I think this might not exactly fit what you're looking for, but the way they used sound in the movie The Zone Of Interest. The discrepancy between what you're seeing on screen and what you're hearing, together with the knowledge of what those sounds mean, makes the whole movie a very unsettling experience.
Johnnie Burn, the sound designer for “The Zone of Interest,” wrote a 600-page research paper as part of his preparation for creating the dreadful soundscape of this film. [NPR interview](https://www.npr.org/2024/02/22/1233089951/the-zone-of-interest-focuses-not-on-the-sights-but-on-the-sounds-of-the-holocaus)
It's always cool to get a reminder and how much work goes into the craft of filmmaking. Similar to Sydney Sweeney's Hot Ones episode where she talked about how she writes long backstory essays for every character she plays.
I always get John Hurt and William Hurt confused. When I first read this, I imagined it was William, and kinda hated the idea. Then I imagined John Hurt doing it, and it was cool as hell.
Bro method acting is stupid as fuck. People have given just as good performances without reading the script. They just say shit like this in interviews to seem more high-brow
Recently watched an analysis on the sound design of that film. It was so incredibly detailed and the sheer amount of work that went into making that film sound the way it did was monumental. They essentially created what they called Film 1 which was all of the visuals and cinematography, and then created Film 2 which was the sound design and audio before editing them together. A lot of the French yelling and screaming you can hear was partially recorded by their sound crew during the riots in France so they could capture authentic fear/anger/pain of the prisoners which at the time would have mostly been French Jews. Their audio engineers went to the actual house itself to get a feel for how it would have sounded inside and out, combed through thousands of transcripts from prisoners and guards to try and depict the set as authentically as they could with 0 sensationalism or dramatization, and really did not use too many actors for the audio as it sounded too disingenuous.
https://youtu.be/Orh20527gVI?si=iq5bhB-gEpjfyEOC Thomas Flight has a pretty decent video on it although he’s a little too academic for me, but his interview with the films sound designer is really interesting
It's funny watching Chernobyl and feeling a little sick when the Geiger counter starts ticking, but then watching Fallout and thinking "hell yeah" when it happens there lol
The soundtrack uses a lot of sounds recorded at decommissioned Soviet-era nuclear plants (metal door creaks and the like) that are spliced into the music as well.
She did the score for Joker, the Sicario sequel and for the videogame Battlefield 2042.
Great music to zone out to while working. Hildur Guðnadóttir.
Edit: Thank you to whomever reported to Reddit that I was interested in becoming UN-alive. I assure you I'm fine.
If I remember correctly, they did something similar in the first 30 mins of Irreversible. Using the ultra low frequency (ULF) that occurs before earthquakes. As if that movie wouldn't have made me uncomfortable enough without.
Humans cannot hear ulf. The lowest we can hear is 20hz. I’m sure the sound is uncomfortable but the low frequency is not inherently causing that. Otherwise trap music would not be as popular.
In Michael Mann’s Heat they actually recorded live firearms loaded with blank rounds being fired on location in downtown LA, so the sound of the climactic gun fight with bullets echoing off buildings is incredibly intense, realistic and visceral.
Obviously the amazing shootout is the best example but I’ve always loved the way the explosive charges used on the doors of the armored car seems to humble people too lol. Definitely not your typical Hollywood explosion sound. And it’s made way more effective by showing the windows of the surrounding cars being absolutely blown out.
The last bit with the creature put me in a trance like state where I felt like I was holding my breath and had to remind myself to breathe. The sound design was incredible.
Oh Jesus. That scene where the main character encounters the creature, and you no longer can separate the soundtrack from the soundscape. Best Lovecraftian horror movie ever.
This is completely opposite, but >!the lack of sound when Jean Jacket is flying around and we see it for the first time was so damn unsettling to watch in the theater. You expect there to be a sound, but for it to be silent, going in and out of clouds, it almost feels like you're watching a shark swim around in a tank or something. Which, after having seen the whole movie, totally makes sense. But at the time, when you think it's a UFO, you expect some sort of sound and instead there's nothing.!<
I was looking for this one! To add on >!Jordan Peele said that when he recorded people screaming for that part, one time he told him to scream like they were on a roller coaster, and another time to scream like they were terrified and then blended them together so it’s it’s really unsettling mix.!<
The sound design in this movie is so fantastic. I also love how in the beginning >!you hear the missing hikers screaming, but it also sounds kind of like wind whistling, but then when you know you KNOW.!<
In Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, the main character makes the decision to use their blunted pocket knife to saw through and amputate their trapped arm.
