Between notes and chords

– Do you love me?
– … (sighs)

He grabs his stuff and walks away slowly.

Many times we underestimate the power of silence, we think it has no value and we demand ourselves to make noise, we yell and stomp to call for attention without considering that silence says more, the absence of words or sound also communicate and we can not take this into account in our creation process.

In cinema or any audiovisual material it’s an essential resource, this fake peace that is born before you see the evil guy hunting his prey, this empty spot that represents the main character’s loneliness, this calm moment after an action scene, the lover’s hesitation before answering a question, the almost soundproof sighs, the quietness representing a secret, whatever the situation is, in an almost anonymously way, silences has been the pillars below the narrative’s construction. In theaters, a fortiori, is inherent, is not just a resource, is one of its main features, besides the words and visual resources, the silence of the characters represent a feeling, something hidden, a truth that wishes to come out.

Also in music for example, a string orchestra. If we take a score, silence is put between notes and chords, in some parts all instruments play harmoniously and in other parts we silence the viola to give greater prominence to the cello or a violin solo; anyways, a generous and programmed silence after the final composition.

Af the time of creation it’s also the best ally, we load our minds with songs, sounds, images, landscapes, old movies or the last thing we watch on YouTube, looking for the perfect trigger for our ideas, but is not until we turn everything off and we deeply think about what we have collected that the silence is present, giving us what we need to process all the information, peace.

Let’s use silence, do not underestimate it, let it be present in every play and our process to create them, let’s remember every time that silence… counts.