What should you do when you get scared watching a horror movie?

You turn the volume down.

This simple action takes out all the emotion of the scene. Suddenly, the terrifying villain becomes just a guy in a mask who probably just needs a hug. And you can finally breathe again.

Isn’t it fascinating how a single element like sound can profoundly change your experience?

You know this by experience, but science takes us one step further. What if sound shapes our fear and shifts our entire perception of reality? There’s more to sound than meets the ear.

Decoding soundtracks

Researchers from the University of Rome wanted to see how different soundtracks twist our perception of movie scenes. This entailed examining music’s influence on our emotions, personality perceptions, and even our predictions about what’s happening on screen.

So, they conducted a study in two parts.

1. First, 118 participants watched the same movie scene set to different musical scores — melancholic, anxious, or just ambient sound. They measured empathy, personality traits, and future plot guesses.

2. Then, 92 participants went into a lab where scientists used eye-tracking and pupil dilation to see exactly where people looked and how their pupils reacted under these different sound conditions.

Researchers used an emotionally neutral scene from a rather obscure short film, “L’homme Atlantique” by Marguerite Duras from 1981, to ensure that the participants' interactions weren’t influenced by prior knowledge or emotional associations with the film.

They also used some cool tracks synced to the scene.

• Anxious piece: an orchestral piece called The Isle of the Dead by Sergei Rachmaninov.

• Melancholic piece: a soft, melancholic jazz solo piano song called Like Someone in Love by Bill Evans.

• Ambient sounds: some basic environmental sounds without any musical elements (e.g. wind, rustling leaves, distant waves).

Numbers speak louder than words

The findings suggest that a soundtrack can turn the same visual scene into different emotional experiences.

• With melancholic music, people felt more empathy (16% higher), viewed the main character as nicer and introverted, and perceived the environment as cozier.

• The anxious music decreased the participant’s perception of empathy (10-15% decrease) and painted the main character in a more negative light, with increased attention to minor background details like a hidden character, a cameraman who was very difficult to spot. Subjects spent more time looking at and revisiting the area of the cameraman (15% more time).

And it paid off. More participants found this hidden character than those listening to the melancholic music scene.

• With eye tracking, scientists confirmed this. The anxious music scene increased vigilance, with people’s pupils dilating more and spending more time on less noticeable elements. It was as if participants wanted to anticipate possible threats, which led to the discovery of the hidden cameraman.

The subtle influence of soundtracks

Sound shapes the audience’s perception.

Thus, it’s not just what you show; it’s how you sonically frame it.

In filmmaking, directors and editors can use this to guide the audience’s empathy and attention, potentially altering the viewer's emotional journey without changing a single visual frame.

Talk about manipulation…but in a good sense.

But then there are marketers who need a more vile form of persuasion. The right background music can profoundly affect how consumers view a product or service. The sound they use can completely change the narrative.

News media also uses this to mold your views on a certain subject. Have you noticed how a news segment would use a melancholic score to make you feel more connected to someone who just lost their home? Or when they use fast-paced and tense music to introduce segments on crises, wars, or emergencies?

They stir you towards a particular viewpoint or emotional state, and you don’t even realize it! Yes, the news feels more engaging this way, but they’re also subtly changing the public’s opinion. Don’t let them fool you the next time you watch the news!

The silent storyteller

Saying the soundtrack is just about emotion is like saying an iPhone is just about making calls. It’s an oversimplification.

A soundtrack plays with your brain. It starts with the emotions, but it doesn’t end up there. Music influences how we perceive the characters’ personalities, guess what’s coming next in the story, and even how we view the setting.

Music is the ultimate shaper of the narrative and our perception.

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