U.S.O.

Unidentifiable Sound Object: sound that cannot be identified by the listener; not identifiable from the context, the spatial signature or from the visuals.

Characteristics:

  • Lead to unpleasant sense of uncertainty
  • Can potentially distract the viewer from the narrative
  • The viewer can then interpret the sound as referential or part of an external logic of the film
  • Badly recognisable offscreen occurrences could become classified as U.S.O.

Related effects: Delocalisation
Related inductor effect: Ubiquity

(Sonnenschein, 2001)

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