An ear-opening and revelatory history lesson on the unsung power of sound in cinema, Making Waves interposes fascinating interviews with dissected scenes to educate and exhilarate even the seasoned cinephile.
Costin’s film underlines just how crucial is sound to our experience of cinema. Fascinating and informative, it’s a ‘must-watch’ for film students and fans alike.
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound 2019
Screened as part of Cannes Classics and met with uproarious applause at several points – particularly after its rousing opening scenes, before the title card was even up – this captivating, in-depth documentary extols the art of movie sound design and its unseen artisans.
Director Midge Costin (a feature film sound editor for over 25 years) and her crew of predominantly female film practitioners draw together interviews with an extraordinary line-up of filmmakers, editors and sound specialists to show the viewer just how crucial, and yet virtually ‘invisible’, the craft of sound design is to the movies we love.
Far from being of interest only to a niche audience of soundies and composers, Making Waves is essential viewing for anyone interested in how the magic of film casts its spell, frequently without our even noticing. Demonstrating the effect of sound design and musical score using key scenes from movies we thought we knew inside out (including an illuminating dissection of Apocalypse Now), Costin opens our ears to this subtlest of art forms. Revered luminaries including the legendary editor Walter Murch, directors Ryan Coogler, Barbra Streisand and George Lucas, and a surprisingly gender-balanced bevy of working sound designers and editors walk us through this exhilarating master class. Ever wondered how Chewbacca got his voice? — Sarah Watt
“An erudite and impassioned documentary that does its damndest to prove that we experience movies with our ears as much as we do with our eyes – perhaps even more so.” — David Ehrlich, IndieWire