Sound design is often an underrated aspect of production design, especially when it comes to Science fiction films. All of the best science fiction films excite their audiences beyond simple visuals, with philosophically charged dialogue and stirring original soundtracks, all contributing to a memorable film in the genre. While the dialogue and music are great, sometimes even simple sound effects can be the most effective in world-building, with the most iconic of them echoing in fans’ minds for years to come.
There are many different opportunities for Foley’s work in science fiction films that can inspire audiences. From futuristic technology to the terrifying screams of famous movie alien monsters, sci-fi creators have a lot to invent when it comes to the audio design of their films. Through creative combinations of synthetic sounds and real-life recordings, dedicated foley artists have created exceptional movie soundbites that have stood the test of time in pop culture.
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The Five Shades
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
In the same way as his other great alien film, ET, the Extraterrestrial, Stephen Spielberg quite likes to see aliens as a relatively benevolent force (except his War of the Worlds redo). Close Encounters of the Third Kind continues this thought with a friendly extraterrestrial life form that periodically visits Earth to take willing participants to the farthest corners of space in enormous motherships. Accompanying the arrival of these ships is a pattern of mysterious phenomena, including the chilling “five tones” chime.
Humans establish friendly contact with aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind discovering the foundations of their kind of “musical language,” as deciphered by the five initial tones: D, E, C, another C an octave lower, and finally G. Both the man-made devices and the ethereal, glowing spaceships that These tones alternate between each other and create a breathtaking soundscape. The tones are beautifully rendered in John Williams’ score, simply titled The Five Shadeslaying the foundation for friendly intergalactic relations.
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The world engines
Man of Steel
As far as alien technology goes, it’s hard to find a sound more emotionally opposed to the Five Tones than the sound of Man of Steel‘s World Motors. The first film that kicked off the short-lived DCEU, Man of Steel posits a fresh-faced Superman as the only thing standing between humanity and the world-conquering goals of the tyrannical Kyrptonian General Zod. To accomplish his goal of transforming Earth into the new Krypton, Zod employs the World Engines, massive devices that attack the planet with a devastating beam of energy that directs gravitational fluctuations on a disastrous scale.
The World Engines operate on a horrific scale of building anticipation and release, with a thick, bassy sound that signals the next attack of increased gravitational power. Behind the command of the sound profile of these doomsday machines is none other than the musical genius Hans Zimmer, who orchestrates an inspiring symphony of destruction with them. Man of Steel it wouldn’t be nearly as memorable without the World Engines and their accompanying sounds as the climax of the final action.
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Neo wakes up from the Matrix
The Matrix
One of the most profound and influential science fiction films of all time, The Matrix is known for its stunning visuals and unique world-building as much as its philosophical storytelling. The concept of a digital world gave the Wachowskis plenty of room to play with surprising soundscapes, both of the insidious machinery of the real world and the blurred disconnection of consciousness that comes with entering the Matrix. One of the film’s most memorable auditory beats comes when Mr. Anderson wakes up from the Matrix for the first time.
Facilitated by a horrible metallic slime that slowly envelops his body, the camera dives into Mr. Anderson’s throat as he screams, his wails slowly turning into a chiptune wail. This slow descent into reverse scanning is a brief but incredibly memorable sequence that ominously encapsulates the incomprehensible terror of waking up in a capsule bath connected to the Matrix. It’s a shame that future films in the franchise haven’t recreated this iconic problematic scream by disconnecting new humans.
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The M41A Pulse Rifles
Aliens
While Foreigner was still a relatively generic sci-fi spaceship setting, despite its many advances in set and creature design, Aliens gave a broader look at Ridley Scott’s original vision of the future with the introduction of the Colonial Marines. Taken with them is one of the most iconic cinematic firearms of all time, the M41A pulse rifles, rugged assault weapons capable of firing futuristic bullets and underground grenades. Firing in short bursts, the weapons left a huge impact with their iconic sound signature.
With a brilliant muzzle flash, the M41A fires a distinct bark of fire, somehow sounding like a real-life weapon mixed with a sort of digital texture that gives it a futuristic feel. Still kinetic and vigorous, the sounds of Pulse Rifles play with the various claustrophobic environments of Aliens as the sound bounces off the colony’s narrow corridors. Recently, alien Romulus brought back this iconic SFX to great effect, reminding audiences why the series is so revered.
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The Sardaukar Song
Dune
Dennis Villeneuve Dune and Dune Part 2 They quickly became embedded in pop culture, standing alongside prestigious sci-fi giants thanks to their incredible world-building, visuals, and aural delights. Between ornithopters and sand thumpers, there’s plenty of brilliant audio design in the futuristic technology of Frank Herbert’s iconic fictional universe. However, the most impressive sound in both films is not actually a piece of technology itself, but a bizarre human language distorted through heavy filters.
