The Sound and The Silence: Our Favorite IMAX Audio Moments

IMAX In Frame  ‌ ‌ ‌ Welcome to the story behind the story. This is IMAX In Frame   The Sound and The Silence Our Favorite IMAX Audio Moments    [[ratio] Â]( Here’s a riddle for you: You cannot see me, you cannot touch me, but if I’m gone you will notice. What am I?  You already know IMAX is the supreme experience for premium visual storytelling. What you may not have noticed, but have certainly felt, is our cutting-edge sound. Backed by over half a century of technological innovation, IMAX sound is developed, versioned, and consistently innovated by the most ambitious minds the worlds of art and engineering have to offer. Strong enough to blast off with astronauts into space, but delicate enough to follow the scuttling of ants on a log.  From documentary to narrative cinema to epic concert films and animation, there’s nowhere IMAX sound can’t take you. In the new prequel, A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE, sound (and the lack thereof), is a character unto itself as the protagonists try to navigate a new world full of dangerous echolocating aliens. What they hear and don’t hear can mean life or death. To celebrate the thrills of this chilling new prequel chapter in the QUIET PLACE franchise, we’ve collected some of our favorite scenes from IMAX films where the sound experience is the star of the show.  Read below, [then get your tickets for A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE](. What are some of your favorite sound moments experienced in IMAX?  DUNKIRK (2017) - The Unsettling Sound of History Weaving three narrative lines through the story of one war could be a daunting task. Well, for anyone other than a modern master like Christopher Nolan. Paired with another master of his craft, Hans Zimmer, it's no wonder that the sound design & score of this film has a significant impact, especially when exhibited in IMAX, the format it was made for. Overall, the care and dedication to the film's sound design can be felt in every second-- The pervasive ticking was pulled from a recording Nolan sent Zimmer of his own pocket watch; upon visiting one of the beaches the film was shot on, Zimmer took home [a jar of sand]( to keep on his desk for inspiration and feel closer to the story. If the sound design seemed especially unique to you, you've got a good ear. Nolan and Zimmer applied some very intentional techniques to raise tension and connect the stories of these characters. One such example is the inclusion of the Shepard tone, an auditory illusion named after scientist Roger Shepard. Layering tones separated by an octave, as the bass & treble fade in and out on a loop, it creates the illusion that the tone is rising or falling in pitch, when in fact it is not. Our brains process this tone with unease, and its incorporation into a war picture like DUNKIRK is a brutally clever artistic choice. MIDSOMMAR (2019) - It Ain't Easy Being Queen While visiting a Swedish village, Dani gets pulled into a culture that is less Old-World charm, and more creepy cult. Through an increasingly unsettling set of circumstances, she grows distant from the rest of her travel cohort, eventually being recruited into a local dance competition. Though the sequence only lasts a few minutes, it spins the viewer around in a way that mimics the character's own disorienting journey. Folk-inspired drumbeats echo through expert IMAX sound, giving new depth to the experience. When the dance is over, and the music suddenly stops, you can feel the abrupt confusion and exhaustion in the space that lingers. As the villagers celebrate Dani's win, more music swells up. In another context, their affirmations woven in with the sunny score might seem hopeful. But coupled with Florence Pugh's performance and director Ari Aster's framing and movement, the viewer can feel the impending chaos of the moment. The scoring as experienced in IMAX emphasizes both our discomfort and hers, as we wait to find out if this is all a good thing or bad thing. [Tickets on sale now for June 20th](, as a part of our A24 x IMAX screening series. [[ratio] Â]( CHALLENGERS (2024) - Where Tennis Club Meets Dance Club Can a sports movie also be a dance movie? It can if you're director Luca Guadagnino and plan on delivering spring's sexiest cinematic event. Rather than a single scene, it's hard to ignore the impact of this film's techno-inspired soundtrack. Industrial music fans might recognize composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from their band Nine Inch Nails. However, they've also built a pretty prolific catalog of film and TV music, both individually and together. As a pair they've worked on such projects as THE SOCIAL NETWORK, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, and HBO's Watchmen series. In the video above, director Guadagnino describes working with the duo on a score that needed to sound like a rave, with its fast pace and pulsating beats. When presented in IMAX, you're getting served these same adrenaline-pumping sounds, only dialed up to 11. Matching the action (both on and off the court) that you see on screen, IMAX sound raises the heat and amplifies the stakes. With sound you can feel, there's no denying the CHALLENGERS soundtrack in IMAX is a total body experience. [[ratio] Â]( HONORABLE MENTION: The Sonic Countdown Obviously. everything is more epic in IMAX, even our pre-screening countdowns. [Experience A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE in IMAX.Â](   Each month, we’ll deliver a new exclusive piece of editorial to your inbox. Send us a line about future questions or topics you’d like to see at [fandom@imax.com](mailto:fandom@imax.com?a=11533&campaign_id=160&campaign_name=%5BFINAL%5D%3A+June%2724+In+Frame+%28AQP3+Listicle%29&campaign_type=newsletter&message_id=322&utm_campaign=%5BFINAL%5D%3A+June%2724+In+Frame+%28AQP3+Listicle%29&utm_content=April+%2724+IF&utm_medium=owned&utm_source=email).    IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [TikTok]( [Letterboxd]( [unsubscribe]()