How Christopher Nolan Uses the Shepard Tone to Build Up Tension in 'Dunkirk'

One of the ways the Hans Zimmer-produced score of "Dunkirk" maintained the growing tension throughout the movie was by using a sound that gives the impression of a build-up. What makes it strange is that the tension-building nature can keep going forever without ever going out of its original parameters and sounding weird. Tension and release is something needed in a production of a film, whether it's a short film or a full-blown blockbusting, award-winning movie. This video shows how it's done. 

Moving images are rich because it can be edited to only show the important parts. It has sound effects and foley that can be added and accentuated, and music can be added as another level of transcendence into the life of the characters and theme of the movie. A great score is often a score that you don't notice is there, even though it plays a significant role in the sharing of information. With moving images there is a fine balance between the power of both the audio and visual elements.

What music is used, what sound effects are chosen to describe a certain occurrence, and the overall score of a movie in total is very important, and I believe it's one of the least focused upon aspects of great video. This video will hopefully make us all pay more attention to it in our future projects.

[via Vox]

Wouter du Toit's picture

Wouter is a portrait and street photographer based in Paris, France. He's originally from Cape Town, South Africa. He does image retouching for clients in the beauty and fashion industry and enjoys how technology makes new ways of photography possible.

Log in or register to post comments