Both of Kozloff’s pieces were very interesting and complimented one another.  The first piece, the introduction of Invisible Storytellers: Voice-Over Narration in American Fiction Film, defined Voice-over-narration while the second piece, A Defense-and history-of Voice over Narration, discussed the controversy of voice over narration in cinema. 

notes: 

•  Voice over narration formally defined as “oral statements, conveying any portion of a narrative, spoken by an unseen speaker situated in a space and time other than that simultaneously being presented by the images on screen”
• narrators are usually: 1st person or 3rd person
• VON creates intimacy.  Personal Tone, historical information, and gives people who normally don’t have a voice, a voice (i.e. 1940’s women) 
• art vs. media; film=visual art
• insultin: telling=laziness and/or condescension

In Kozloff’s A Defense-and history of voice over narration, she demonstrates the various effects of Voice over Narration (VON) in the cinema world.  Some, like Spike Jonze, even go as far as to criticize the use of VON in film.  In Jonze’s Adaptation, a character attends a screenwriting lecture where Robert McKee, a real-life figure criticizes VON by saying, “And God help you if you use voice-over in your work, my friends. God help you. That’s flaccid, sloppy writing. Any idiot can write a voice-over narration to explain the thoughts of a character”.  Some see VONs as degrading, as they “tell” rather “show” the audience giving the narrator condescending persona.   While others object to VONs because they believe that film is a visual art and that the addition of media (i.e. voice over sounds) detracts from the art of film as Kozloff notes, “What makes film distinct and special, these theorists argue, is its capacity to convey information nonverbally—through mise-en-scène, editing, camera movement, POV, facial expression or pantomime”.  They want to separate the various forms of art, seeing each form as a threat to the others, “From the beginning, film aficionados have felt the need to defend cinema as an art and to do so by setting it apart from other media, especially theater and literature”.  People want to set defined lines between the various forms of art to keep each form true.  By adding VON’s to film, critics believe that the visual display of the films are tampered and biased by the narrators and limit the audience’s perspectives.

I think that Kozloff feels the need to defend voice over narrations because others refuse to do so and more importantly, she sees the importance of VONs where others do not as she states, “Many have issued pronouncements against voice-over, and few have murmured in its defense. Yet voice-over narration remains an integral part of moviemaking—so common that we often overlook its contribution and ignore its development”.  Kozoloff acknowledges the controversy with VON in the film industry and takes her reader through the negative and positive outlooks of using VON.  She tries to persuade her readers by taking a more “neutral” standpoint, stating why some critics refuse to accept VON while others believe VONs are crucial to the film industry.

            I have actually seen most of the movies Kozoloff mentions in her writings and like she said, “Voice-over narration has been a major element of cinema since the thirties; it is so very common that it probably passes the average moviegoer unnoticed” I too failed to realize the element of voice over narration in these movies.  I’m sure that while watching movies I acknowledge that there is someone, not in the visual, speaking.  The usual narrative structures “Once upon a time” and “So the story begins”, etc. are phrases that I subconsciously note as voice-overs but usually dismiss during the movies.   Considering our next assignment, I am leaning towards Amelie or American Beauty because I am familiar with these two films.

Notes

Distinguished from voice-off, interior monologues, voiced texts. Instead, voice-over narration is an oral recounting of a narrative whose source is not fund in the time and time of the scence being visually presented.

how do we recognize voice-over as narration? linguistic cues (simple past tense verbs, more by Labov?), “intuitive knowledge of narrative structure”, context in which speech arises – sound, movie, content of speech..

A purpose of voice-over narration identified by Kozloff : convey important events,info or create intimacy with audience.

The claimed familiarity with narrative structure may help create this intimacy, because regardless of the amount of speech done by the narrator, audience has identified it as a narration and may experience the rest of the film along the narrative structure introduced in Kozloff’s introduction, thus stimulating an intimacy to the film paralleled to one between oral storyteller and listener.

Points out a major division, though recognizes variations (based on level of narration and narrators relation to the story), between : “authorial, 3rd person” and “character, 1st person” narrators.

I enjoyed the history and defense article of voicec-narration more than the other one because it pointed out the role it plays in enhancing the audience’s experience and amplifying the content of the film. I know that I will now pay attention to the way a voice-over narration affects me and the qualities it adds to the film.

Against voice-over narration: hinders the growth of cinema as a seperate visual art, insults the intelligence of the audience, results in the diminished use of the creative visual resources offered by film, is authoritative and provides a single interpretation instead of allowing individual spectator interpretations.

