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Ambient Noise ONLY - Music when Essential to Plot

mckinise

mckinise

I have been toying around with the idea of doing a movie with no background music, unless it is essential to the story.

Essential: Clara turns on a radio or the characters walk into a noisy club.

We are so used to being drowned in music that I am not sure how I could pull it off using just ambient noise and sound effects. Now, that being said, there would be some unnatural and exaggerated sound elements, but for the most part I would like to create a very different experience.

My main fear is an inability to set the mood or build tension without the artificial aids we have become accustomed to hearing.

Is this even possible for a feature length?
 
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there was a good use of sound etc in a recent episode of The Walking Dead. No music at all for a very extended scene. I think it's more than possible.

From this composers point of view, I think a lot of stuff is over-saturated.
 
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It worked for Cast Away (Until he leaves the island, there's no music)

That was a highly sound-driven movie though, hell, just listen to the commentary on it
 
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I noticed a couple scenes on the Walking dead and the Walking Dead video game. I will have to watch Castaway.

I think the most important thing for me will be mapping out a sound plan for each scene, so I know exactly what I am trying to accomplish.
 
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It's definitely doable. I think it was Bullitt that had no music over the car chase, which is also recognized as one of the "top ten car chases" on a lot of internet lists.

As for a club though... I might be thinking of the wrong type of club, but isn't there going to be people dancing there? Or like a band playing? It might be kind of weird in that situation, but many other situations in film definitely do not need the music.
 
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CatAndTie said:
It's definitely doable. I think it was Bullitt that had no music over the car chase, which is also recognized as one of the "top ten car chases" on a lot of internet lists.

As for a club though... I might be thinking of the wrong type of club, but isn't there going to be people dancing there? Or like a band playing? It might be kind of weird in that situation, but many other situations in film definitely do not need the music.
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Dance club or Band would have music playing. If we walked into a bar with music blaring it would be quiet outside with faintly heard noise from inside. When the door opened you would hear it at a lower mid level. In the middle of the club it would be loud.
 
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Ambient Noise ONLY - Music when Essential to Plot
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It calls for some good sonic planning (not to mention good acting, but that's not my job!).

Lots of sounds can be used to heighten tension, etc. You need B-roll, establishing shots, cut-aways and the like to establish the sounds. And it's not just ambient sounds; it's sound effects and Foley as well.

For instance, if you have two protagonists stalking each other in a factory you need to establish the sounds of the machines to heighten the danger, otherwise the audience just (subliminally) reacts with a confused "what was that?" A perfect example is the final confrontation between Reese and Sarah with the Terminator in "Terminator." You see a number of machines start up and begin cutting, welding and crushing. Now the audience visually and sonically knows how dangerous the location is. The sound track also needs to be very detailed so you have a large selection of sounds on which to "focus" at specific times during the mix. If you just put everything in there at the same time you get a sonic wash that becomes meaningless. APE put up a nice post that discusses a hospital scene with that in mind.

You can't just pick "cool" sounds either; they must be chosen/created with their emotional content in mind as well.
 
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I agree, it's difficult but it can be done. The question is, is your goal to do it for the sake of doing it, or to add to the impact of something you've already got planned?
Music is there as a subconscious nudge (or smack to the face in the case of today's typical soundtracks... grrr) in the emotional direction the director wants the audience to take. If you don't have music you need to fill up that gap with everything else, be careful you don't forget that. You'll end up with a one-dimensional film if you do.
 
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one of the best examples imho,
of a movie working perfectly without a music score
has to be No Country for Old Men

watch it if u haven't, watch it again if you have,
and really focus on the lack of music as a way to build tension using 'negative acoustic space' as it were
 
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Alcove Audio said:
It calls for some good sonic planning (not to mention good acting, but that's not my job!).

Lots of sounds can be used to heighten tension, etc. You need B-roll, establishing shots, cut-aways and the like to establish the sounds. And it's not just ambient sounds; it's sound effects and Foley as well.

For instance, if you have two protagonists stalking each other in a factory you need to establish the sounds of the machines to heighten the danger, otherwise the audience just (subliminally) reacts with a confused "what was that?" A perfect example is the final confrontation between Reese and Sarah with the Terminator in "Terminator." You see a number of machines start up and begin cutting, welding and crushing. Now the audience visually and sonically knows how dangerous the location is. The sound track also needs to be very detailed so you have a large selection of sounds on which to "focus" at specific times during the mix. If you just put everything in there at the same time you get a sonic wash that becomes meaningless. APE put up a nice post that discusses a hospital scene with that in mind.