When the deadly Sardaukar soldiers are commissioned to face House Atreides and the Fremen, they ritualistically prepare for battle in a dark, rainy world, led in song by a mysterious figure atop a pulpit. This quasi-religious figure intones a constant drone of throat singing in the unique Sardaukar language, not an established conlang like Klingon or High Valyrian, but simple English heavily modified by the SFX team. This mesmerizing, bubbling chant was so mesmerizing to hear for the first time that Villeneuve brought it back for the title card of Dune Part 2.
5
Predator clicks
Predator
The sister franchise of Foreigner series, it’s fitting that the Predator films also contributed to science fiction with a chilling, instantly recognizable sound of their own. Rather than being a futuristic piece of technology, the original’s sound team Predator they put all their effort into the sounds that the Yautja alien hunter himself makes. While his spine-tingling laugh at the end of the film is a standout beat, the Predator’s iconic low-clicking sounds have been positively inspirational for similar sci-fi franchises.
Although it spends most of its time invisible, the Predator often makes its presence known by emitting a low series of clicking noises that must serve as some kind of rudimentary language. After seeing the beast’s many movable mouthparts, the sound seems even more fitting, tapping into a kind of primal human fear of a larger predator thanks to its low, eerie tones. As they became recognizable, these brief clicks and chirps were soon recognized as an ominous omen of horrible death.
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The roar of the bear creature
Annihilation
Not every science fiction film responsible for a notable sound effect is part of a larger franchise. 2018 Annihilation is a fantastical, independent blend of sci-fi horror centered on a scientist who leads an expedition into a mysterious energy bubble called The Shimmer, which overtakes the organic inhabitants within it, rapidly transforming them into something new. One of the most terrifying of these creatures is a hungry mutant bear, which screams a blood-curdling wail as it attacks the expedition team.
After tearing Cass apart, the bear appears to somehow absorb her consciousness into its body, changing appearance and roaring with a distorted voice that mimics Cass’ scream.Help me!“. In addition to how immediately terrifying this is, the sound of Cass’s voice layered over the bear’s normal roars is strangely satisfying to hear, creating a spine-chilling sound. Annihilation is a smart film in many ways, and this horrible piece of sound design is just the tip of the iceberg.
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Transformer transformation
Transformers
As far as big-budget science fiction films go, the Transformers The films are relatively famous for their quality, only regaining critical appeal recently, after Michael Bay’s controversial direction and ideas had already left the franchise. That being said, they’ve always been impressive when it comes to the special effects department, and that certainly extended to the phenomenal sound design. In particular, the classic Transformation sound from the original cartoon was retained in the live action with a heavier feel.
The transformation sounds in the first film are always immensely satisfying, whether they’re part of a jaw-dropping extended sequence that intricately details every moving part of a Transformer’s physiology with each careful ping or a quick lapse between forms mid-combat. The film did a good job balancing the original sound recognition with more realistic noises and clicks that help sell the weight of the Cybertronians. In Transformers: Rise of the Beastseach individual Transformer is given its own special tone, emphasizing its personality.
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Godzilla’s roar
Godzilla
By far one of the most iconic sci-fi noises ever created, Godzilla’s roar needs little introduction. Since the original Godzilla, the franchise has always taken special care to replicate the exact same roar as the King of the Monsters, with most incarnations of the character sticking to the classic sound. As the story goes, Godzilla’s original roar was created by slowly rubbing a rubber glove across the strings of a double bass, creating the iconic two-stage war cry.
Godzilla’s roar starts out higher pitched, sounding like most would imagine an ancient dinosaur’s roar would be, only to then fade away, emphasizing a deep sound that almost resembles the call of a whale. This contrast gives Godzilla a lot of flavor, simultaneously depicting his status as an apex predator, his loneliness as the only one of his species, and the simple tragedy of his own existence. It’s hard to do better than Godzilla’s roar when it comes to sci-fi foley work.
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Seismic loads
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
In fact, the Star Wars The films feature so many iconic and unique sci-fi sounds that they deserve a list of their own. From the gentle hum of lightsabers to the guttural roars of Chewbacca and the adrenaline-fueled screams of TIE Fighters, Star Wars as a franchise it certainly doesn’t come at the expense of unique fantasy sounds that add complex layers to its intriguing world. Surprisingly, one of its best pieces of SFX comes not from the original trilogy, but from one of the relatively overlooked prequels, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
During a fight with Obi-Wan, Jango Fett uses the Slave me to release seismic charges, bombs that detonate in a ring-shaped burst of energy that briefly cuts off all sound before relaxing into a satisfying boom. These unique space weapons play with the conventions of standard blaster fire, making a huge impact with each ear-pleasing, echoing detonation they fire. Expanding beyond films, these bombshells were brought back to The Mandalorian, to the satisfaction of the obstinate Science fiction fans.