The Awareness of Duration (Shuxiang Wang) Essay

Latest addition to the Library page:

Auditory monotony: wordless, silence and odd sound

"Sound is also a crucial element in the slow cinema of bodies. At the auditory level of a film, the monotony of the sound can also make the audience to feel that time is flowing slow, one of the respects in which is reflected in the wordless of the film. Slow cinema often lacks dialogue and language between characters, in other words, it lacks interactivity and narrative momentum. This kind of silence is not just the absence of words, but the fact that characters fill our imaginations with words they are not saying. [..]"

"[..] During this empty time, the audience can feel the silence and begin to speculate on the motives for her thoughts and actions. In slow cinema, the silence and emptiness may lead to meditation on life, or to the emptiness of the human soul, which is the root of human consciousness. [..] In terms of the long, repetitive and monotonous sound may make the audience feel boring. This simple boredom of spectators is a temporary, time-limited condition caused by lack of stimulation, lack of concentration, impatience, or other external circumstances. However, in the respect of slowness in cinema, this feeling of boredom can make the audience aware of the duration. Under this concept, the spectators will subconsciously prolong the duration of the film when watching the stillness or movement of the characters with monotonous sound or completely silence, which can also make the film become slower. At the same time, it is undeniable that the reflection and boredom that slow cinema creates for the viewers also has the aesthetic value in terms of the cinematic level. [..]"

The Awareness of Duration in Slow Cinema on What Time Is It There?

Shuxiang Wang; 4 April 2025; China