When a movie decides that it's only going to focus on one character through its entirety, there have to be elements that keep the audience's attention and draw them into whatever struggle the character is going through. In the case of Academy Award-nominated J.C. Chandor's new film All Is Lost, that element is keeping you inside Robert Redford's head as much as possible, and showing things from his perspective -- which doesn't just include what you see, but also what you hear. Check out the brilliant SoundWorks Collection video from Michael Coleman below for an insight into the sound design of All Is Lost.

First, here is the trailer for the film:

And the SoundWorks Collection video:

This film features only one character and contains almost no dialogue yet is brought to life by the talented sound and music team including Re-recording Mixer and Sound Designers Steve Boeddeker and Brandon Proctor and Supervising Sound Editor Richard Hymns of Skywalker Sound and Music Composer Alex Ebert.

The first person perspective makes for some really interesting possibilities as far as sound is concerned, especially when you think about how you interact with sounds in real life. Most of the time we are blocking out many sounds because there's just too much stimulating our minds, and our bodies are trying to give us only the information we really need. For example, if you've got a fan blowing on yourself because the weather is warm, and you're also doing something else at the same time, like watching a movie, you're eventually going to forget the sound of the fan and only hear the movie. For those who had the very loud first-generation Xbox 360, you might have experienced something similar.

One of the best points they make is that audiences are very good at filling in things they can't actually see but can hear. This is something that works very well in horror films, and it also can work wonderfully in narrative. When the metal container crashes into the boat, there isn't some big crazy helicopter and crane shot, it's just a sound. Not only does this keep the cost down, but it makes you as an audience member feel more engaged and more a part of the story you're watching.

Click here for more videos from SoundWorks Collection, or head on over to the website for more content related to the world of audio.

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Sound & Music