Sound in 'A Quiet Place'

 Sound in 'A Quiet Place'

Synchronous sound: As we focus on their footsteps the sound of the crunching draws us in and makes us focus much more on details especially sound. It brings our point of attention to the quiet crunching which later contrasts the loudness of the plane. The crunching footsteps are also calming as they walk along. This evokes a relaxed feeling in the spectator. The calmness of the crunching juxtaposes the chaos that is about to erupt.

Non-Diegetic Sound-Opening music:

The opening music possess a feeling of desolation. All the characters have an uninhabited impression of bleak emptiness on their face hence making the music also a parallel sound as it matches the scene. All the characters feel alone an isolated as they are unable to be happy and relaxed as they are always on edge and living in fear. they are all together but alone. The music emphasises that the characters are surviving and not living. We then have a moment when all sound stops this is parallel sound as nothing at that moment was happening on the screen.

Non-Diegetic Sound- Dramatic music:

In this scene we have a powerfully dramatic build up to a crescendo. This progressive increase of intensity situates the spectator on the edge of their seat as we wait to see the fate of the young boy. The music suggests that something bad is going to happen. As a spectator you want to know what is going to happen but at the same time you do not want to know. In this scene we are given the impression that the young boy will be saved at the very last minute, but john Krasinski cleverly mis-directs us to believe that.

Diegetic Sound- The airplane:

The sound of the toy plane is the loudest sound in this scene. It heavily contrasts the sounds before that were very quiet taking the spectator by surprise. This diegetic sound is paired with a non-diegetic sound. We hear a heart thumping highlighting the fear the family share for beau. It also adds further tension to this scene. this scene takes a dramatic turn, and this is done mainly by sound

No Sound- All sound stops:

Just before the plane makes noise there is silence. This was most likely done to emphasises the plane noise and make it stand out and further engage the spectator. It also illustrates how loud the toy was. We also are brought into the daughter’s perspective through sound. as Regan is deaf, we are at times shown that she is unaware of the noise created by the toy plane. This can be both diegetic and non-diegetic as only one character hears this sound. This creates an eerie atmosphere as one of our senses is taken away so we also are put into a situation of unease and wonder whether beau will survive. It also makes us feel uncomfortable as we wait to see how Regan reacts when she notices the danger.