Sound in Cinema Analysis - Dunkirk
The film Dunkirk, directed by Christopher Nolan employs an ingenious method of using acousmatic sound to convey a sense of constant and sudden imminent danger. Acousmatic sound in film encompasses sound that is heard by the audience without seeing the physical representation of the source of the sound. This concept includes any instances of sounds originating off the physical screen that is seen by the audience.
The film utilizes this phenomenon of acousmatic sound during its opening scene when the audience sees six soldiers wandering the streets of the town of Dunkirk. The film depicts the soldiers in complete isolation in the street with propaganda papers marking the vulnerability of the Allied soldiers floating in the air. The majority of the sounds during the start of the scene comprise of onscreen sounds that are a result of actions that are visible to the viewer such as footsteps, crinkling papers, opening windows, and a soldier placing his helmet on the ground. These sounds, while seemingly natural, are emphasized to the point of slight exaggeration to emphasize the tranquility of the scene. The starting of the scene does not use any background score or any other sounds except ones that originate onscreen. This creative decision is primarily to create a kind of atmosphere of the eerie quiet in war. The first instance of acousmatic sound that can be heard in the sequence is the sound of gunshots ringing out in the street from an unseen source. This sudden and startling sound sends the soldiers into a complete frenzy prompting them to run to cover. During this moment of instant panic the camera immediately follows the soldiers as they try to reach safety giving the viewer the sense that they are involved in the action and are running with the soldiers. As more shots ring out from outside the frame of view, the soldiers start getting hit and perish in their attempt to escape. Only one of the soldiers survives the attack and frantically hides behind a wall while bullets continue to fire from offscreen. He then attempts to fire back at his enemy by hastily loading his jammed rifle but eventually realizes that his weapon is no match for the firepower in his enemy’s possession. This is another area in which the use of acousmatic sound plays a key role in what the film is trying to convey. The fact that the audience inherently knows that the enemy’s weapons are much more advanced than the gun that the soldier has without even seeing their weapons, shows that the use of acousmatic sound is meant to invoke a sense of helplessness for the lone soldier. The scene continues to follow the soldier’s escape from the unseen enemy soldiers until he finds himself accidentally shot at by visible Allied soldiers. I think that the fact that the French Allied soldiers are shown on screen and the audience can identify the source of their bullets, greatly differentiates this scene of shooting from the first instance of gunfire. It allows the viewer to identify the soldiers who are firing their guns as opposed to just hearing the sound of bullets when the enemy soldiers are shooting. This ability to see the soldiers After the soldier identifies himself as an ally, the French soldiers immediately signal for him to come to safety. As the protagonist runs towards the French, the only sound that can be heard is the steady rhythm of his footsteps and the slight sounds of the background score comprising of a fast ticking sound. After the English soldier gets to safety, there is another moment of relative calm amidst the battlefield. As the soldier is slowly walking through the small fort-like structure, the ticking sound continues in the background. There is, however, yet another instance of the acousmatic sound of gunfire coming from offscreen. The audience is immediately able to tell that the gunshots come from enemy soldiers since, once again, the source of the shots is not discernable. This sudden change in sound compels a similar change in the pace of camera movements and the overall pace of the story acting as a beat signaling the audience that another segment of the scene is commencing. The soldier then continues to run as far away from the gunfire as he can. As he gets farther away from the violence behind him, the sound of gunfire is drowned out by elements in the background score another instance of acousmatic sound. A steady heartbeat-like sound can be heard during this sequence which occurs in conjunction with the soldier’s footsteps. This is evident due to the fact that the speed of the sound synchronizes with the pace at which the soldier is running at. The origin of the heartbeat-like sound is not visible to the audience making this another instance of acousmatic sound. One of the possible reasons behind this choice is to isolate the character from his surroundings and show him as vulnerable in the dangers of war. The scene ends with the soldier finding countless other British soldiers on the beach waiting for some form of rescue from their inevitable defeat. At this point, all instances of acousmatic sounds in the scene are gone and the soldier is seen looking at the beach in silence. I found this moment to be extremely influential to the use of sound design up till this point. The soldier is shown to have survived his encounter with the enemy soldiers only to find himself in a situation of little to no hope as the Allied soldiers are trapped on the beach.
All of the beats that are emphasized by the presence of acousmatic sound before the beach scene are undermined by the stark silence that the soldier faces at the end of the clip. The initial offscreen sounds of gunshots convey a great sense of danger in the perspective of the original six soldiers. The eerie sound of silence that is present in the last scene in the clip, however, has an even greater effect in conveying impending doom because of the sense of hopelessness that is accentuated by the grand visuals of countless helpless soldiers. The primary function of the acousmatic sound that is used in this clip is to convey a sense of continuous danger that can strike at any moment. This effect is achieved through brief moments of perceived calm in the middle of the chaos of war. The interesting aspect of the usage of acousmatic sound in this scene is that it does not exactly conform to the situations mentioned by Michel Chion in his chapter “The Audiovisual Scene”. The scenarios provided consist of being “visualized first, and subsequently acousmatized, or it is acousmatic to start with, and is visualized only afterward.” (Chion 72). In the case of the enemy gunfire, the sound is acousmatic to begin with but the source of the sounds is never shown to the audience. I think that the purpose behind this technique is to add another sense of panic for the viewer to experience due to their lack of detailed knowledge of the character’s surroundings. In addition to this, the choice to never explicitly show the enemy soldiers implies that they have the ability to track down the lone soldier regardless of how hard he tries to reach safety. It adds a kind of demonic characterization of the enemy making them even more threatening than they are in reality. This is emphasized throughout the scene since the soldier has numerous encounters with the unseen enemy soldiers. The acousmatic sounds involved in this scene are the most significant audible components that convey the emotions that the filmmakers want to relate to the audience.