For voice-over narration: deeper characterizations by introducing emotions, thoughts..; provides historical context and expositional data; the layering of the oral narration and the visuals provides a distance that may be utilized to bring irony into the film (presenting what characters do not know, “tribal blind spots”). Also mentioned the possibility of introducing poetic feel to the film.

Those against voice-over narration view cinema as an art form with a single medium of creation – the visual, and thus by ignoring the unique features of film and allow the complex intertwining of various techniques. Their argument the a voice-ver narration would limit the film to a single biased interpretation does not seem to be aware of the different ways of narrating and contents. A well introduced and written narration can efficiently add to the visual story so that the audience may have more factors to interpret. For example, knowing the historical context of the events gives them another layer of significance beyond the scripted drama. I especially value and enjoy the irony introduced by a narrator when they voice a “tribal blind spot” because it is a fact that probably would not have been evident without the narration and it submerges me deeper into the film by acknowledging me presence.

The movies that I can remember used voice-over narration are Transformers and War of the Worlds, and both had the effect of tying me emotionally to the movie – I felt like a child listening to a great storyteller recounting a great adventure. They both also provided a context that otherwise might have been boring or too time consuming to watch, yet added significance to the events in the film by situating them into a larger context. Stranger the Fiction used narration in a curious way since it played a more effectual role in the story being portrayed, yet even then I do not think that the audience was deprived from the chance to interpret characters’ actions, feelings, etc.

As to the film we must chose for analysis I am considering : Transformers, Grizzly Man, American Beauty and About a Boy. I haven’t seen Am. Beauty or Grizzly Man though.

Notes on Acoustic cyberspace:

 

I disagree with the generalization made by McLuhan that visual space is linear and that, in contrast, that acoustic space is simultaneous and nonlinear. There are elements of the linear, superimposed, causal, sequential, and resonance in both spaces. He emphasizes the nonlinear qualities of sound and negates its causality. I disagree with the exclusivity Davis employs. Sounds can be organized linearly and perceived in a causal format. Music theory utilizes mathematics, repetition; it is logical and organized in a linear fashion. Sound can be interpreted as a logical reaction to the movement of something and the following vibration of air molecules, adopting causal characteristics.

He claims that print culture has caused our perception and subjectivity take on a linear organization and that “acoustic space is capable of simultaneity, superimposition, and nonlinearity, but above all, it resonates”. This statement may be true but I do not think visual space can be separated from these characteristics. In a tangible, real-time conception of the visual, images can be superimposed through photography by physically placing two negatives on top of each other in the enlarger, and there are many more sophisticated methods that can be achieved using vehicles like Photoshop. Even today as I looked out the bus window I saw the image of the road and all that was beyond the reflective barrier and my own face superimposed on passing cars. In a more abstract sense, daydreaming, imagination and memories can be “seen” while the visual receptors receive external stimuli. Within the realm of thought and memories, they can be recalled by associations that are nonlinear. Also, images can have resonance in a more figurative sense. Davis says that through resonance the sound gains energy or strength. Images can augment their strength through repeated viewing (as in advertising) or if they can achieve a personal, affective impact (pictures of dead puppies).

Davis does concede that this dichotomy is a “simplified [way] of talking about the conditions for experiencing information, consciousness, conception”.

 

I would like to know more about these concepts: polycentered and non-thought.

 

I have had a similar cinematic experience in which the sound was what transported me into the movie. Through use of surround sound during the overhead arrival of a helicopter, I hit the deck, thinking there was something coming at me.

 

Regarding the question as to why acoustic spaces are so affective, I think about the emotional difference between receiving a phone call saying, “I love you,” and a text message with the same content. The acoustic version extracts a stronger reaction personally.

 

“The acoustic spaces of electronic music aren’t limited to the organization of affect and narrative that define much popular music, with is highly personalized structures of love and loss./ Rather than merely extending the language of human affect along such typical lines, electronic music opened up much less personalized soundscapes and psychic spaces. It in not just a genre or technique of music, but a much deeper phenomenon that involves mapping the electronic media spaces that humans find themselves in”

 

The quote is written employing a scholastic code or jargon, as seen in, “mapping” and “narrative”. Davis discusses abstract ideas such as, “soundscape”, “phenomenon” and“psychic spaces”. Davis is very clear and specific with his words. He uses an argumentative tone, acknowledges and addresses concepts to the claim he is making.