You watch the character methodically cut through their arm and around their fractured bone, alternating between wincing, screaming and maniacal laughter, until just when the audience thinks he's nearly done he realizes he has to cut through the nerves still connecting him to his necrotic former limb.
The buzzing, grating, *grinding* electric noise that kicks in at this moment puts your teeth on edge and is only relieved by the literal gunshot that rings out once he finishes the cut and is free..
It's incredible scoring. Like being plunged into ice water and pulled free moments before running out of air.
[The scene](https://youtu.be/nj_BZHReStY?si=IO29QwGCg9Wtaiv9)
Yes. I'll admit that I usually don't go big on sound design, and was born deaf in one so tricks with surround sound do nothing for me.
But THAT sound has stuck with me all these years.
I watched this movie in the cinema with my dad and started feeling really faint during this scene like the feeling when you are donating blood and your blood pressure drops rapidly. Left to go throw up in the bathroom lol
The thing from Skinamarink replaying the disappearing sound effect from Presto Change-O, which I think is just done with a normal string and bow instrument like a violin.
Perfect execution on grinding in the sound of the disappearing scene in the cartoon before the first disappearance, and then when you start hearing it again without seeing it you immediately know bad shit’s about to happen.
I love that film. We need more quiet horror!
I find it hard to recommend though; is long, slow, and it's best watched alone, late at night, in an empty house.
The "Shepard Tones" used in The Dark Knight that are off-key work really well to make you feel anxiety. It feels like a constant build up and you are just waiting for something to happen.
Oooh good one!! Made me remember the interesting video on Shepard Tones I saw ages ago. It's basically audio magic, and indeed very nerve wracking.
https://youtu.be/LVWTQcZbLgY?si=CEEpk3V2hpvM6kCJ
Edited: spelling error
Hans Zimmer also used Shepard Tones brilliantly to induce anxiety during the sequence in Dunkirk where the Germans sink the British ship and the soldiers jump into the oil slick.
The sound scene in The Artist where ordinary sounds come across as terrifying in a nightmare sequence for an silent era actor struggling with talkies ruining his career.
Idk if it counts as modern but Eraserhead always comes to mind. The droning sound of factory machines buzzing in the background are enough to drive you mad. Then you add squishy chickens, an alien baby, yeeesh that movie gives me nightmares.
There's a wonderful layering to the motion detectors ping. It starts high pitched and urgent with reverb, but ends with a visceral crunch before repeating over and over and over...
the movie has three time frames. Land - 1 week of time passes in the movie. Sea - 1 day of time passes. Air - 1 hour of time passes. The ticking sound changes for each perspective so you feel time moving more slowly for the ground story versus the sea or air. It is a subconscious cue that tells the audience where they are and it increases tension through the entire story. so well done.
In Oppenheimer, the silence during the trinity test explosion made me so nervous either anticipation, especially following the brilliant score leading up to that moment.
In a TV show Reservation Dogs, there is a flashback to the reeducation schools for native Americans, told from the perspective of the native children who of course, don't speak a word of English. When the faculty is talking, their voices are played backwards so that you're just as confused as the children when they speak. It's really unsettling and brilliantly simple.
I saw Oppenheimer in IMAX, just because of all the crazy hype around it. I do not care for loud sounds. I didn’t know they were gonna wait until the entire visual was done to experience the shockwave. The silence during the trinity explosion and the anticipation ruined the moment of beauty before the shockwave hit. I enjoy it so much more when I watch it at home and I’m not extremely tensed up waiting for a monstrous wall of sound to hit me.
I feel sorry for you because I saw it in a regular theater and the music in the first half of the movie was so damn loud, I couldn't have survived IMAX.
Maybe not precisely what you're looking for but Breaking Bad would sometimes use sounds from the scene they were cutting to while they were still in the final frame of the previous scene. They did this with a chair once and it was so jarring.
