Gray skies, a torrential downpour. You’re looking over the shoulder of a man driving slowly through a heavy rainstorm. Up ahead is an ominous looking house… something’s not right. The only sound you hear is coming from the windshield wipers, slapping back and forth. They don’t sound like your car’s wipers; they sound much more eerie, but you can’t explain it. Whatever it is makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. What you don’t know is that the film’s director and sound supervisor have added the sound of a woman moaning in sync with the wipers, giving the audience a tense and creepy feeling.

Whether subtle or exaggerated, sound effects are one of the most crucial elements of a film.  If you consider the picture and dialogue of a film the most vital parts, then like a great painting, sound is the frame, never overpowering, but always enhancing your experience of the film as a work of art.

Sound effects can be organic, like a wave crashing, or manipulated in a sound design suite, like Spider-Man’s web zapping. Sound effects can simply match the visuals you see on screen, or intensify a feeling the director wants to convey. Sound helps the audience experience a movie rather than just watch it, which is the filmmakers’ ultimate goal.