The importance of the quote is that it is a concrete example of Davis’ claim. Through the example of electronic music he illustrates the opportunity that exists to develop new forms of perception via electronic media and audio experiences. The virginity of electronic music is what makes it worth noting. Seeing how popular culture perceives and conceives something that has not been subjugated to an existing popular schema will draft the map of subjectivity Davis references.

 

Megan profile:

 Notes:This all seems like a lot of work. These are complex concepts. My biggest problem will be narrowing it down and focusing on a few key concepts. “In order to make my claim in Response Paper 1.3, I used evidence from both my work and Okawa’s, along with quotes from the Lord of War trailer. This is seen when I said, “By setting this background mood with the help of narration and sound, Seabiscuit starts to be transformed into a symbol for success and overcoming hardships” (3). I used this quote from my work to show that even though the contexts of Seabiscuit and Lord of War are completely different, they both use the narration of a character whose voice helps portray his personality. I also used evidence found in narration by Nicholas Cage in the Lord of War trailer to support my claim.” 

The tone is persuasive. She is justifying how her work fulfills the expectations of the syllabus for the assignment by including evidence from her own work. Her word choice is academic but more vulgar than that of Davis. She uses the first person singular often. The fact that two distinct works could be intertextualized demonstrates that there are overarching principles in the realm of sound. 

This piece was interesting because it went over the different definitions of voice-over, its use through history, and why it is underrated and why it shouldn’t be. Someone could object to voice-over by degrading it like in the movie Adaption or writing a critique by saying that a movie isn’t good because it used voice-over narration. Such people object to voice-over narration because they believe it is taking away from the art form known as cinema. They see that combining other art forms with cinema degrades the whole meaning of cinema and they see other art forms as a threat to the existence of cinema. As Kozloff wrote, “From the beginning, film aficionados have felt the need to defend cinema as an art and do so by setting it apart from other media, especially theatre and literature.” Film critics and lovers alike love to separate art into different categories which, in my opinion is completely wrong. She even says that intellectuals and filmmakers saw “in speech the death of film art…film is a visual art, speech should never have a leading role.” I completely disagree. All arts are unique yet similar. One art can learn from another and to even extend this idea, art can learn from science and vice versa. No matter how different the subject matter there is something to be learned and contributed from every category. It is the same with people- no matter how different the person is from you, you can learn something from them. They can leave a mark in your life, just as different arts can leave their signature in cinema. In turn cinema leaves its powerful message to world through it’s medium of various arts.Kozloff defends voice-over narration because of its impact on movies and the audience. Voice-over helps us to learn more about a certain situation, about a certain character, or even the character’s thoughts. All in all voice-over can enhance the viewer’s experience if done right. Kozloff uses many examples to defend her point including the movies Cries and Whispers, Lolita, Taxidriver, Days of Heaven, American Beauty, and Fight Club. She describes the use of voice-narration from the time sound came into movies in the 1920s till the present.Seeing the vast use of voice-over narration one would think there’d be no need to defend it. Kozloff even says in her introduction that voice-over narration has become such an integral part of movies that us movie-goers of the recent generation don’t even notice its existence. I think this is true because personally I never really knew what voice-over narration was, and even if subconsciously I did, I never noticed it in movies. I believe that Kozloff has given me a better understanding of the different voice-over narrations, and now that I know what it is, I will be looking out for it in movies. Once you learn something new about movies, don’t you notice it when you go watch one? I know when I learned about the different english terms in high school, I started noticing them in books, and when I learned new vocabulary in dance, I would notice it when I saw a performance.Looking at the definition of voice-over I am considering Fight Club, The Notebook, and Memoirs of a Geisha for my analysis on voice-over narration. I am not sure if Memoirs of a Geisha and The Notebook can be considered as having voice-over narration but I believe that Fight Club has quite a bit. I believe The Notebook has a lot of voice-over narration as the story is that of an old man telling his his wife their love story. Memoirs of a Geisha is told through the eyes of the geisha herself, and although Kozloff says this isn’t a type of voice-over narration, I am sure there are parts in the movie that can be considered voice-over narration.Questions:Fight Club:“Which parts are good examples of voice-over narration?”“How does voice-over narration help us learn more about the characters and enhance our viewing of the movie?”  The Notebook: “How is the old man telling his love story to his wife voice-over narration? What characterizes it as voice-over narration?”“What some good examples of voice-over narration in the movie?” Memoirs of a Geisha:“Can this movie be considered as having voice-over narration?”“If so what are some good examples and how does it enhance our viewing?”  

