In The Sandman, two things that stood out to me about the sound were the parallelism the director included, as well as the synchronous sound. With parallelism, the entire film had a creepy and eery vibe; the lighting was very dark, the way the characters looked and acted, and they were in an old, creaky house. The creepiness that the director included was strongly emphasized by the musical scores he decided to include, for the music was making it seem that something was going to happen to the little kid (which eventually did), and it also generally gave off a sketchy vibe, making the combination of the sound and the creepiness of the setting and characters very effective. Additionally, the synchronous sound the director included also added to the overall creepy feel. For example, when both the little kid and The Sandman were going up the stairs to the kids bedroom, the stairs creaked, which in film is typically viewed as very creepy and spooky. Also once the wind blew open the window, the slam of the window and the roar of the wind not only scared the kid, but it made the audience wonder if something was about to happen to him.
To add on to the use of sound within The Sandman, I especially enjoyed how the clock was synced with the sound of the footsteps and tilt of the characters head. The sound of the clock doubled as footsteps and a regular clock suggesting anticipation and timelines of the creepy event to come and the pacing footsteps of the young girl as she is awaiting bedtime. I really enjoyed this short film and the attention how my attention was entirely drawn to the sound because of the absence of dialogue.
I think “The Sandman” effectively illustrates the influence that sound has on our perceptions of media. For a film without any dialogue, the sandman is able to capture the emotional attention of the viewer through its strategic use of sound effects. This says a lot about the way that our brains perceive sound in conjunction with images to derive meaning.
I completely agree what everyone has said above. Sadly, although I could not exactly find what specific sounds the director used, I feel that I could understand why Professor Sikand suggested that sound is arguably the most important part of film on one of the first days of our classes. Although there was absolutely no dialogue in the 10 minute film, I was able to understand the whole narrative which was something I never realized until I saw “The Sandman”. Knowing this, I hope to look for different sounds in the different movies we see in class and hope to analyze them further.
I agree with everything said above, but I would add that the repetition of certain sounds was very powerful. They way the little boy repeatedly stepped on the creaky stair so we would recognize that sound when the Sandman made his way up the stairs. It made the action creepier and menacing. Also, the quick cuts back and forth as the sandman jump back and forth over the bed in wait of the little boy to open his eyes, quickened the pace of the short film and produced a feeling of anxiety and anticipation.