Introduction
This post investigates the film A Quiet Place [1], which follows the Abbott family; husband Lee, wife Evelyn, daughter Regan, sons Marcus and Beau through a post-apocalyptic America. The world created is extremely quiet due to the invasion of a blind armoured creature, that hunts by sound using hypersonic hearing. The Abbott family, have a distinct advantage, with their eldest child Evelyn suffering from a hearing impairment, meant the family know how to communicate through sign language. An advantage indeed when the hunters in this tale hunt by sound. The quiet nature of this world and lack of dialogue emphasises the sound design to push the narrative. Sound editors Ethan Van der Ry, Erik Aadahl and Brandon Jones, have created three forms of silence, each with a unique tension, one of which is being an active participant watching the film, this paper will investigate the three forms of silence and how it impacts both on-screen characters and the audience alike.
Cinematic Silence
In film, silence can be a poignant tool, and when an audio editor employs silence, it need not mean there is silence. In A Quiet Place, cinematic silence is used to drive the narrative. The world that exists around the Abbott family is a reticent one, forced to be silent due to the fatal consequence of making a sound. Chion [9] details how every place has a unique silence, and how this silence can create continuity. For example; when adding dialogue in post-production, without a unique silence for the location, the audio can sound disjointed, with a layer of silence in place, the dialogue has a bed to rest upon, allowing it to flow and connect seamlessly. This isn’t actual silence of course, this is room tone, the acoustic ambience created by a space. Professor of Cinema and Comparative Literature Rick Altman applies the term Spatial Signature to refer to this phenomenon (unique silence).
Various forms of cinematic silence can be heard throughout the film No Country For Old Men [10], which has no prominent score or soundtrack, ever more drawing the attention to the sound of silence. In Blade Runner 2049 [2] Audio mixer Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett [11], describing the usage of silence to present the size and space that exists around the character. This technique is prominent during the orange city scene as officer K (Ryan Gosling) approaches and enters the building searching for Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford). Timecode: 01:41:00-01:48:00
Let’s examine some forms of silence while taking into account the probable spatial signature, also known as keynote sounds as they form the background in which other sounds are perceived:
A beach; the silence here will be moderately quiet and relaxing, containing the sound of ocean waves, wind and possibly birds.
Home kitchen; the silence can vary, more often quiet than loud, contain the sounds of kitchen appliances, e.g. fridge, oven and kettle.
A park; moderately quiet depending on the time of day; more than likely contains bird songs, insects, wind, and a water stream.
This acknowledgement of silence, raises the question of what it would it take to hear no sound if silence is always present? Ted Thornhill [17] writes for the daily mail and recounts how the human ears adjust in an anechoic chamber (99.9% soundproof room), eventually one would be able to hear their heartbeat, along with the other sounds humans make, e.g. breathing, swallowing and general movements. It seems impossible for a human to hear no sound, except for being deaf, relevant here, as the character Regan in A Quiet Place is congenitally deaf, which could raise some issues when playing the characters point of audition (POA - sound from a character perspective). As previously mentioned, Chion [9] discussed silence for continuity, as to have no sound coming through the cinema speakers, is likely going to cause a disjoint between the film and audience.
Rick Altman [12] weighs in on what's being specified in this post as cinematic silence, stating it is referring to point of audition, used when visuals alone cannot convey the space. Altman explains that point of audition can be identified through the use of reverb level, volume and other characteristics as to how a sound is perceived and represented within the diegesis world (inside the films narrative/world), e.g. blade runner example above. Altman also indicates how the technique creates its own form of fictional audition, which can draw the attention of the listener, closing the gap between reality and diegesis. This creates a distinct difference between cinematic silence (POA) and spatial signature.
During the opening credits before any film visuals, the audience is greeted with the creatures' music motif, a low pitched crescendo to decrescendo, backed with a metallic texture and filtering pulse, of course, there is no correlation/association at this point. As the screen cuts to the opening scene, the music abruptly cuts during a crescendo, and the audience receiving their first taste of cinematic silence within A Quiet Place. The sounds are aurally small, with a distant metallic acousmatic sound (unable to see the sound source) [9], familiar to a swing or floating sign that's being subtly touched by the wind. As the screen cuts again, the audience is greeted with the Abbott family, as they quietly scavenge a shop for supplies. The shop is quiet, its silence a low airy ambience.
