Projections of Sound on Image

Sound is a very underrated element of film form to the masses.  Film enthusiasts, scholars, etc. truly appreciate sound's value on a film.  It is one of those elements of a film where if it is done well, nobody says anything about it, but when it is done poorly, everyone complains.  I remember when our class with Dave Monahan was watching a scene from Hitchcock's Psycho and we compared the scene in two viewings, one with sound and one without sound.  This was quite interesting and a very good example of the importance of sound design, because without the sound, the scene appeared silly and did not achieve its goal to instill a sense of fear and tension in the audience. But, when sound was played with the scene, this goal was achieved quite well.  Sound can be used in so many ways too which is why I find sound design to be a very magical element of film making.  One value of sound that I truly appreciate is its ability to be empathetic to a scene, and even anempathetic as discussed in the reading. This variable use of sound can be quite useful to further convey an emotion from a scene, and even contradict the emotion that would be associated, making the scene even more emotional at times.  I think the reading really hit the nail on the head when the Psycho shower scene was used as an example because the sound of the water running continued after the girl was killed to make the scene even more disturbing in my opinion.  It was an unsettling feeling making it feel more real, as if we were truly in that room, and in reality that water would continue to run unless we pass her dead body to turn it off ourselves.  Because in those intense moments we often want to quiet any noises when we are on edge, but the film's sound design would not let us, thus intensifying this unnerving feeling.  Sound design is such a critical element in film and should never be taken for granted.