I absolutely noticed this phenomenon and I noticed it with Inception as
well. I am actually researching the topic more about soundtracks now
manipulating the "A.D.D." audience, rather than like a John Williams score,
enhancing the emotion and then absconding when important dialogue is spoken.

Alexandra Nakelski
Professor of Film Studies and Popular Culture

On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 9:44 AM, Larsson, Donald F
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> I also saw Skyfall yesterday and think I may have heard the same sound
> presence as Krin.  I also thought it might be sound bleedthrough from the
> theater next door but was puzzled because the layout of that particular
> theatre made bleedthrough seem unlikely.  (And I was already irritated
> because I had had to go out and remind the theater people to dim the house
> lights.)  Now I may have to go again just to listen!
>
> Don Larsson
> ___________________________________________________
> "I don't deduce.  I observe."
> --Roger O Thornhill
>
> Donald F. Larsson, Professor
> English Department, Minnesota State University, Mankato
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Film and TV Studies Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] on
> behalf of Krin Gabbard [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 9:25 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [SCREEN-L] Soundtrack rumblings
>
> I just got back from seeing Skyfall, the new James Bond film, at a
> multiplex on 84th and Broadway in New York City.  Early in the film, I
> heard a faint rumbling that I assumed was the sound of explosions bleeding
> in from the film in the theater next door.  Then I thought it was a subway
> train running very close to the surface near the theater.  But when the
> rumbling became a bit louder, I realized that is was actually coming from
> the speakers in the theater.  There was nothing at all musical about the
> rumbling.  It was deep in the bass register, and it was never rhythmic. On
> closer listening, I decided that it was meant to be an aural punctuation
> to dialogue.  I was not aware of it during the action scenes.  It only
> seemed to be part of the soundtrack when characters were talking, and it
> seemed like the “explosions” were more pronounced when someone said
> something meant to be significant.
>
> It may not be a useful comparison, but I kept thinking of the nonstop,
> fake-gravitas soundtracks in recent films with scores by Hans Zimmer. I’m
> thinking in particular of Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.  There
> seems to be a trend toward soundtracks that never leave well enough alone.
>  The filmmakers seem to believe that audiences will be more attentive or
> more moved when there is always something happening on the soundtrack
> besides dialogue and diegetic sound.
>
> Was I having aural hallucinations, or has anyone else noticed this?
>
> All the best,
>         krin
> ------------------------------------------------------
> Krin Gabbard, Professor of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
> Department of Cultural Analysis and Theory
> Humanities 2048
> Stony Brook, NY 11794-5355
> (631) 632-7460
>
> Editor in Chief, Cinema and Media Studies
> Oxford Bibliographies
> www.oxfordbibliographies.com/obo/page/cinema-and-media-studies
>
>
>
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