The art of sound pictures (1930)

SOUND EFFECTS 205 than a thundering whisper. And silence, fortunately, comes out well. A less serious plague arises at the fortissimo end of the scale. Very loud sounds sometimes undergo a subtle change of quality that spoils the scene. But, luckily, these seldom are indispensable. Another vexation is the metamorphosis of many simple natural sounds. A splash in the water is likely to come out like a rattle of old bottles on a tin roof. The clatter of horses’ hoofs on a dirt road may sound like a hammer thumping a plank. Nobody has yet conquered these mysteries. So the author should beware of making incidental sounds indispensable to his main story. Another defect of many talking pictures goes back to the technique of the silent screen. The latter had to rely almost entirely upon skillful pantomime to convey various shades of emotions and attitudes. Hence, motion picture actors of the old school developed pantomime to a degree incomparably higher and greater than that of the stage. Nearly all of the good directors in Hollywood have built their reputations, in part, upon their mastery of pantomime. Their natural tendency is to use it to the utmost. Now, along come sound pictures, in which dialogue and other forms of human expression can be added to the pantomime. What is the usual result? The director instructs the players to carry out their pantomime as usual, and then has them talk, as well. Now, psychologically, this is unsound nine times out of ten. True, some people do pantomime while they talk, cry, laugh, and shout. But most people tend to pantomime very much less than actors had to in the silent pictures. They