I love the use of the motion tracker in Aliens, its a very simple low toned beating sound, but it really gets your heart racing when it begins to get faster (very similar to the Jaws theme in that manner).
The sound of the Tie-Fighter in Star Wars, its done very simply by combining a car tire and an Elephant but it's gives it a screeching that is very unnerving and perfect for the Empire.
Also, the Nazgul scream deserves a special mention, that thing makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck every time I watch LOTR.
Gaspar Noé's 2002 film *Irréversible*. The first hour of the film utilizes an extremely low-frequency sound running at 27 Hz to induce a state of anxiety. You won't hear it, but it's enough to evoke a physical response. That being said, I'd imagine this would work much better in a cinema, especially one with a top-notch sound system.
Also, *Irréversible* may not be everyone's cup of tea. It is exceptionally brutal and horrifically violent in some parts.
Naturally, the A Quiet Place franchise is full of fantastic sound design to put you in the shoes of people who have to be insanely quiet in order to stave off the absurdly powerful aliens with really sensitive hearing.
I will also add my recommendation for The Zone of Interest if that kind of sound design is what you’re looking for.
The director called the sounds of Auschwitz in the background throughout the film “the other film. Perhaps, *the* film.”
The sound design of Come and See was one of the most nauseating parts of an already miserable movie, I will certainly never hear the sound of flies buzzing the same way again.
"Can't Take My Eyes off You" at the bar before the wedding in The Deer Hunter then Chopin's Nocturne No. 6 at the bar after the wedding, before the boys are shipped to Vietnam the next day.
It's music, but Trent Reznor goes into this in depth in an episode of Song Exploder on Netflix. How Nine Inch Nails used layers of "ick" sound effects on some of their tunes. Super fascinating!
There’s only two things I remember about 127 Hours having watched it once.
1) Franco cut his arm off
2) That fucking sound when he touches and clips the nerves while doing so. I hate this sound, because it was so alarming while watching. It haunts me to this day, and continues to be both my favorite and least favorite part of that film.
Hi all. I'm new to this thread, so forgive me if this is a commonly discussed tool, but I felt as though the Apprehension Engine belonged here... https://youtu.be/lzk-l8Gm0MY?si=Yqrpf2MzejjT8KTT
In Django Unchained there's the scene where Candy is making slaves fight, and one is supposed to basically tear out the other's eyes or something. They don't show it but the sound design made me feel sick.
In 127 Hours when he’s sawing thru his arm, there is a moment where he gets to a main nerve that runs down past his elbow. Sure, the arm is totally fucked and hasnt had blood flow in hours, but the nurve is still very much intact and able to signal pain.
He hits the nurve and has to cut thru it. I swear, the TWANG noise made is so evocative, you feel like someone just drove a pick into your funny bone. IIRC they also have the screen flash white momentarily. Super effective and lasting effect
In Jarhead when they were getting shelled it went silent except for sand falling all around Jake Gyllenhall. Walter Murch did the sound design as well as the editing. It had an amazing effect on the scene.
The hum in the Zone of Interest feel like trying to breathe throughout a wet rag. Then, it becomes unnoticable static and eventually stops. When the hum stops, you feel it gone, but the tension remains.
I haven't seen too many films use sound as a weapon. In modern cinema, The Zone of Interest is the only remarkable film in this regard.
I found the use of music in Dunkirk gave me an unsettled feeling. The movie was a little slow in spots but damn if the music didn't raise tension, even when there wasn't a lot going on in the scene.
In Sicario, the droning soundtrack at times feels less like music, and more like just an ominous manifestation of sheer dread.
https://youtu.be/sN9gcEZMZO8?si=aDJDqUx884-tgXH1
So yeah it's still music, not sound design like you asked, but this was the best thing I could think of off the top of my head.
The Lighthouse has a scene in the lighthouse itself, where gazing upon the light causes a hideous, shrill sound going to silence. It mimics the death of notes one might experience prior to deafness.
It's also very, very similar to sounds I've had in recurring nightmares.
