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THE DOCUMENTARY AND THE USE OF SOUND
The short sound continuity from Song of Ceylon which we have examined makes scarcely any use of actual sounds. Basil Wright uses his sound-track to throw oblique comment on his images rather than to add a further realistic dimension to his presentation : actual sounds, therefore, are irrelevant to his purpose.
Another instance of a similar use of commentative sound occurs in Pare Lorentz's The Plough that Broke the Plains. A sequence examining the state of American agriculture during the 1914-1918 war shows a series of shots of the countryside with farmers working on the land. Behind this we hear a military march, the steps of marching soldiers, gunfire and a commentary spoken as if on a parade ground. Partly, of course, this implies that the steady, regular routine of the farmer's year goes on while soldiers are fighting at the front. But there is an additional overtone of meaning: the continuity suggests that war-time farming had assumed something of the urgency and controlled discipline of an army. These sentiments are not directly expressed in the commentary : the comment provided by the contrast in the rhythm and content of the sound and images in itself conveys the desired effect.
Since similar experiments are comparatively rare in fiction films, the use of commentative sound in ways akin to those described has become one of the most noted features of documentary film-making. British documentary directors of the thirties gave serious attention to the ways the sound-track could be employed to enrich a film's final appeal ; as far as an imaginative use of sound is concerned, they pursued an altogether more adventurous policy than their studio colleagues. Part of the reason for this may have been simple necessity. Financial considerations often made it impossible — even where it would have been otherwise desirable — to take sound equipment up and down the country. Further, as Rotha pointed out, " Sound-trucks are . . . large and cumbersome
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