Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019) | Film Review

Every film has its most redeeming qualities and every critic has a particular focus of key elements, often both of which include sound. But how often does the sound, whether it be dialogue, score or effects, headline as the significant piece in the film puzzle? Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound is a documentary focused on exposing the critical necessity of sound in film, and highlighting examples of its effectiveness, keying in on those primary three components of sound design: voice, sound effects, and music.

For decades since the film and audio synchronization was created, sound has been utilized in film, but it wasn’t always used. The earliest of films were silent – a practice that is no longer – simply because there wasn’t a way to align and include sound. Then there were live performances with a film’s screening, eventually the inclusion of music, and then of course dialogue and effects.

The Emotional Impact of Sound

“I just appreciated how Gary was making sure that the sounds he used supported the emotional intention of the narrative” – Andrew Stanton on Gary Rydstrom’s sound design work for Toy Story

Stanton’s comments on the emotional resonance of cinematic sounds is one that should not go unnoticed, for this is the intention of effects, music, and even dialogue in a film. Much like sights and scents, sounds can elicit an emotional response to a particular noise or effect. Emotions attached to memories can be recalled by the simple act of auditory recall. An example used in Making Waves when sound designer Christopher Boyes (Titanic) refers to the sound of a river, “I could feel the moisture of the stream, I could hear the presence of this volume of air… That hit me so heavily. I thought to myself, this is me with my father, fishing as an eight year old boy”. This is the effect movies have on their audience, but that effect is often caused by a sensory recall, like sound.

Historical Impact of Waves

As the documentary film progresses, we’re taken through the course of sound history, identifying specific points in our history’s timeline that were critical to the success of sound in film. For those who are unfamiliar, Making Waves will prove to be an exciting and yet educational display. The inviting nature of the narrative provides for an easy to digest experience while also providing insight to films that the average day-to-day viewer might not know of (you’d be surprised how many have never heard of The Jazz Singer). With a splash of date stamps before the material presents itself, we’re given a flowing timeline of events that indicate just how we got from silent films to bombastic superhero flicks in Dolby IMAX.

The impact from the evolution in sound history is easily identifiable and has made a larger shift for the course of movies as we know it than most realize. This is displayed when an inserted example clip with sound initially is then muted. You can still visualize the clip to know what you’re watching, you can recall the way it made you feel with sound, but you can instantly feel the shift when sound is removed.

“What you all do make massive contributions to the telling of the story” – Steven Spielberg

This is a method that sound editor Michael Kahn used in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan after a bomb goes off near Captain Miller (Tom Hanks). The actual ramifications, per a war veteran, is that ringing sound in your ears and the muted sound of just about anything else. This lack of sound in such an explosive scene is just as critical as eerie sounds are in a horror film, both of which speak to the absolute necessity of a sound editor on a film production team.

One of the most fascinating components of the documentary is the consistent examples of just how meticulous sound editors are in creating the effects and sounds we hear, and just giving visual to that experience. It truly transforms the way cinema is viewed when you’re able to be part of that experience – even if only virtually. This process is one that is required in this day and age of technology, but also speaks to the affect of sound.

SFX, Ambiance, and Foley – Oh My!

Not only do we get to learn how sound is made in a studio or what foley is, but we get to hear the perspectives of many renowned filmmakers and sound designers. There is a particular focus and attention taken to editors Michael Kahn (Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan) and Ben Burtt (E.T., Indiana Jones, Star Wars), a worthwhile endeavor. The sound in the films Kahn and Burtt have worked on are a significant piece of our cinematic history and changed the course of film sound in so many ways, which are explored throughout Making Waves.

There’s something particularly special about the way the information is exposed throughout this experience. The variety of methods, the overlay of the behind-the-scenes making with the actual end scene result, or just watching the sounds mixed as the massive film screen showcases the scene in front of the mixer’s eyes. The sleekness in the display, the small but noticeable visual effects, the iconography of the various elements in sound, and mostly just how simply it’s all broken down.

You could show this to your 9 year old and they would be able to understand how sounds are made for movies and how to identify the various noises and effects in a single scene. Making Waves is an absolutely enjoyable documentary, that doesn’t feel like a lecture, but would be perfect for anyone studying film or wanting to learn more about the creation.

There are so many reasons you will enjoy Making Waves, either from your inner historian, your desire for knowledge, your personal pursuit into the film industry, or maybe you just really like those iconic films and want a little bit of insight as to how they came to be. Regardless of your reasoning, while documentaries may not be for everyone, Making Waves is a documentary made for every film fanatic like you and me.