Scenes in space without any sound

[JesterFace]

Many people here, if not all, know that sound can't travel in space.

What if there were versions of some of our favourite episodes with only Captain's Log entries etc when we see a ship or station in space?
Phasers, explosions, warp effects and all the other sound effects would not be there.
Might be interesting, would it take away much from the experience?

 

[Captain pl1ngpl0ng]

I never thought about it, i guess it could be interesting.
Do we hear a "clank" sound when a ship docks at the ds9? I dont remember..
I actually think silent explosions would be great.

 

[Tosk]

I don't see the point to be honest, apart from the occasional stylistic touch. But as a series-long approach a la Firefly or nuBSG, I'd rather they didn't.

 

[Henoch]

I thought the Balance of Terror phaser effects were handled well. I always assumed that the "pew-pew" from the outside of the ship was what was heard inside the ship close to the phaser banks. Even on the bridge, the phasers drained the ship power dimming the lights and the ship shook by the massive discharge of power accompanied internal ship sounds of the phaser discharge. The bursts around the Romulan ship were definitely silent in space (unless you were inside the Romulan ship then we hear the blasts hitting the hull and its reverberations). Sometimes the music score used drum thumps to accent the space bursts, but that's the exciting music, not a burst sound effect.

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[F. King Daniel]

I loved the breach scene at the start of ST'09, which acknowledged soundless space when a USS Kelvin crewperson was blown out into space. But overall, I find soundless space distracting. I much preferred Serenity's sound in space to Firefly's silence.

 

[Tosk]

I much preferred Serenity's sound in space to Firefly's silence.

Only when they're in that nebula/distortion/atmosphere thing...the purple stuff.
The rest of the film space is silent.

 

[Damian]

I think soundless space is cool as a one-off thing, like when it was done in Star Trek (2009). Or in a movie like 2001 when your goal is realism.

But in general, with Star Trek, I'm fine with taking some liberties to increase the drama. I mean, imagine the epic space battle in Nemesis with no sound. It wouldn't be nearly as dramatic. Imagine the Enterprise and Scimitar collision in silence. Or the battles of the Dominion War on DS9 with no sound.

I remember reading in "The Making of Star Trek" that they considered some of those things when making the show and decided they had to take some liberties with science for the dramatic and action elements.

So I guess what I'm saying is I don't think I'd alter the existing episodes to eliminate sound. I think something would be lost in the translation.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I'm fine with taking some liberties to increase the drama.

I am too. Otherwise when Kirk is tied up and all his devices taken from him, how would he record his captain's log.

 

[fireproof78]

I can see the appeal but silence is something that really bothers people, so I don't see the need for no sound.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I am too. Otherwise when Kirk is tied up and all his devices taken from him, how would he record his captain's log.

The computer is voice activated. He talks in his big commanding voice and the communicator safely stored away in the next room records.

 

[valkyrie013]

In Babylon 5 Thirdspace, they had the captian in a spacesuit in the battle, and when they zoom in on him, there's no sound, which makes for a cool effect.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I loved the breach scene at the start of ST'09, which acknowledged soundless space when a USS Kelvin crewperson was blown out into space.

Yeah, that was a really effective moment in that opening. Just eerie.

But generally, I'm fine with Trek having sound effects in space. It's space opera as well as science fiction and deserves a little artistic license.

 

[Mysterion]

But generally, I'm fine with Trek having sound effects in space. It's space opera as well as science fiction and deserves a little artistic license.

Agreed. And, besides, alongside the myriad of liberties Trek has taken with science over the last fifty-plus years, sound in space is a pretty minor offense.

 

[marlboro]

Being able to hear in a vacuum is one of the lesser known features of the Universal Translator.

 

[Maurice]

Some early TOS effects were played silent with only the music carrying the drama, but they added sound effects to them in the -R versions. Boo.

 

[Delta Vega]

There shouldn't be added sound effects in space scenes, quite simply because there is no sound in a vacuum.
Artistic license doesn't cover it.

 

[Christopher]

But as a series-long approach a la Firefly or nuBSG, I'd rather they didn't.

I'll never understand why people say BSG had silent space scenes. The sound effects were muted, but they were there.

I much preferred Serenity's sound in space to Firefly's silence.

Not me. I loved FF's silent space scenes -- it made them feel more real and vivid, not less. After all, when we see documentary footage on the news, something from a security camera or a drone, it's often silent. Even if we see something live from a distance, the sound from it might be delayed or too faint to make out. So a scene without sound effects resonates with real-life experience and feels more like watching something genuine, something natural and unstaged. Putting clear sounds on everything just makes it feel more produced, more artificial.

I absolutely loved the sound design in Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, its authentic use of silence, limiting the sounds to what the main character would've been able to hear. It was incredibly vivid and made things more dramatic, the sounds more impactful (often literally) when they did occur, because it wasn't just nonstop sonic wallpaper.

And it's not just in space movies that silence can be a powerful ingredient in sound design. Look at the iconic Langley break-in sequence in Brian DePalma's Mission: Impossible, where Ethan Hunt broke into a vault with audio sensors, so he had to remain totally silent the whole time. Action movies usually drench us in blaring noise and driving music, so it was really powerful to have such a long sequence dependent on utter silence.

There shouldn't be added sound effects in space scenes, quite simply because there is no sound in a vacuum.
Artistic license doesn't cover it.

I've never thought of sound in space scenes as something that was literally meant to be audible within the story. I see it more like background music, an embellishment for the audience's benefit. Most movie/TV space scenes have to be taken figuratively anyway, since they're full of unrealistic aspects -- ships too brightly lit, too close together, and moving too slowly, explosive fireballs roiling with turbulence that wouldn't exist in vacuum, energy beams visible in vacuum with nothing to scatter their light, etc. That's why it's refreshing when a production takes a more naturalistic approach for a change.

 

[Tosk]

Yes. I believe I brain-farted and was thinking about the visual approach to the space scenes being similar on nuBSG and Firefly.

 

[Christopher]

Yes. I believe I brain-farted and was thinking about the visual approach to the space scenes being similar on nuBSG and Firefly.

But I've heard lots of other people over the years insist that BSG's space scenes were silent, even back when it was new. I guess some people see/hear what they expect. It did have a visual similarity to Firefly and it had muted sounds, so I can see how people could conflate the two.

 

[Tosk]

I'll never understand why people say BSG had silent space scenes.

I can see how people could conflate the two.

Boom! Fixed. You're welcome.