The Sounds of the Coen Brothers

During the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, composer extraordinaire Carter Burwell confirmed that the Coen brothers “...write knowing the importance of the sound and the music. They put space in their films for that, and a lot of people don’t, but they actually feel free to have a few minutes where there might not be any dialogue.” One of the most impressive aspects of the Coen Brothers’s work is their purposeful punctuation of silence — they intersperse such moments with sounds which fuel the imagination. The Coens are experts at doing this for dramatic purposes—in No Country for Old Men, they linger on a candy wrapper which unravels during a life or death coin toss. On the other end of the dramatic spectrum, certain creaking and squishing sounds —as heard in movies like The Hudsucker Proxy — not only improve comedic bits, but create them from scratch. Now, enough reading. Have a listen.

If you can’t get enough of the Coen Brothers, watch how they use shaky cam in “Raising Arizona.” While you’re at it, check out how other directors like Paul Verhoeven, Wes Anderson, Clint Eastwood, Agnès Varda, and Andrei Tarkovsky use sound in their movies. And as always, watch Fandor’s newest videos like Color Me “Bava,” The Distinct Charm of Ewan McGregor, and How Christopher Nolan Ends a Movie.

[TomEyeTheSFMguy]

I neared the end of the video before realizing that this is just a sound compilation. Not entirely disappointed, honestly.

[skateordie]

Supervising sound editors: Skip Lievsay & Craig Berkey
Re-recording mixers: Lee Dichter, Skip Lievsay, Michael Berenbaum, Greg Orloff
Dialogue Supervisor: Philip Stockton
Foley Artists: Skip Lievsay, Ron Bochar, Marko Costanzo, Catherine Harper, Christopher Moriana

[TuanNguyen-kowz]

In No Country, when Lwelwyn lowers himself and peeks under the door, the sound of the assassin's gas tank clanking on the floor tells exactly where he is in the corridor.

[fridaymovies]

Oddly enough, this is actually missing one of my favorites- In The Big Lebowski, there’s a slight echo of the word “Johnson” after the nihilists threaten to “cut off [his] Johnson!” which always has me dying laughing 😂

[worrywirt]

Not one clip from Inside Llewyn Davis, my favourite Coen film :(