Whatever the future of CDs, tapes, vinyl, and the like, I’m quite sure advisories are here to say.

But let us move away from speculation and into the immediate past and future. First, thank you for a great class today. The conversations went in a number of productive directions and opened up a slew of exciting inquiries, all of which are worthy of unpacking in the next few weeks.

And welcome, Aitza and Ryan!

Now, what’s in store for Thursday’s class in OUGL 101, and then a re-cap of today, with emphasis on why sonic culture studies matters in the first place:

For Thursday:

• Please read the introduction to Sarah Kozloff’s Invisible Storytellers (it’s the last one on the e-reserves list), as well as her article, “A Defense–and History–of Voice-Over Narration.”
• Respond to Blog Prompt #3 and comment on two entries by your peers.
• Come prepared to discuss your blog entries and Kozloff in class.

Regarding today, as I gather, here are some reasons — thanks to you — why sonic culture studies matters. It:

• Encourages the study of individual perceptions and how context influences people’s perceptions.
• Engages questions about art’s relation to technology. How might art and technology intersect and not be mutually exclusive terms?
• Explores sound as a mode of communication and even activism.
• Examines how we affectively respond to media. That is, how does media affect our bodies and our senses?
• Entertains how sound suggests the physical presence of another.
• Extrapolates the ways in which sound and sound technologies make us vulnerable.
• Enlivens multi-modal education by appealing to different learning styles.
• Enriches political conversations about sound’s intersections with gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality.
• Enables critical approaches to the consumption of popular culture and media.

Yes! Words that — without any reason — all begin with “e”!

Other than providing these compelling reasons, we also:

• Practiced the three-step analysis by attending to sounds from last quarter.
• Considered how writing — like music and other sound recordings — might be a “layered” practice of sustaining multiple “tracks,” rather a linear, cause-and-effect mode of reasoning.
• Collaborated to answer a single question about Davis and Nordstrom.
• Learned a bit more about each other.
• Began a quarter-long inquiry into sonic culture and media activism.
• Addressed and mobilized the importance of stakes (or the “so what?”) of any inquiry (e.g., why does sonic culture studies matter in the first place).

If you have more to add — including questions, concerns, or polemics, then feel free to do so in your own blog entry or through a comment on this entry. Cool?

See you on Thursday in OUGL 101.

Best,

Jentery

In Erik Davis’ article I was introduced to a completely new concept: acoustic space. I had never thought of sound as a dimension, but now I think it is quite fascinating. I learned that hearing and seeing are two conditions for experiencing information. The rise of acoustic media, especially from the internet, is giving people the chance to experience the world in more variety.

The first question I have about this article is about the meaning of subjectivity. The author uses this word countless times, I had to to find out what it meant. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “subjectivity” is the noun derivative of the adjective “subjective.” This means, “1 based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. 2 dependent on the mind for existence.” So subjectivity would mean the personal feelings, tastes, or opinions that are influenced.

This is the quote I chose from Erik Davis: “I’m really talking about different dimensions of the kind of subjectivity that we produce in networked environments.” When I read this I think it sounds very abstract, there is no solidity. I can’t make a picture of the meaning in my mind. The sentence sounds complicated because there are many polysyllabic words. I like the repetition of the “d” sound in “different dimensions.” I really have trouble understanding what this phrase means.

My favorite idea in the article was that when sound surrounds you, you become immersed in it and it can be stronger than a visual experience. Sound can be all around you, but in a visual experience, you can be distanced by not being able to touch it. I agree with his statement that sound produces atmosphere and carries vectors of mood that can change the qualitative organization of space. Sounds and music can change anything that you are looking at.

Part 2: Megan Nordstom

I thought it was great to listen to her 3 podcasts about before going to the boys and girls club and during here experience there. It was powerful to hear her voice telling me about her experiences. Putting her human voice with the words made me connect to it more and sense a person, rather than if I was reading her paper.

In the podcast, she talked about the kids using the volunteer tutors to do their homework for them. That sounds like the tutors did not understand how, or were not patient enough to teach the children how to do it themselves. I hope that I be different. She also said that there wasn’t that much to do and she felt bored. This made me make a goal that I never want to be bored there. My goal is to always be engaged and interacting with the children.

One of my favorite parts of her portfolio was her third podcast. She talked about a girl teaching her to knit. I think there is a lot children can teach us.