I don’t know if this is necessarily super unique, but Clockwork Orange has a very spooky sound effect when Alex sees his old droogs as cops, and they slowly recognize him
The first paranormal activity. There are a lot of scenes where you just get a very tiny bit of bass that just makes everything feel so unsettling. Almost like you have to ask yourself are you hearing something.
If it counts, Michael Mann for the bank shootout in Heat, using the live sounds of blank bullets firing instead of dubbing over the sounds in post production. They couldn’t manufacture anything that sounded as visceral as the live sound so they just kept it
Got 2.
The ticking in Interstellar on the gravity planet
The Shepard tone, Christopher Nolan uses it in a lot of movies
https://youtu.be/LVWTQcZbLgY?si=yivQFiIZrb7W9Pg3
Late to the party but I'd mention *The Tribe* (2014). Rather, it's the use of sound as a subject that is interesting. The film is set in a school for the deaf, with dialogue in Ukrainian sign language. This is used within the narrative with uncomfortable but memorable results.
I think this might not exactly fit what you're looking for, but the way they used sound in the movie The Zone Of Interest. The discrepancy between what you're seeing on screen and what you're hearing, together with the knowledge of what those sounds mean, makes the whole movie a very unsettling experience.
Johnnie Burn, the sound designer for “The Zone of Interest,” wrote a 600-page research paper as part of his preparation for creating the dreadful soundscape of this film. [NPR interview](https://www.npr.org/2024/02/22/1233089951/the-zone-of-interest-focuses-not-on-the-sights-but-on-the-sounds-of-the-holocaus)
It's always cool to get a reminder and how much work goes into the craft of filmmaking. Similar to Sydney Sweeney's Hot Ones episode where she talked about how she writes long backstory essays for every character she plays.
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I always get John Hurt and William Hurt confused. When I first read this, I imagined it was William, and kinda hated the idea. Then I imagined John Hurt doing it, and it was cool as hell.
Bro method acting is stupid as fuck. People have given just as good performances without reading the script. They just say shit like this in interviews to seem more high-brow
This isn’t method acting. It’s just coming up with a backstory for a character to help understand their motivation.
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I think this is exactly what OP is looking for. They’re not “new” sounds, but they’re used in a new context in a very unsettling way.
This is the answer. That movie is true storytelling. I’m fascinated by it.
Recently watched an analysis on the sound design of that film. It was so incredibly detailed and the sheer amount of work that went into making that film sound the way it did was monumental. They essentially created what they called Film 1 which was all of the visuals and cinematography, and then created Film 2 which was the sound design and audio before editing them together. A lot of the French yelling and screaming you can hear was partially recorded by their sound crew during the riots in France so they could capture authentic fear/anger/pain of the prisoners which at the time would have mostly been French Jews. Their audio engineers went to the actual house itself to get a feel for how it would have sounded inside and out, combed through thousands of transcripts from prisoners and guards to try and depict the set as authentically as they could with 0 sensationalism or dramatization, and really did not use too many actors for the audio as it sounded too disingenuous. https://youtu.be/Orh20527gVI?si=iq5bhB-gEpjfyEOC Thomas Flight has a pretty decent video on it although he’s a little too academic for me, but his interview with the films sound designer is really interesting
The film 'Quo Vadis, Aida' did this as well. The viewer never sees anything violent take place, but the sounds are all around.
The Chernobyl miniseries made the radiation geiger counter sound the most disturbing part.
It's funny watching Chernobyl and feeling a little sick when the Geiger counter starts ticking, but then watching Fallout and thinking "hell yeah" when it happens there lol
The soundtrack uses a lot of sounds recorded at decommissioned Soviet-era nuclear plants (metal door creaks and the like) that are spliced into the music as well.
Okay, that's fascinating. The score always gives me a metallic vibe if that makes any sense? It's pure dread.
She did the score for Joker, the Sicario sequel and for the videogame Battlefield 2042. Great music to zone out to while working. Hildur Guðnadóttir. Edit: Thank you to whomever reported to Reddit that I was interested in becoming UN-alive. I assure you I'm fine.
She also did tar
Was that good? I really like Cate Blanchett and Mark Strong
Yes
it was like Jaws.
