Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound is a 2019 documentary about the power of cinema sound, as revealed by legendary sound designers and visionary directors, via interviews, and clips from movies.
The curious balance of director Midge Costin‘s new documentary Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound is telling the deeply compelling story of sound in movies with the use of visuals we have all come to expect. That’s the deeper message at the start of this movie, one that looks at the people who design such things, that while we cling to the images in getting us through the a theatrical experience, it is truly what we hear that brings it to life.
You probably aren’t even all that thoughtful of the way a movie affects you, just open to whatever the filmmakers are offering, looking for an experience that you can connect with. Seriously. How many times have you even thought of what you hear while watching a flick? Probably never, only ever commenting on how it looks. That’s where Making Waves wants you to be, taking you on a lively tour of what sounds – not just the music – does in making you fall deeper into a story.
That means traveling back to the late 1800s where silent movies began, and then the first steps in how fledgling trailblazers took to performing effects live in front of movie as it played, borrowing from where radio was fundamentally unable to do. It’s a fascinating journey through cinematic time as we witness the birth and evolution of sound effects as pioneers such as Orson Welles carried what he learned from radio to movies, and then many others refining the art into what we hear today, rich atmospheric experiences that blend emotional scores with dynamic audio.
While we see a few very famous names in movies, such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Barbra Streisand and others, Making Waves eventually turns to a couple of names you might not know, those of Walter Murch and Ben Burtt, artists who began in the 1970s, who helped shape the use of sound on screen in movies that have come to greatly influence film itself. These men worked with Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, transforming theaters from mono sound-shot films into the vibrant stereo experiences we are now entirely used to – and expect. Making Waves tracks that progress as experimental movies and movie makers took sound to all new levels in searching for ways to deliver more than just images to audiences.
Like any successful documentary, it’s how well we fall into the stories the film is looking to reveal and Costin and writer Bobette Buster unpack an almost riveting, visceral examination of how and when sound became part of our own consumption of movies. It’s an educational but very entertaining observation of something few of us ever take the time to consider, wonderfully introducing us to people and technology that metamorphosized the way movies are made. You will no doubt watch your next movie with not just your eyes but perhaps more deeply, your ears. Highly recommended.