Director: Midge Costin
Writer: Bobette Buster

Sound is clearly an important facet of filmmaking. Think about how different the shower scene in Psycho would be without the sound effect of stabbing a casaba, or without Bernard Hermann’s shrieking score. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have been as successful without Indy’s rousing theme march? How drab would the world of Star Wars be without the hum of lightsabers? The beeps and whistles of droids? The zip of a blaster gun? Without John Williams? And yet, most of us never give sound a second thought. In fact, one might argue that if the sound artists are doing their jobs correctly, we shouldn’t notice it. We want all of the various sounds to blend in, to disappear in the whole of the film. But what might seem, on the surface, to be simple and unobtrusive is actually quite complex and integral to the storytelling process. Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound gives its viewers a crash course on all things related to cinematic sound, and entertains while it does it.

This ambitious documentary presents first a history of sound in the cinema and then focuses in on the various aspects of sound (SFX, score, Foley, etc.) and how they’re integrated into film. They also take a quick look at some of the amazing men and women who broke new ground in the industry. It covers a lot of ground, although sometimes that’s at the expense of thoroughness. I thought I knew a lot about cinematic sound, but still found quite a few things that were new to me, such as the role of Apocalypse Now in developing what we know as “surround sound.”

IMDb gives this a 7.6, and I think I would probably give it a 7, but it’s a hard film to score. If you are a film nerd, like I, and you want to pull the curtain back and take a peek at how the process is done, you’ll really enjoy this. (Not to mention all the clips from great films throughout history!) If, however, you don’t want to know how the sausage is made; you really just want to eat it? This will probably be a little too much like a film class for you. (The title even sounds like a textbook.) Just move along. (running time 1:34)