Dunkirk sound analysis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RzFqoLbnh4

At the beginning of Dunkirk (2017, directed by Christopher Nolan ) , there is  complete silence until the guns are fired there is the sound of a ticking clock and this heightens the tension and it indicates to the audience that the army only has a finite amount of time to get the troops off of the beach and it grates on the audience and makes them feel nervous and tense. Furthermore, the film utilizes a lot of diegetic sounds like plane engines and gunfire – when these sound effects are used in conjunction with the soundtrack, it creates a layered effect that immerses the audience in the world of the film and the sounds of the planes and the guns must match closely to the sounds that planes and guns made in the 1940’s in order to create a sense of  historical verisimilitude and  to ensure that the film was as accurate as possible because if the planes and the guns didn’t sound realistic, it would be difficult to take the film seriously  and it is important for Nolan to get the sound of the film right because Dunkirk portrays a pivotal moment in history  and it was important for Nolan to honor that history by making sure that all of the sounds that he used in the film were historically accurate. 

The underscore in the opening scene of this film uses the Shepard tone which is layering three pitches of sound on top of each other – when they are played together at bass pitch, the highest pitched sound seems to get quieter, the alto tone seems to stay at the same sound level and the lowest pitched note seems to get louder. In Dunkirk, the orchestra always seems to be building towards a crescendo, but they never reach that point and this may make the audience feel uncomfortable because they will automatically expect the orchestra to build up to a dramatic climax but when they don’t it will jolt them out of their preconceived expectations about how films should sound and it helps to build up a feeling of dread within the audience because they will be unsure about who will survive and who will die – this is an example of atmospheric music that creates a particular mood within the audience , in this case , the mood that the music is trying to create is tension and fear. In addition, the underscore helps to make the audience feel what the characters are feeling, and it immediately immerses us in the inner worlds of the characters and it helps us to feel what they are feeling without having to use a lot of dialogue and this helps to drive the narrative because the music is a substitute for exposition and this means audience isn’t interested  in the backstory of the characters and how they came to this point because the audience are immediately immersed in one particular point in the story and the music can distract the  audience from the lack of any backstories because they are being immersed in the present moment by the music.