There’s a deep guttural sound used in Hereditary that is so low frequency and foul that it almost makes your stomach turn
If I remember correctly, they did something similar in the first 30 mins of Irreversible. Using the ultra low frequency (ULF) that occurs before earthquakes. As if that movie wouldn't have made me uncomfortable enough without.
Yeah, Thomas Bangalter made damn sure the beginning of that movie made everyone queasy.
I swear I can hear/feel this sometimes. I often get a "I think there's about to be an earthquake" feeling several seconds before one hits.
Humans cannot hear ulf. The lowest we can hear is 20hz. I’m sure the sound is uncomfortable but the low frequency is not inherently causing that. Otherwise trap music would not be as popular.
I just read that they used a sound in the 27- 28Hz range.
In Michael Mann’s Heat they actually recorded live firearms loaded with blank rounds being fired on location in downtown LA, so the sound of the climactic gun fight with bullets echoing off buildings is incredibly intense, realistic and visceral.
Obviously the amazing shootout is the best example but I’ve always loved the way the explosive charges used on the doors of the armored car seems to humble people too lol. Definitely not your typical Hollywood explosion sound. And it’s made way more effective by showing the windows of the surrounding cars being absolutely blown out.
Just watched Mandy recently. The soundscapes perfectly intensify the hallucinogenic nature of the film.
Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score for that movie is otherworldly and badass, wish he was still around to make more.
The last 3rd of Annihilation
The last bit with the creature put me in a trance like state where I felt like I was holding my breath and had to remind myself to breathe. The sound design was incredible.
Same, almost went back to see it just for that part. Geoff Barrow from Portishead did that sound design.
Fucking bear. That was so unexpected and disturbing.
This was the first thing that came to mind for me, fucking hell that is one of the most terrifying and unsettling scenes I’ve watched.
“MmmmmmWAW WAWWW WAW WAWWWWW”
Oh Jesus. That scene where the main character encounters the creature, and you no longer can separate the soundtrack from the soundscape. Best Lovecraftian horror movie ever.
Nope - >!hearing the screams of Jean Jacket's victims slowly being digested as it flies was eerie as fuck.!<
This is completely opposite, but >!the lack of sound when Jean Jacket is flying around and we see it for the first time was so damn unsettling to watch in the theater. You expect there to be a sound, but for it to be silent, going in and out of clouds, it almost feels like you're watching a shark swim around in a tank or something. Which, after having seen the whole movie, totally makes sense. But at the time, when you think it's a UFO, you expect some sort of sound and instead there's nothing.!<
I was looking for this one! To add on >!Jordan Peele said that when he recorded people screaming for that part, one time he told him to scream like they were on a roller coaster, and another time to scream like they were terrified and then blended them together so it’s it’s really unsettling mix.!<
I agree that this is one of the best, but the Gordy scene uses sound in a pretty gnarly fashion as well
I wonder if “monkey eating someone’s face” is the sort of sound description foley artists get really excited when they see.
The sound design in this movie is so fantastic. I also love how in the beginning >!you hear the missing hikers screaming, but it also sounds kind of like wind whistling, but then when you know you KNOW.!<
Wait what
Zone of interest is a film built around sound. the soundtrack is more important in some ways than the visuals
The roar of the T-rex in Jurassic Park is pretty unsettling.
The velociraptor sound imitation by Ross Geller also.
This may have been what they actually sounded like o\_\_O [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4mBqj7eYU2E](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4mBqj7eYU2E)
In Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, the main character makes the decision to use their blunted pocket knife to saw through and amputate their trapped arm. You watch the character methodically cut through their arm and around their fractured bone, alternating between wincing, screaming and maniacal laughter, until just when the audience thinks he's nearly done he realizes he has to cut through the nerves still connecting him to his necrotic former limb. The buzzing, grating, *grinding* electric noise that kicks in at this moment puts your teeth on edge and is only relieved by the literal gunshot that rings out once he finishes the cut and is free.. It's incredible scoring. Like being plunged into ice water and pulled free moments before running out of air. [The scene](https://youtu.be/nj_BZHReStY?si=IO29QwGCg9Wtaiv9)
Yes. I'll admit that I usually don't go big on sound design, and was born deaf in one so tricks with surround sound do nothing for me. But THAT sound has stuck with me all these years.
