Final: Arnheim and Sound

Kristin Park
Theory Final

My project is an exploration of Arnheim’s argument against sound. Arnheim argued that the addition of sound to film is unnecessary and makes movies too close to our “experience of the real.” He believes that the addition of sound should be created in our minds. He also says that our mind organizes the world and takes meaning from it.

I am curious what Arnheim would think about cartoons. If the visuals were unrealistic, as cartoons are, would he still consider adding realistic sound to add too much to our “experience of the real?”

With this piece, I redesigned the accompanying sound using more realistic sounds. For example, the roadrunner makes the clattering noise you would hear if you saw on in the wild verses the “beep beep” sound assigned to it in the original cartoon. While the original is meant to be comical, the remake is meant to be about revenge and failure and death. Shakespeare’s “St. Crispin’s Day” speech is incorporated and mixed with clips from The Godfather to help change the tone and the focus.
Arnheim also argues that the absence of sound puts more emphasis on what is seen. I posted this cartoon three times in order that you may consider his arguments for yourself. The first version is silent. The second it the original sound. And the third is my own design.