Jack and Heath have Buzzed for great effect

July 27, 2008 7:37 PM

Is there a term in Cinema/Film school for that slow build humming/buzz sound effect that heightens tension in certain scenes that I think I've only seen in Stanley Kubrick films?

Offhand I remember it's presence in 2001, The Shining and, I think, Eyes Wide Shut.
While watching Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight this weekend I noticed that during the Heath Ledger scenes this was used to great effect and I was wondering if Kubrick was the originator for that technique.

posted by stavx to media & arts (9 comments total)

György Sándor Ligeti, and I'm only half being a smart-ass.
posted by Ponderance at 7:45 PM on July 27, 2008

Most film-type people call these sounds "drones." David Lynch uses them extensively as well, but as far as I can remember Kubrick's use of Ligeti choral passages in 2001 was the first, like Ponderance said.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:18 PM on July 27, 2008

No Country for Old Men, especially in the scene between Chigurgh and gas station owner.

(In fact, it's easy to think there is no score at all in No Country for Old Men. It's all very ambient and subliminal.)
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 8:31 PM on July 27, 2008

Seconding "drones."
posted by Mender at 8:46 PM on July 27, 2008

First place I know of it being used is Michael Snow's Wavelength (1967). It's also the longest drone in cinema history, I would think.
posted by dobbs at 9:11 PM on July 27, 2008

I think they also use this during suspenseful moments on the tv show Lost. My dad calls it "the bees" so I had to laugh when I saw the term "drone."
posted by jschu at 9:56 PM on July 27, 2008

Also appears in Federico Fellini's movie 8 1/2, from 1963. It's in the opening scene when the main character is stuck in his car, and I believe a few other places too.
posted by kiltedtaco at 7:47 AM on July 28, 2008

The sound in Wavelength is a sine wave. A sine wave is a drone, but a drone is not necessarily a sine wave.
posted by k8lin at 8:57 AM on July 28, 2008

I noticed it in The Dark Knight as well. Drone sounds right.
posted by JauntyFedora at 3:00 PM on July 28, 2008