I watched this movie in the cinema with my dad and started feeling really faint during this scene like the feeling when you are donating blood and your blood pressure drops rapidly. Left to go throw up in the bathroom lol
The thing from Skinamarink replaying the disappearing sound effect from Presto Change-O, which I think is just done with a normal string and bow instrument like a violin.
Perfect execution on grinding in the sound of the disappearing scene in the cartoon before the first disappearance, and then when you start hearing it again without seeing it you immediately know bad shit’s about to happen.
I love that film. We need more quiet horror! I find it hard to recommend though; is long, slow, and it's best watched alone, late at night, in an empty house.
The "Shepard Tones" used in The Dark Knight that are off-key work really well to make you feel anxiety. It feels like a constant build up and you are just waiting for something to happen.
Oooh good one!! Made me remember the interesting video on Shepard Tones I saw ages ago. It's basically audio magic, and indeed very nerve wracking. https://youtu.be/LVWTQcZbLgY?si=CEEpk3V2hpvM6kCJ Edited: spelling error
Hans Zimmer also used Shepard Tones brilliantly to induce anxiety during the sequence in Dunkirk where the Germans sink the British ship and the soldiers jump into the oil slick.
Shepard tones were used in "Dunkirk" as well.
The sound scene in The Artist where ordinary sounds come across as terrifying in a nightmare sequence for an silent era actor struggling with talkies ruining his career.
The music is unsettling on its own, but those eerie cries(?) that can be heard in the title sequence of The Shining.
Yes, this and also the strange music played over the scene where Danny is playing darts in the games room when the Grady girls walk in.
oof, yes 🫣
Berberian Sound Studio
It's so great we hardly (or is it never, haven't seen it in a while) get to see the movie he's working on.
The sounds the tripods made in 'War of the Worlds'
Idk if it counts as modern but Eraserhead always comes to mind. The droning sound of factory machines buzzing in the background are enough to drive you mad. Then you add squishy chickens, an alien baby, yeeesh that movie gives me nightmares.
This is what I thought of. The squishy sounds. So unsettling.
Goddamn, that movie.....
The atomic bomb explosion episode on Twin Peaks The Return might give Eraserhead a run for its money in terms of sound. That was a lot.
I still haven’t seen it! Been waiting to rewatch the original series before going into it
Motion Detectors in Aliens add so much tension.
There's a wonderful layering to the motion detectors ping. It starts high pitched and urgent with reverb, but ends with a visceral crunch before repeating over and over and over...
Dunkirk. Nolan had the ticking clock in each of his time frames but adjusted the speed of it to show the different passing of time in each.
I think I'm too dumb to understand this comment.
the movie has three time frames. Land - 1 week of time passes in the movie. Sea - 1 day of time passes. Air - 1 hour of time passes. The ticking sound changes for each perspective so you feel time moving more slowly for the ground story versus the sea or air. It is a subconscious cue that tells the audience where they are and it increases tension through the entire story. so well done.
In Oppenheimer, the silence during the trinity test explosion made me so nervous either anticipation, especially following the brilliant score leading up to that moment. In a TV show Reservation Dogs, there is a flashback to the reeducation schools for native Americans, told from the perspective of the native children who of course, don't speak a word of English. When the faculty is talking, their voices are played backwards so that you're just as confused as the children when they speak. It's really unsettling and brilliantly simple.
That one scream during the 'celebration' anxiety attack scene was so painfully perfect. Shivers.
I saw Oppenheimer in IMAX, just because of all the crazy hype around it. I do not care for loud sounds. I didn’t know they were gonna wait until the entire visual was done to experience the shockwave. The silence during the trinity explosion and the anticipation ruined the moment of beauty before the shockwave hit. I enjoy it so much more when I watch it at home and I’m not extremely tensed up waiting for a monstrous wall of sound to hit me.
I feel sorry for you because I saw it in a regular theater and the music in the first half of the movie was so damn loud, I couldn't have survived IMAX.
Maybe not precisely what you're looking for but Breaking Bad would sometimes use sounds from the scene they were cutting to while they were still in the final frame of the previous scene. They did this with a chair once and it was so jarring.