The quote I picked came from her response paper 1.2: “When viewing the movie a second time, with no sound, the movie almost seemed pointless to me.” The word “pointless” really sticks out in the quote because it has such a negative connotation.  Therefore, I think of the quote as having an unsatisfied tone because the viewer feels empty watching the film clip without sound.  This quote relates directly to Erik Davis’ article. I think they go well together.

Acoustic Cyberspace
by Erik Davis 

“Acoustic space is the space we hear rather than the space we see, and he argued that electronic media were submerging us in this acoustic environment, with its own language of affect and subjectivity.” I am having a difficult time grasping the concept of this article.  Imagining an acoustic environment with its own language of affect and subjectivity is hard for me to accomplish.  Envisioning a crowded street corner through merely audio alone could be space that we hear instead of see.

 “‘Atmosphere’ might be a good way to describe this aspect: sound produces atmosphere, almost in the way that incense—which registers with yet another sense—can do. Sound and smell carry vectors of mood and affect which change the qualitative organization of space, unfolding a different logic with a space’s range of potentials. Ambient music, or an ambient soundscape, can change the quality of a space in subtle or dramatic ways.”  I strongly agree with this statement from Erik Davis’ article.  I always find myself thinking back on some fond memory after catching a wiff of some mysterious drifting scent.  Can you imagine screaming from a scary movie when there is Celine Dion playing in the background.  I always find myself saying, “wouldn’t this be funny if _____ (random song) was playing instead of generic creepy music.”

 After reading Megan Nordstrom’s portfolio, I am looking forward to our quarter of english 121.  The projects that she wrote about seemed very interesting.   I don’t quite understand whether or not i’m supposed to be commenting on the papers she wrote or just how her portfolio looks.  Her writing is much easier to interpret than Davis’.  Overall, I think she did a fantastic job!

Whew. Looking at the two articles, I was initially, and still am partially confused at the connection between the two. The first article, “Acoustic Cyberspace” by Erik Davis seemed to be more or less directed toward the subject matter of the class while “Land Ho!” by Megan Nordstrom was a helpful guide to what the subject content of English 121B would be. Davis really went through a lot of material I thought, but then again, English isn’t my best subject. I caught the gist that he thought sonic culture and soundscapes put people into a completely different environment than “Renaissance” perspective. It was pretty interesting how he brought in the example of radio to prove his point, but overall I found it difficult to stay on track with his argument.

In Nordstrom’s article, I thought it was a cute, carefree tone which helped keep my attention. She made a point of laying out the key information and keeping it simple- I was able to focus in more on the article than the first, but maybe that was because of the background color being bright and cheery.

The quotes from the two articles, beginning with Erik Davis’:

” Music and sound are tremendously powerful forces for organizing affect; their power to structure subjectivity, in the here and now and over time, makes them an incredibly productive language, one capable of overcoming the linear grids implied by text.”

The tone seems to be slightly more formal, using larger, more articulated word choice.  It basically says that music has more influence than text in the way that it creates an entirely different environment for the listener.  In relation to the study of sound, it really summarizes the importance of sound and its influence which makes it a key subject to study.

From Nordstrom’s article I found the following quote important:

“By serving community-based organizations, students are able to connect with the community and demonstrate the ability to put their academic studies in the context of the real-world.”

In comparison to the entire article, this quote is quite formal.  The sentence is brief but full of information about the class, providing a concise and accurate portrayal of what students can take away from the class.  So in relation to the study of sound, the article shows insight into how students will be able to incorporate what they’ve learned about sound into their service learning opportunities.

The article by Davis, Acoustic Cyberspace, seemed to me very confusing and uninformative. His style of writing and choice of vocabulary makes the context hard to understand. Most of his main points are backed by wordy examples and explanations. My Quote: “Through resonance in a physical system, a small activity or event can gain a great deal of energy; for example, if I belted out a pitch that resonated with the unique acoustic characteristics of this room, the energy of my voice would be amplified by the environment. That’s why some singers can shatter a glass with their voice: they hit the resonant frequency of the glass (which is a space and contains a space), making it vibrate to the point of shattering.” This is the most easy to understand example that Davis provides. He uses it to explain what resonance is.

