There are many, many nouns for the act of looking - a glance, a glimpse, a peep - but there's no noun for the act of listening. In general, we don't think primarily about sound. So I have a different perspective on the world; I can construct soundscapes that have an effect on people, but they don't know why. It's a sort of subterfuge.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the lack of language for auditory experiences compared to visual ones, suggesting a deeper understanding of sound's impact on perception.
Walter Murch reflects on the differences between our perception of visual and auditory experiences. He points out the abundance of terms associated with seeing, while emphasizing the scarcity of words for listening. This observation leads him to articulate a unique viewpoint on sound, suggesting that soundscapes can influence emotions and thoughts in ways that people may not consciously recognize. It underscores the profound yet often overlooked role of sound in shaping our understanding of the world.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of mindfulness, one could use this quote to illustrate how often we overlook the impact of sound.
You can always make a film somehow. You can beg, borrow, steal the equipment, use credit cards, use your friends' goodwill, wheedle your way into this or that situation. The real problem is, how do you get people to see it once it is made?
Film editing is now something almost everyone can do at a simple level and enjoy it, but to take it to a higher level requires the same dedication and persistence that any art form does.
The notion of directing a film is the invention of critics - the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room.
I believe that one of the secret engines that allows cinema to work, and have the marvelous power over us that it does, is the fact that for thousands of years we have spent eight hours every night in a 'cinematic' dream-state, and so are familiar with this version of reality.
Film is really the one art form that can effectively use silence. Music and theater can play with silence, but they can't sustain silence without losing energy, whereas film can go into a silent mode and stay there for minutes at a time.
This applies to many film jobs, not just editing: half the job is doing the job, and the other half is finding ways to get along with people and tuning yourself in to the delicacy of the situation.
What if I told you insane was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to p*ss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn't you consider that to be insane?
I'm drawn to the taboos that surround the human body. I find it fascinating that we are repelled by many of the acts and processes that keep us alive.
Feminist: A person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.
Being precedes Truth, and ... Truth precedes the Good.
To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea.
Sometimes... sometimes I think the Asylum is a head. We're inside a huge head that dreams us all into being. Perhaps it's your head, Batman. Arkham is a looking glass... and we are you.
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