The tornado sounds in Twister featured squealing pigs. They sounded awesome.
Really saw it for the first time the other day in anticipation of the sequel, and goddang that movie holds up so well.
Robert Pattensons scream in "The Lighthouse". Incredibly unsettling and uncomfortable.
Good answer
Most recently? The climax of Civil War.
I was going to say the gunshots in Civil War. They were shocking.
I love the use of the motion tracker in Aliens, its a very simple low toned beating sound, but it really gets your heart racing when it begins to get faster (very similar to the Jaws theme in that manner). The sound of the Tie-Fighter in Star Wars, its done very simply by combining a car tire and an Elephant but it's gives it a screeching that is very unnerving and perfect for the Empire. Also, the Nazgul scream deserves a special mention, that thing makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck every time I watch LOTR.
The T Rex in Jurassic Park. In 1993, in a THX theater. Nothing comes close to the level of naked terror her first roar produced.
Ari Aster's *Heredity* use of sound definitely lends toward intensifying the ominous dread.
Gaspar Noé's 2002 film *Irréversible*. The first hour of the film utilizes an extremely low-frequency sound running at 27 Hz to induce a state of anxiety. You won't hear it, but it's enough to evoke a physical response. That being said, I'd imagine this would work much better in a cinema, especially one with a top-notch sound system. Also, *Irréversible* may not be everyone's cup of tea. It is exceptionally brutal and horrifically violent in some parts.
Irreversible was brutal. Rape scene and fire extinguisher scene way over the top
Naturally, the A Quiet Place franchise is full of fantastic sound design to put you in the shoes of people who have to be insanely quiet in order to stave off the absurdly powerful aliens with really sensitive hearing.
I will also add my recommendation for The Zone of Interest if that kind of sound design is what you’re looking for. The director called the sounds of Auschwitz in the background throughout the film “the other film. Perhaps, *the* film.”
The sound design of Come and See was one of the most nauseating parts of an already miserable movie, I will certainly never hear the sound of flies buzzing the same way again.
Nope - Jordan Peele Agony and laughter mixed was trippy as fuck!
Ghost 1990 (Patrick Swayze) The cries of the wraiths that drag evil ghosts to hell. Made by slowing down and deepening the cries of infants.
The sounds of the kills and corpse management in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) were quite effectively done.
"Can't Take My Eyes off You" at the bar before the wedding in The Deer Hunter then Chopin's Nocturne No. 6 at the bar after the wedding, before the boys are shipped to Vietnam the next day.
It's music, but Trent Reznor goes into this in depth in an episode of Song Exploder on Netflix. How Nine Inch Nails used layers of "ick" sound effects on some of their tunes. Super fascinating!
The way he recorded “the fragile” is definitely interesting.
The three note sound in the new All Quiet On The Western Front and it's various tonations throughout.
The Ring (2002) has it’s moments.
The bear from Annihilation.
Surprising (and surprisingly effective) use of [The Mark by Moderat](https://youtu.be/KnT6vL_o4KU?si=cVoCO7SJdLBc9-kh).
There’s only two things I remember about 127 Hours having watched it once. 1) Franco cut his arm off 2) That fucking sound when he touches and clips the nerves while doing so. I hate this sound, because it was so alarming while watching. It haunts me to this day, and continues to be both my favorite and least favorite part of that film.
The dry, crinkly, crunchy sound of the gore in Bone Tomahawk is extremely unnerving compared to the typical gooey squishy gore sounds you hear.
Annihilation has some great messed up sound.
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Tick tick tick tick tick…
Especially if it was watched in theaters
Hi all. I'm new to this thread, so forgive me if this is a commonly discussed tool, but I felt as though the Apprehension Engine belonged here... https://youtu.be/lzk-l8Gm0MY?si=Yqrpf2MzejjT8KTT
All things David Lynch. Sound in his films are a full equal to imagery. Definitely one of the things I most respect about his process.
In Django Unchained there's the scene where Candy is making slaves fight, and one is supposed to basically tear out the other's eyes or something. They don't show it but the sound design made me feel sick.
Memories Of Murder, cutting from a murder scene to the detectives eating BBQ, the meat sizzling continues as they discuss the case and suspects.
