Sound is an important element in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017), the term narrative device means conveying the story forwards or trying to tell us something important. An example of this is through the character of Mr. Dawson, the captain of one of the civilian ships requisitioned to help the stranded soldiers. Mr. Dawson recognizes the engines of the planes that fly over his ship. This use of diegetic sound helps convey messages about the character of Mr. Dawson that he has experience with military aircraft and it’s confirmed after the oil scene when he tells the pilot that his son was in the air force.  

Another use of sound as a narrative device is in the Final Dog Fight scene, where the German dive bomber is about to drop a bomb on where Commander Bolton is standing. Hans Zimmer’s use of a shepherd tone, where an illusion is created that the sound constantly rises, creates a sense of tension in the non-diegetic sound, the score. The use of this makes us feel Commander Bolton’s sense of impending doom which never arrives because he is saved by the pilot. This helps build up the plot. 

The use of sounds and musical score and soundtrack is often used to fill in on the minimal amount of dialogue in the film, sources vary on the actual amount but there are only around 2 pages of dialogue in the actual film, the minimalistic use of dialogue in the film reflects the mood and feeling of the soldiers feeling of helplessness. It almost reflects the silent era where you had to use more visual effects to tell the progress the narrative and Nolan has even admitted to this.