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. 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. A 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. Tonight is the twopart finale of Twin Peaks The Return, the beginning of the end of a promise that began with the words of Laura Palmer over two decades ago I. We have told you not to stare at the Sun today. We have told you to use safety glasses. We have tried so very hard, and we are so very tired. 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. Order Blinky Bill The Cartoon Cartoon. 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. Cult Sci Fi Cartoons The Dam Keeper Concept' title='Cult Sci Fi Cartoons The Dam Keeper Concept' />The classic US stereotype of attempted Iranian ideological indoctrination via chants of Death to America and such has been old hat for quite some time. As noted. Its Looking Very Good for Syfys Adaptation of George R. R. Martins Scifi Horror Tale Nightflyers. Weve known since May that Syfy was circling an adaptation of George R. R. Martins 1. 98. Nightflyersand now comes word that the project is moving forward at a rapid pace. Multiple sources are reporting that a straight to series order is very close to being announced. Both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter shared the news that Nightflyersan expanded version of which was also part of a Martin short story collection released in 1. Netflix, which could make a deal to stream the show internationally, as well as stream it once its aired on Syfy in the US. Nightflyers already has a showrunner Dan Cerone of The Blacklist and The Mentalist, as well as a director Mike Cahill of I Origin and Another Earth he also directed the pilot for another Syfy show, The Magicians for its currently in production but not yet cast pilot episode. The pilot script is by Jeff Buhler, who co wrote the upcoming Jacobs Ladder remake as well as the Clive Barker adaptation Midnight Meat Train THRdescribes the plot thusly It is set in the future on the eve of Earths destruction and follows a crew of explorers who journey on the most advanced ship in the galaxy, The Nightflyer, to intercept a mysterious alien spacecraft that might hold the key to their survival. As the crew nears their destination, they discover that the ships artificial intelligence and never seen captain may be steering them into deadly and unspeakable horrors deep in the dark reaches of space. Cult Sci Fi Cartoons The Dam Keeper LacmaUnspeakable horrors in deep space is one of our all time favorite genres, so this is very good news indeed, and were hopeful that the series gets an official greenlight soon. And lest you worry this is yet another project that will distract George R. R. Martin from what should be his sole focus in life at the moment finishing The Winds of Winter, duh, fear nothis exclusive HBO deal for Game of Thrones means his involvement in Nightflyers would be solely inspirational.