As the audience continues to observe the Abbott family, they will notice that no one is wearing shoes, they will recognise the family are communicating through sign language rather than speech, it becomes apparent that the Abbott’s are anxious, afraid to make a sound. As the Abbotts' search the store, there's a noticeable difference in use of foley when compared to other films, the hyper-reality sounds that are accustomed to film, are significantly reduced and sometimes removed from A Quiet Place [16], this is especially true during moments of cinematic silence, heightening the audience awareness to its presence. It is cognisant as the family journey back home from looting the store; they walk on the trail of sand placed to reduce the sound of footsteps. When the camera is close to the Abbotts, soft steps are heard, during wider shots, the sound is minimal or not existent. In an interview with the film's audio editors [6], they justify the need for quiet or no foley sounds, as they explain it would be counter-intuitive and against the narrative to hear the characters from wide camera angles. As the creatures in this story react and attack by sound, therefore if the audience can hear the characters from the camera perspective, then couldn't the creatures also? This statement reiterates the work of Altman[13], in that the camera is portraying the point of audition.
The choice for cinematic silence in A Quiet Place makes sense as it parallels in with the narrative. As the camera follows the Abbott family, there are many occasions throughout the film that are like the scene analysed above, in which the camera portrays point of audition, creating a gateway for the audience to eavesdrop into the diegesis. In A Quiet Place, due to the narrative, the cinematic silence inherently brings tension, as the audience is left waiting in a state of anticipation, for a member of the family to slip up and a make a sound.
A Silent Point Of Audition
This subject was previously touched upon, and will now be further explored. Regan Abbott is congenitally deaf, something the audio editors used to create a silenced point of audition. Remember the opening sequence discussed earlier; during the scavenging of the shop, the family were looking for medical supplies for Marcus who is visibly ill. As there searching the store, the youngest Beau finds a toy rocket ship. The family is distraught encase the toy generates a sound, the father Lee, carefully takes the toy from Beau and removes the batteries, signing it is too loud. As the family left, Regan returns the toy to Beau without the batteries, as Reagen leaves, Beau unwisely lifts the batteries too. As the family walk the sand trail back home, Lee is carrying the unwell Marcus in his arms, followed by wife Evelyn, the eldest Regan, and then Beau dawdling at the back. This scene is of particular interest, as Beau who is at the back of the line, sets off the toy rocket, which bestows an alarm spacecraft sound. The family are in despair, all except Regan and Beau, this is what the audience have been waiting for, a break in the silence. Lee places Marcus down, and charges back to save Beau, the toy rocket is the loudest noise the audience has heard in the diegetic world, Regan who is closest to Beau and has the best chance of saving his life. The camera focuses on Regan's face, the climatic sound cuts, and the audience is left with a barely audible low-frequency rumble, a new and different form of silence. The silence draws the listeners into Regan's point of audition, she is entirely oblivious to the situation, and the audience can immediately empathise, as by the the time it takes for Regan to understand there is something wrong, her father has already sprinted past. Sadly this does not end well for Beau, and Regan blames herself for the incident.
Here the audio editors have chosen a low audible frequency rumble to represent Regan's hearing impairment, this choice of sound, and timing of the sound;
Tells the narrative through point of audition (Regans Perspective).
Low rumble makes the audience feel uneasy, stressed or causes annoyance [8], [14].
The audio editors have chosen the low-frequency rumble to represent Regan's hearing impairment, which suits the film. Not only does this connect the audience to the character, but the low-frequency rumble also generates arousal from the audience [8], [14], a state of alarm, as the body can detect low frequencies sound more than it can hear it, this unconsciously affects one psychologically. Other film's include Wonderstruck [18], the same actress Millicent Simmonds (Regan). The film ingests a different take on the point of audition, in which there is no sound. Instead, there is music playing the emotions of the character, and at times it is heavily Mickey Mousing (music mimicking the characters actions). Wonderstruck, however, is the opposite of a horror film, and to apply a similar technique would more than likely spoil the narrative to A Quiet Place.
More in aligning with the horror genre is the film Hush [7], in which a deaf female writer named Maddie retreats to the woods for a solitary life, and ends up having to defend herself against a masked killer. Both A Quiet Place and Hush use a similar technique for point of audition from a deaf person. In the case of Hush, at time-code 00:12:00, Maddie's friend is killed in plain sight, but Maddie is relaxed washing some dishes. Then the scene switches from Maddie’s perspective to her friend, Maddie being a low rumble, her friend screaming and banging on the glass door causing a juxtaposition. Like the scene analysed in A Quiet Place, as Regan is content walking the trail, unknown to the terror happening behind her.
Confused Point of Audition
As the story progresses, the audio directors start to blur the line of point of audition from Regan's perspective and the creatures, this happens just before the hour mark, at around time-code 00:56:44. The audience is hearing sound from the creature's perspective, an intense, amplified version of cinematic silence. The perspective shifts to Regan, who is getting high pitched feedback in her hearing aid (can't hear, doesn’t function properly), she then starts to react painfully to the feedback sound, as does the creature, this causes the confused POA. Post analysis of the scene shows there is a feedback loop between Regan's hearing aid and the creatures hearing ability, this feedback loop affects the creature more than Regan, due to its sensitive hearing [5].
