if we had not
.s"i,n d

e;-

seen its effect in the minor o

ace. For instance we hear the
Such a sound
does not acquire a dramatic significance unles w can see
the expression on hqnan faces thgt it is a danger-signal, or a call to revolt.We may
hear the sound ofJ&,hg,illut how deep
sl&g!]lgis will become evident
on,ly trom the expression of sympathy and ndersAnding appearing on some
iil.hUman facer Further, the acoustic character o a sound we understand is
a human

K
120

((

BELA BALAZS

THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND

dierent too. We hear the sound o a siren diferently if we know that it is a

warning o impending deadly peril.
may also show two kinds
of things. The reflected effect of the music may throw light into the human
soul; it may also throw light on the.$Uilillf and suggest by means of the
listener's acial expression some experince touched off by this musical efect. I the director shows us a close-up o the conductor while an invisible
orchestra is playing, not only can the character o the music be made clear
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
'enhance the power of a piece of music in our eyes far rnore than any added
decibels.

synchronous Sound

sounds because thev are

in the general din. possibly they even
!1ow.1ed
have an efect on us but this
effed neverb-.o*", .onr.ious. If a crose-up
picks out such a sound and thereby
,nut nr u, *ure of its effect, then at the
same time its infruence on the action wiil
have been made maniest.
.On the stage such things are impossible. If th";tri;;l;roducer
wanted to direct the attention of th audienc"
" auaiur" sigr,,,
to s.ar."ry
cause that sigh expresses a turning-point
in the action, thn
th";i;; ;tors in the same scene would have to be
very quiet, or else"ilthe actor who

j:i"1'$,,,j,: j:::'ir*
ii.,i:*:i:ffi:*:i#:,fi:::
it shy and retiring and musr remain ,.irJy
audible.
that

is

As in the sirent
ilm so in the sound film, scarcely p"r."pti:;;;mate
things can be conveyed 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
to the source o the sound wiin ne
-icropnon'and with our
ear and hear

it nevertheless.

ln a close-up in which the surroundings are not visible, a sound that seeps
nto the shot sometimes impresses us as mysterious, simply because we cannot se irs, gpurFe. It produces the tension arising from curiosi! and expectaon. Sometimes the audience does not know what the sound is they hear,
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 between the things heard and the things seen in the ilm) can acquire considerable 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
the voice or sound o some chance thing, but appears as a pronouncement
o universal validity. . . . The surest means by which a director can convey
the patho,s- or svmbolical significance of sound or.voice is precisely to use it
.#8-'
asthchronously.

lntimacy of Sound
Acoustic cose-ups make

us

perceve sounds which are included in,the.ac-

customed noise o day-to-day;lie,'but which we never hear as indidr,ral

\27

subtle associations and interrelations of thoughts

and emotions
by means of,very low, soft round
Sr;h
or intellectual linkages can play a ecisive
"ff".r.
";;;;;
dramaiurgical
part. Tht-;;;';
anything{he ticking o a cloci< in.an
too, a slow drip from a srf
pipe, or the moaning of a little child "n'ptv
in its sLepcan be..conveyed

Sound Cannot be Isolated

ln such close-ups of sound. we must be qpreful,
however, to bear in mind
the specific nature of sound which ,o,ror
l^,,-, ,^ L^ :^-r_. , .

--*il

sg':-S:*"lylg:1nl"q'-u
the film r..nn.unnot
: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, although the picture will show only
1:lg5!gp. in sounO things are different.

Ah acousc enronmentr inetab

rcroac; h" .Io."-up shot and what

h"1rl
this case is not a .naffiam of
risht, bur the sounds
1
themselves, which can always. be heard
throughout the*whole
d;;" ;iil;
picture, however small a qrction of
that ,pu. i, included i" th;-;;;p.
S"".at.""""t U"fmt

,':1

r1

$
,$
,'d

.H

,$
H
"1ff
tR

fl

(t

,(
122

THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND

BELA BALAZS

Music played in a restaurant cannot be completely cut out i a

special close-up of-say two people softly talking together in a corner is to be
,'ho*n. The band my not always be seen in the picture, but it will always
be heard. Nor is there any need to silence the music altogether in order that
we may hear the soft whispering o the two guests as i we were sitting in
their immediate vicinity. The close-up will contain the whole acoustic atmosphere of the restaurant space. Thus we will hear not only the people talking, we will also hear in what relation their talking is io the sounds all round
ihem. We will be able to place it in its acoustic enronment'
Such sound-pictures are often used in the film or the purpose
of creating an atmosphere. Just as the ilm can show visual landscapes' so
it can show acoustic landscapes, a tonal milieu.