Nordstrom’s introduction to the class is much easier to understand. She introduces this class with an interesting approach that makes the readers intrigued to the context. In this quote: ”
Beware matey, there is no parlay on this island if you don’t fulfill the course outcomes! As you will see below, I addressed Outcomes One and Two, which focus on context awareness and the use of evidence in the paper. In the paper I argue that the use of sound, and especially narration, is essential in portraying the mood and feeling the director intended. I demonstrated that I was aware of the viewer and provided thoughtful ideas about the importance of the voice-over in this clip” she stays in context while sticking to her theme making it interesting.

The first text I read was “Acoustic Cyberspace,” by Erik Davis. It struck me as very abstract. There were things in it I have never heard before in my life and makes it hard to grasp, like the idea of acoustic space where it is not limited only to music but can expand to other spaces. Other topics, on the other hand, are easy to comprehend and make very great points, such as resonance and how it has the ability to break glass.

Virtual reality environments seem to be something in the much distant future, but in actuality, there are many virtual reality environments that can immerse people in something different. For example, Davis wrote of his experience on 3D audio, which emphasizes more of the listening portion of our senses rather than our overrepresented visual portion. I agree that this sort of virtual reality could give a stronger visual experience than solely a picture.

In addition, the idea of atmosphere is utilized in almost every public place today. Even in private places, sound provides ambiance and mood for the situation. This is amazing and truly one of the major powers music can have on its listeners. It seems that even sound has the ability to create a utopia and perfect world. Most of all, I believe it gives hope to people. That is why I believe the author wrote that when the radio erupted as a major thing, people thought “Now we will be able to communicate across the world, now we will be able to solve conflicts, now we will have better education, now we will have more democracy.” However, the radio of today, according to Erik Davis, is too commercialized and “mapped out” to its fullest extent in most places already. Though there are still some “indie” radio stations, such as college radio or pirate radio stations, it has become a “vast depressing wasteland.” The internet seems to be the new unexplored spectrum which can and is already becoming an acoustic dimension of electronic media. It is not immune to the same fate of radio. Music, as emphasized is a great example of something which can bring people together and organize, due in majority to resonance.

This paper was very interesting and held many ideas which I have not heard before, but ultimately is true and makes a lot of sense. The idea is to continue pushing the boundaries of acoustic space where there will always be something new to “map” out. He used the word “map” a few times, which makes me think that mapping out these spaces is important. It is critical that there will always be something new to explore. For example, the radio was something new and exciting, and now the internet seems to be doing the same thing. While writing this blog, I must confess that I was listening to music which filled up my acoustic space. It really made me think that what I am listening to is much more than just music. It is an expression of emotion and almost reaches out to you. Music causes atmosphere and ambiance to shift and move to somber, happy, or even a partying mood. There are so many possibilities to sound and its entirety as a dimension sometimes alien to our own.

In Megan Nordstrom’s E-Portfolio, she seemed to follow a Pirate theme where everything referred back somehow to Pirates. It seemed pretty clear on what assignments are expected and what is due. Her response to Response Paper 1.2 and 1.3 seemed intriguing and allowed the reader, in this case myself, to have some insight to what is expected this quarter for English 121. These tasks seem to be very interesting, and dare I say, fun to do. This overview of Nordstrom’s assignments and tasks are clear and define why we are doing these things through the expected outcomes of the paper.

Two quotes, one from each reading, each have importance in the fact that they relate how sound is so important in life, which is probably one of the reasons why this class has a major focus on audio. First, from “Acoustic Cyberspace,” Davis promotes a clear idea that “It is precisely this acoustic dimension that gives us tools, not just as individuals, but particularly as collectivities as well. It enables us to modulate and re-singularize this new environment in powerful ways—ways that the visual, the graphic, and the text-based, do not.” Clearly, this shows that Davis believes acoustic space and its dimension has the ability to shift peoples’ thinking and even alter environment to a new one. Tone here is persuasive. The purpose is to persuade the reader that this idea is true. Megan Nordstrom even stated that during her Response Paper 1.3, that “…although the visuals are an important asset to the clip, it is the sound that carries the trailer and gives the movie its unique dark comedy feel.” It was the sound which altered the mood of the film, which in this case was a dark comedy feel. Think about how movies would be without sound, let alone music. It would be so much more dull! A romance movie with a final scene where two lovers finally kiss with just the sound of background noise? No! That would create no emotion and no feeling. That is why movies today create a mix of sound and vision and allow scenes like the one mentioned to actually have the possibility of producing tears in its viewers. This, too, has a persuasive tone which uses evidence of sound in trailers and movies to create an effect. Though both quotes address different topics in sound, they connect in the same way. Simply put, sound is a powerful tool!