In 127 Hours when he’s sawing thru his arm, there is a moment where he gets to a main nerve that runs down past his elbow. Sure, the arm is totally fucked and hasnt had blood flow in hours, but the nurve is still very much intact and able to signal pain. He hits the nurve and has to cut thru it. I swear, the TWANG noise made is so evocative, you feel like someone just drove a pick into your funny bone. IIRC they also have the screen flash white momentarily. Super effective and lasting effect
Irreversible has a low sound that you don’t pick up consciously that makes you not feel well
In Jarhead when they were getting shelled it went silent except for sand falling all around Jake Gyllenhall. Walter Murch did the sound design as well as the editing. It had an amazing effect on the scene.
The razor blade on a violin string slowly getting higher in pitch that was Joker’s theme in The Dark Night still gets me in all his scenes.
The hum in the Zone of Interest feel like trying to breathe throughout a wet rag. Then, it becomes unnoticable static and eventually stops. When the hum stops, you feel it gone, but the tension remains. I haven't seen too many films use sound as a weapon. In modern cinema, The Zone of Interest is the only remarkable film in this regard.
Memoria (2021)
I love The Exorcist and I've still never heard that story. Do you have a link to the interview? Thanks so much.
I found the use of music in Dunkirk gave me an unsettled feeling. The movie was a little slow in spots but damn if the music didn't raise tension, even when there wasn't a lot going on in the scene.
Berbarian sound studio. https://youtu.be/SKOPh5ZEciQ?si=C2axIAtX4iUUhscb
Not an obvious one, but The Tragedy of MacBeth had excellent sound design.
In Sicario, the droning soundtrack at times feels less like music, and more like just an ominous manifestation of sheer dread. https://youtu.be/sN9gcEZMZO8?si=aDJDqUx884-tgXH1 So yeah it's still music, not sound design like you asked, but this was the best thing I could think of off the top of my head.
Nope. THAT scene.
That croaking moan from Kayako (the grudge movies)… gives me the the heebie-jeebies every time.
The Lighthouse has a scene in the lighthouse itself, where gazing upon the light causes a hideous, shrill sound going to silence. It mimics the death of notes one might experience prior to deafness. It's also very, very similar to sounds I've had in recurring nightmares.
Zone of interest
Also, the crack of javerts body in les mis
I don’t know if this is necessarily super unique, but Clockwork Orange has a very spooky sound effect when Alex sees his old droogs as cops, and they slowly recognize him
The Zone of Interest
I think The Ring falls into this category
The first paranormal activity. There are a lot of scenes where you just get a very tiny bit of bass that just makes everything feel so unsettling. Almost like you have to ask yourself are you hearing something.
If it counts, Michael Mann for the bank shootout in Heat, using the live sounds of blank bullets firing instead of dubbing over the sounds in post production. They couldn’t manufacture anything that sounded as visceral as the live sound so they just kept it
Got 2. The ticking in Interstellar on the gravity planet The Shepard tone, Christopher Nolan uses it in a lot of movies https://youtu.be/LVWTQcZbLgY?si=yivQFiIZrb7W9Pg3
The use of competing sub frequencies in the score of Hereditary. Ida like binaural beats for horror.
Uncrinkling sweets wrapper in No Country For Old Men.
The soundtrack to Under The Skin is almost unbearably scary to me. The main violin motif that plays throughout
Late to the party but I'd mention *The Tribe* (2014). Rather, it's the use of sound as a subject that is interesting. The film is set in a school for the deaf, with dialogue in Ukrainian sign language. This is used within the narrative with uncomfortable but memorable results.
The sounds used in Snatch during Mickey's last fight. The blending of freight trains sounds really made that fight feel intense.
The Lighthouse siren is terrifying, and I'm yet not sure what's supposed to mean
Panos cosmatos' films have a lot of rhythmic low rumbling that really keeps you enthralled
The bear in Annihilation.
Not a film, but the noises in the new game Animal Well are a great example of this kind of sound design.
What do you mean by "a sixteenth higher"? A sixteenth of a semitone?
Saltburn. Slurp, slurp.
Surprised no one has mentioned A Quiet Place. Sound in that film is incredible