Dunkirk is a 2017 war film written, directed, and produced by Christopher Nolan that depicts the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.

At the beginning of the film, it is silent for a few seconds until finally it is obstructed by the sound of guns being fired. This creates a sense of tension from the audience as they are forced to wait for something to happen during the silence up until it happens – the sound of a ticking clock can also be heard which shows to the audience that there is only a short amount of time the army soldiers have to get everyone off the beach. It is important for Nolan to get the sounds correct as the film is representing an important time in history, therefore using sound to create a specific atmosphere has to be done delicately in order to portray historical accuracy and also, to create a sense of nervousness from the audience so they can experience the right emotions from it. Also, the film tends to use variation diegetic sounds, which are used in addition to the soundtrack, which allows the audience to feel involved into the film’s world.

A device used in the films known as “Shepard Tone” creates an essence of rising tension within the movie. This is used by scales being an octave a part increase from low to high pitch in a continuous loop. The lower pitch increasing in volume and the higher pitch decreasing in volume creates an illusion where when it repeats, the audience only pays attention to the increasing in pitch rather than it constantly lowering as well. This is used throughout the whole film to create tension and to have it appear to be constantly rising in order to allow the audience to know when danger is coming. This device is normally used during the scenes where the British soldiers are about to be attacked. Another use of sound effects in this movie was a constant heartbeat. This allows a personal relation to the audience. This sound is used because in real life, hearing your own heart beat means that you are usually scared or intimidated by something, which means that danger is near. Being able to hear the heartbeat throughout the film makes the audience know how the characters are feeling, while simultaneously being reminded that they’re still alive.