Silence In Cinema
The third silence of A Quiet Place is being a participant of the audience, the film is so silent at parts, that it becomes uncomfortable to eat snacks or fidget, for some it is literally an awkward silence. A post on media site Mashable addresses the topic, sharing posts from those that have seen the film in the theatre, with the grand consensus seeming to cause the audience some form of anxiety or stress. No one wanted to eat for fear of disrupting the experience of someone else, and others who did know what to expect didn't want anyone near them eating to cause a distraction, with tension already anticipated before entering the cinema. This level of theatre silence did not even exist through the silent film era (films without synchronised sound) [12], theatres had musicians, performers, automated pianos and speech artists to fill the silence.
What constitutes as an awkward silence also differs culturally [3], with a distinct difference between Japanese and Western culture, Japanese are happy to be silent in company, whereas Western culture, being silent in others company could make that person anxious or stressed. It is not known at the time of this paper the feedback from Japan on A Quiet Place; it is possible that the awkward silences westerners feel during long pauses of silence, may go unnoticed in certain Cultures, which could affect how the film is perceived, as it relies heavily on the awkwardness of silence.
Confused Point of Audition
As the story progresses, the audio directors start to blur the line of point of audition from Regan's perspective and the creatures, this happens just before the hour mark, at around time-code 00:56:44. The audience is hearing sound from the creature's perspective, an intense, amplified version of cinematic silence. The perspective shifts to Regan, who is getting high pitched feedback in her hearing aid (can't hear, doesn’t function properly), she then starts to react painfully to the feedback sound, as does the creature, this causes the confused POA. Post analysis of the scene shows there is a feedback loop between Regan's hearing aid and the creatures hearing ability, this feedback loop affects the creature more than Regan, due to its sensitive hearing [5].
Silence In Cinema
The third silence of A Quiet Place is being a participant of the audience, the film is so silent at parts, that it becomes uncomfortable to eat snacks or fidget, for some it is literally an awkward silence. A post on media site Mashable addresses the topic, sharing posts from those that have seen the film in the theatre, with the grand consensus seeming to cause the audience some form of anxiety or stress. No one wanted to eat for fear of disrupting the experience of someone else, and others who did know what to expect didn't want anyone near them eating to cause a distraction, with tension already anticipated before entering the cinema. This level of theatre silence did not even exist through the silent film era (films without synchronised sound) [12], theatres had musicians, performers, automated pianos and speech artists to fill the silence.
What constitutes as an awkward silence also differs culturally [3], with a distinct difference between Japanese and Western culture, Japanese are happy to be silent in company, whereas Western culture, being silent in others company could make that person anxious or stressed. It is not known at the time of this paper the feedback from Japan on A Quiet Place; it is possible that the awkward silences westerners feel during long pauses of silence, may go unnoticed in certain Cultures, which could affect how the film is perceived, as it relies heavily on the awkwardness of silence.
Conclusion
Experiencing no sound in cinema is not probable as there will always be silence specific to its spatial signature, nor is this desirable due to the level of stress and anxiety it can cause. As a film is playing in the theatre, silence is required for a sense of continuity, allowing dialogue, and other sounds to flow. Without this silence, the film will also suffer from previously discussed stress and anxiety. The three forms of silence in a quiet place link together to create a constant tension which rarely lets up. The cinematic silence is complete with low volume aural sounds, and designed spatial signatures, this draws the listeners in, generating tension as the audience anticipates a break in the silence. The POA from Regan pulls the listeners into a more profound sense of tension through a psychologically induced low frequency, the cinematic silence the audience was experiencing, gets even quieter from this perspective. The film is about silence, and in a way, the audience also becomes part of the diegesis, in that they too are afraid to make a sound, which in the end, aligns to the narrative of A Quiet Place.
The technique of using silence is common in film, primarily as a point of audition, connecting the audience to the character when the visuals are not enough to convey the message. However, in general, these scenes tend to be reserved, or few and far between, making these moments memorable. Films like A Quiet Place, No Country For Old Men and Blade Runner 2049, tend to use silence for extended periods of times, exploiting it to cause a high level of anxiety and tension. This psychological effect is especially real when watching this style of film in a theatre, with one's self-awareness, and the surrounding group of people.
The film also raises an interesting cultural question, if A Quiet Place is to play in a theatre with a high cultural tolerance to silence like Japan, is the audience affected by the silence in the same way as a Western one?
REFERENCES
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