On the psychological importance of sound to TV

6 June 2012 Rob Buckley TMINE 8 Comments

Interesting observation, today. I was on one of my regular commutes. I had my iPad with me, ready for me to watch the second episode of Sebastian Bergman, when I realised I’d left my headphones at home. How could I possibly watch it now? The noise would annoy everyone else.

So I didn’t watch anything at all and read a book instead.

It was only on the way home this evening that I realised that Sebastian Bergman, being a subtitled drama, possibly didn’t need sound. I could mute the iPad and still watch the show.

Duh.

And yet I didn’t. Now this could be for several reasons:

  1. I’m stupid
  2. There’s a sort of ritual there that I didn’t want to break
  3. Sound, even if it’s not dialogue, is still important to full the appreciation of TV drama.

Which do you think it is (I’m expecting a lot of ‘1’s here) and if you were in my position, would you have watched Bergman with the sound muted or waited until you were at home?

Author

  • Rob Buckley

    I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.

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