You can't just pick "cool" sounds either; they must be chosen/created with their emotional content in mind as well.
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That is exactly what I would like to do. I am going to be writing a sound script to go along with my shooting script. We have a guy in mind to do it, if we can afford him. As a back up we have a house party DJ with some production experience. It mainly will come down to the kickstarter I am about to launch. Either way, I am going to have a ton of notes trying to get what we need.
 
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MetalRenard said:
I agree, it's difficult but it can be done. The question is, is your goal to do it for the sake of doing it, or to add to the impact of something you've already got planned?
Music is there as a subconscious nudge (or smack to the face in the case of today's typical soundtracks... grrr) in the emotional direction the director wants the audience to take. If you don't have music you need to fill up that gap with everything else, be careful you don't forget that. You'll end up with a one-dimensional film if you do.
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I am doing it because my vision has always been to create something powerful enough to elicit emotion without being sonically overpowering. That said, I am still going to be prepping a back up, just in case it doesn't work out the way I plan.

Currently I have a blues musician and ab R&B singer providing tracks for the movie. Now, they may be providing opening an closing tracks or more. And I know you and I have talked a couple times about scoring, etc.

It will all come down to cash raised and need.
 
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Humphrey C.E said:
one of the best examples imho,
of a movie working perfectly without a music score
has to be No Country for Old Men

watch it if u haven't, watch it again if you have,
and really focus on the lack of music as a way to build tension using 'negative acoustic space' as it were
Click to expand...

Never seen it. Will check it out. Wow, I will be watching a lot of movies. Terminator, Castaway, No country for old men, and revisiting the Walking dead.
 
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Don't be so determined to go completely without score. But the more you plan - and the more you invest into the sound of your film during the entire process (script, prepro, production and post) - the less score you will need.


A film that is often overlooked when it comes to score, source music and sound design is "Forrest Gump." Actually, the team of Zemeckis, Silvestri and Thom has produced some amazing sonic collaborations - "Contact," "Flight," and "Castaway" to name a few. Zemeckis is a director who truly understands the impact sound has upon a film and the film audience. A study of the films that these three collaborated upon is a great study for those who love film sound.


Back to "Forrest Gump;" the score highlights emotions, source music propels action or provides transitions. The source music is extremely time specific in the film, since the movie traverses about three decades (the song would have been widely played at the exact time period represented in the film to the point that the release dates of the songs were carefully researched). Yet almost all of the major action sequences - the Viet Nam battle and the hurricane, for example - do not have any score. What also happens is the emotional scene takes place, and the score only kicks in 70% of the way into the scene. So, again, music highlights emotions but sound propels the action.

Another film that as very minimal score is "Saving Private Ryan." No surprise there. Let's see, what else has minimal or no score....

The Birds
Slacker
My Dinner with Andre
Network
Dog Day Afternoon
Marooned
Fail-Safe
12 Angry Men
All The President's Men
The China Syndrome
 
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There was a good fight scene in one of the Bourne films which didnt have any music throughout and it lasted a good 3/4 minutes (a long time for an on screen punch up)

Zodiac is also a good example of a film which seemingly has very little music throughout. One quite fun way to introduce music into a scene is as diegetic sound and have it as part of the on screen world rather than an off screen enhancement.

One thing I would say is that (for me) having no music throughout a scene makes me feel quite tense. Possibly because it seems almost unnatural to have extended scenes with no music. this could be used to your advantage though?
 
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mckinise said:
I have been toying around with the idea of doing a movie with no background music, unless it is essential to the story.

Essential: Clara turns on a radio or the characters walk into a noisy club.

We are so used to being drowned in music that I am not sure how I could pull it off using just ambient noise and sound effects. Now, that being said, there would be some unnatural and exaggerated sound elements, but for the most part I would like to create a very different experience.

My main fear is an inability to set the mood or build tension without the artificial aids we have become accustomed to hearing.

Is this even possible for a feature length?
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Absolutely. It's an art doing what is fitting though. Duel, Stephen Spielberg's 1st movie comes to mind. I really like a movie that "works" with no music. Sometimes Spielberg would use an AM radio to fill up the silence. There's so many great virtual synths out there that produce strange noises. Sometimes a single synth patch sound is all you need to convey a feeling.

Did the Shinning have much music? That might have been one of those that had single noise patches from a synth.
 
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