Crafting the Intricate and Immersive Sound of 'Interstellar'
Interstellar has a lot going for it. Beautiful 70mm cinematography. Stunning visual effects. But what might be the most affecting aspect of the film is the sound.
In another fantastic installment of Michael Coleman's Soundworks Collection, we get an all-access pass to immerse ourselves in the complex, intricate, and subtly naturalistic sounds of Interstellar.
What I find most fascinating about the sound of Interstellar isn't the ingenuity of the foley artists — although we all know those guys are rockstars — or the way the sound was mixed, but instead it's the overall philosophy of the film's sound. An existential science fiction film with a budget the size of Kansas seems like the perfect opportunity to go a bit crazy on the sound front. Had he been so inclined, Nolan could have sent his sound team to the bottom of the ocean to collect sounds in order to create an expressionistic wall of sounds to represent outer space.
Instead, Interstellar's sound is incredibly restrained and naturalistic, and it attempts to create and convey a sense of realism that is relatively rare in science fiction filmmaking. The sound helps to completely immerse the viewers in the film's incredible visual environments, from an unassuming corn field to the depths of space, and ultimately the film is stronger for it.
What do you guys think about the sound of Interstellar? Were there any particular moments in the film where the sound design stuck out to you?
Source: Soundworks Collection
