THE STORY VAULT BLOG
Contrary to popular wisdom, film is not and never has been a visual medium. Even silent films incorporated music in the form of the Wurlitzer Organ. The movie “Tuvula” has (in the version I own) only one word of dialogue (Stop!) — but when machinery operates you hear it; when a piece of the roof falls into the pool you hear the splash.
More telling is that as soon as it became possible to synchronize sound to images the entire film industry pivoted, virtually overnight, to embrace the new technology.
Film is a visual and an auditory medium.
How important is the score John Williams wrote for “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Star Wars.” Or Danny Elfman’s many contributions to the films of Tim Burton? If film is a visual medium why even create a score? Why have sound effects? Why have dialogue? Why pay for a surround sound system for your home theatre?
This morning I caught the last few minutes of “Casablanca” on TCM. There’s a moment when Victor Laszlo says to Rick, “Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.” And there’s an abrupt cut away to a plane on the runway as the engine’s fire up and the props begin to spin. And of course there’s music. Just a few dramatic notes. But it’s a powerful moment. It’s the combination of the visuals and audio that make the moment powerful. It’s the combination that makes the movie.
If we think of film as being a visual medium we miss so much opportunity. Consider a scene that follows:
Renault walks inside the hangar, picks up a bottle of Vichy water, and opens it.
Renault: Well, Rick, you're not only a sentimentalist, but you've become a patriot.
Rick: Maybe, but it seemed like a good time to start.
Renault: I think perhaps you're right.
As he quickly pours the water into a glass, Renault sees the Vichy label and quickly DROPS the bottle into a trash basket which he then KICKS over.
The label on the bottle Renault is holding says “Vichy Water.” When he drops the bottle and kicks over the trash basket an image is created that reinforces the dialogue that preceded it — making it all the more poignant. It’s a marriage of the visual and the auditory. The visual acts an exclamation mark. Remove either the visual or the auditory element and the moment loses some of it's dramatic impact.
To regard film as a visual medium is like a chef preparing a dish that is beautiful to look at, but bland to the taste. At the pinnacle of their art, great chefs create dishes that please both the eye and the taste buds. A chef understands how we experience food. A great filmmaker understands how we experience movies – with our eyes and our ears.