The Uncanny Sound Illusion That Creates Suspense in Christopher Nolans Movies. Ever notice how Christopher Nolans movies Interstellar, Inception, The Prestige feel like an anxiety attack Well, maybe thats overstating things a bit. But the director does have a knack for creating an unnerving degree of tension. Turns out hes using a little bit of musical magic to do it. The magic is actually a science based audio illusion called a Shepard tone. Named after psychologist Roger Shepard, a pioneer in our understanding of spatial relation, the effect sounds like an infinitely ascending or descending scale. Download Kaena: The Prophecy Movies. The tones are constantly moving upwards or downwards, but they never seem to reach a pinnacle or nadir. This is accomplished by stacking scales on top of each othertypically one treble scale, one midrange, and one basswith an octave in between, then playing them in a continuous loop. Cult Sci Fi Movies Samurai X Reflection FifthA Shepard tone is sometimes referred to as the barber pole of sound. You can even see the similarity, when you hear it and look at the spectrum view of a Shepard tone. Dont listen to this too long, or you might lose your mind Anyways, Christopher Nolan just loves this. With longtime collaborator Hans Zimmer, the acclaimed director has used a Shepard tone in almost every one of his films in the last decade. He even writes his scripts to match the effect. In a recent interview, Nolan explained how he used Shepard tones in his newest film, Dunkirk The screenplay had been written according to musical principals. Theres an audio illusion, if you will, in music called a Shepard tone and with my composer David Julyan on The Prestige we explored that and based a lot of the score around that. And its an illusion where theres a continuing ascension of tone. Its a corkscrew effect. Its always going up and up and up but it never goes outside of its range. And I wrote the script according to that principle. I interwove the three timelines in such a way that theres a continual feeling of intensity. Increasing intensity. So I wanted to build the music on similar mathematical principals. Knowing this, you gain a deeper understanding of films like Interstellar, Inception, and The Prestige. It also explains why these films seem somehow inconclusive. A Shepards tone creates a conflict that cant be resolved, just like Nolans plots. Digg, Business Insider. LATEST HEADLINES. Hugh Hefner, Playboy Magazine Founder and Star of Girls Next Door, Dies at 91 13 hours ago J. J. Abrams, Paramount Team for SciFi Love Story Your. Our film critics on blockbusters, independents and everything in between. The weekend is for trying to parcel out a book youre really enjoying so you dont finish it too soon and have nothing to read on the subway. Also, video games. Comedic legend and star of the scifi comedy The Nutty Professor Jerry Lewis passed away today at his home. He was 91 years old. Cult Sci Fi Movies Samurai X - Reflection Meaning' title='Cult Sci Fi Movies Samurai X - Reflection Meaning' />This is opulence. Suddenly, there is extra light blasting from behind my TV screen, making a dayglow title sequence positively atomic. The DreamScreen, a.