MOMA Trip

During this trip to the Museum of moving images, I got to learn a lot about not only the history of filmmaking but also about how technology has advanced throughout the years. One of the exhibits that really stood out to me was the sound effect replacement in a sequence from the film The Terminator. Often times while watching movies it seems as if the sound effects were added seamlessly and with relative ease. However, during this demo, we got to see that the sound effects designer’s work is not easy, and rather requires a lot of decision making and meticulous attention to detail. For example, when we were watching the demo, some sounds sounded really similar to each other when isolated but when put back into the context of the movie, they made a huge impact on how the sequence played out. There were also some sound choices that changed this intense action scene into an almost parody by putting in some goofy wheel turn sounds and exaggerated explosions. The different array of sounds also showed how much sound design has developed over the years and has now come to a point where it greatly enhances our film experiences. Listening to the demo clip without sound was also very interesting, I have come to take sound for granted in movies and listening to the clip without sound really showed me how important sound effects are in a movie. This demo was a great experience and it helped me realize a lot about the sound design behind films.