Sound technique · used in 8 films
Leaving out background music almost entirely, even in scenes that would normally have it. Wind, footsteps and a creaking door have to create the mood and emotion.
Examples
Alfred Hitchcock · 1944
No music plays during the story, only the opening and closing credits. The sound is the water and the voices, plus a song sung by the U-boat captain and by Gus with a flute. Hitchcock joked that he could not explain where an orchestra would come from.
Where to see it: The long stretches at sea. Apart from a few songs, you hear only the survivors talking and the water.
Ingmar Bergman · 1961
The film relies on natural sound such as wind, waves and quiet talk. The one major exception is cello music, a Bach sarabande, after Karin and Minus have sex. Because the rest of the film is so quiet, that music hits hard.
Where to see it: The beach during a storm: Karin and Minus have sex, and Bach's cello music follows.
Alfred Hitchcock · 1963
There is no conventional score in this film. Hitchcock's usual composer, Bernard Herrmann, is credited only as sound consultant. Most of the bird cries were made on an electronic instrument called the Mixtur-Trautonium by Oskar Sala and Remi Gassmann. With no music telling you how to feel, every flutter and screech hits harder.
Where to see it: The attack on the Brenner house. The family sits boarded up inside while the birds pound at the doors and windows. You hear wings and shrieks and nothing else.
Sidney Lumet · 1964
A score was written but not used, and the finished film plays with no music. You hear only voices, phones and machines, which keeps the film cold and procedural.
Where to see it: The call to Moscow: The President opens communication with the Soviet Premier, and with US help the Soviets harmlessly trigger the bombers' defense missiles.
Robert Zemeckis · 2000
Alan Silvestri's score doesn't start until Chuck escapes the island on his raft. The island scenes have no music at all. For the 4 years on the island, all you hear is the ocean, the wind and Hanks' body moving through the place. With no musical cues, nobody is managing your emotions for you.
Where to see it: The extended island survival sequences. With the score completely absent, the sounds of the environment are the only thing the film gives you besides the picture. The wind and ocean work like a background score that refuses to tell you how to feel.
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen · 2007
Carter Burwell's score is so minimal that it is close to silence. The desert wind, the sound of cash being counted and the hiss of a silenced gun do the job of a traditional score. On top of that, the silence between actions has been designed and mixed to feel like dread, so it is never neutral.
Where to see it: The hotel shootout in Eagle Pass. Darkness, flashlight beams and sound alone tell you where everyone is and what is at stake.
Darren Aronofsky · 2017
The film has no conventional score. You hear footsteps, pipes and creaks, and every sound in the house is part of the mix. The silence makes the arrival of guests feel like an invasion.
Where to see it: The first night with the guests. The only sounds are the house and the visitors in it.
Alex Garland, Ray Mendoza · 2025
Garland said adding music would have felt crass, so there is no composed score at all. Radio chatter, breathing and gunfire carry every scene. Nothing tells you how to feel, which leaves you alone with what's happening.
Where to see it: The opening. The platoon watches the music video for Eric Prydz's Call on Me and laughs, and after that the only sounds come from the house and the street.
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