RESEARCH - Why is sound so important in a film?

Why is sound so important in a film?

Sound is something you hear, it is a noise. Sound is arguably just as important as the image in a film. George Lucas (director of the Star Wars franchise) argues that 'sound is 50%' of a movie. This is true as I watched the title sequence for 'The Taking of Pelham 123' with and without sound. I noticed a variety of differences. Without sound, the clip was plain and quite boring. It had no thrill factor to it and of course dialogue was not understandable. With sound, I was a lot more interested and engaged as there was soundscape of trains, cars etc. and music to create an atmosphere set the scene of the location - New York.  

Sound is also important because we can interpret a genre from particular music, soundscape etc. A good example is the soundtrack from 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'. From this you can instantly tell it is a western film from it's conventional style of music - and due to it's popularity.