![]() ![]() In a recent interview, Nolan explained how he used Shepard tones in his newest film, Dunkirk: The screenplay had been written according to musical principals. He even writes his scripts to match the effect. With longtime collaborator Hans Zimmer, the acclaimed director has used a Shepard tone in almost every one of his films in the last decade. Don’t listen to this too long, or you might lose your mind: Anyways, Christopher Nolan just loves this. You can even see the similarity, when you hear it and look at the spectrum view of a Shepard tone. A Shepard tone is sometimes referred to as the barber pole of sound. This is accomplished by stacking scales on top of each other-typically one treble scale, one midrange, and one bass-with an octave in between, then playing them in a continuous loop. The tones are constantly moving upwards or downwards, but they never seem to reach a pinnacle or nadir. Named after psychologist Roger Shepard, a pioneer in our understanding of spatial relation, the effect sounds like an infinitely ascending or descending scale. The magic is actually a science- based audio illusion called a Shepard tone. Turns out he’s using a little bit of musical magic to do it. But the director does have a knack for creating an unnerving degree of tension. Ever notice how Christopher Nolan’s movies (Interstellar, Inception, The Prestige) feel like an anxiety attack? Well, maybe that’s overstating things a bit. The Uncanny Sound Illusion That Creates Suspense in Christopher Nolan's Movies. ![]()
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December 2022
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