123

tenor toward the sound and the spectators tense in their seats. The camera,

too, turns toward the sound. And behold the hiss is that of a kettle boiling
on the gas-ring.
Such surprising disappointnents may be tragic too. In such cases
the slow approach and the slow recognition of the sound may cause a ar
more terrif5ring tension than the approach of something seen and therefore
instantly recognized. The roar of an approaching flood or landslide, approaching cries of grie or tenor which we discern and distinguish only gradually, impress us with the inevitabili of an approaching catastrope with
almost inesistible intensity. These great possibilies o dramac effeci are due
to the fact that such a slow and gradual process o recognition can symbolize
the desperate resistance of the consciousness to understanding u t"uty ruhi.h
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
are much mre difficult to recognize. We know ar more visual forms than
sound orms. We are used to inding our way about the world without the
conscious assistance o our hearing. But without sight we are lost. our ear,
however, is.not less sensitive, it is only less educated than our eye. science
tells us in act thal
gve, The number o sounds and noises a human ear can distinguish runs
il-rnuny thousands-ar more than the shades o color and degrees o light
we can distinguish. There is however a considerable difference between perceiving a sound and identifying its source. We may be aware that we are

hearing a dierent sound than before, without knowing to whom or what

the sond betongs. We may have more difficulty in perceiving things sually, but we recognize them more easily once we have perceived them. Erdrnnn'r experiments showed that the ear can distinguish innumerable shades
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
crowd.

There is a very considerable dferencebelween our visual and

acoustic educalion. one of the reasons for this is that we so oten see without 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.
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
hear a hiss in the darkness. A snake? A human face on the screen turns in

Auditive culture can be incresed like any other and the sQun! film is very
suitable to educate our ear. There are however definiteffi
ilities of finding our way about the world purely by sound, without any visual impressions. The reason for this is that sounds throw no shadows-in
other words that so,unds cann_o_! Etqdlgs S3pe9*ln_pgqe. Things which we
see we must see side by side; if we do not, one of them covers up the other
so that it cannot be seen. Visual impressions do not blend with each other.
Sounds are different; if several of them are present at the same time, they
merge into one common composite sound. We can see the dimension o
space and see a direction in it. But we cannot hear either dimension or direction. A quite unusual, rare sensitivi$ of.ear, the so-called absolute-is required to distinguish the several sounds which make up a composite noise.
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.
It is one of the basic form-problems of the radio play that sound
alone cannot represent space and hence cannot alone represent a stage.

Sounds Have No Sides

It is dificult to localize sound and a ilm director must take this fact into account. l three people are talking together in a film and they are placerJ so

:::

'r

ri!

rii!

ril

t,i!

'il*

,,ii4
j.1

:i:

i:l

't

rl:

iil

t24

|:

BELA BALAZS

THEORY OF THE FILM: SOUND

that we cannot see the movements of their mouths and if they do not accompany their words by gestures, it is almost impossible to know which o
them is talking, unless the voices are very diferent. For sounds cannot be
beamed as precisely as light can be directed by a reflector. There are no
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.

I25

fixed, immutable, permanent distance between spectator and actor is elimiot only as spectators,
but as listeners, too, we are transfened from our seats to the space in which
the events depicted on the screen are taking place"

g$pl'Ely

Sound Has a Space Coloring

Every rratural sound reproduced by,art on the,stage or on the platform always 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 necessity have some such space-quality and this is a very important quality indeed 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 theatrical 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

,1

'::

il

,,ii4

.,rl

:;i

:i