The Uncanny Sound Illusion That Creates Suspense in Christopher Nolans Movies. Ever notice how Christopher Nolans movies Interstellar, Inception, The Prestige feel like an anxiety attack Well, maybe thats overstating things a bit. But the director does have a knack for creating an unnerving degree of tension. Turns out hes using a little bit of musical magic to do it. The magic is actually a science based audio illusion called a Shepard tone. Named after psychologist Roger Shepard, a pioneer in our understanding of spatial relation, the effect sounds like an infinitely ascending or descending scale. The tones are constantly moving upwards or downwards, but they never seem to reach a pinnacle or nadir. This is accomplished by stacking scales on top of each othertypically one treble scale, one midrange, and one basswith an octave in between, then playing them in a continuous loop. A Shepard tone is sometimes referred to as the barber pole of sound. The classic US stereotype of attempted Iranian ideological indoctrination via chants of Death to America and such has been old hat for quite some time. As noted. Ever notice how Christopher Nolans movies Interstellar, Inception, The Prestige feel like an anxiety attack Well, maybe thats overstating things a bit. But. You can even see the similarity, when you hear it and look at the spectrum view of a Shepard tone. Dont listen to this too long, or you might lose your mind Anyways, Christopher Nolan just loves this. With longtime collaborator Hans Zimmer, the acclaimed director has used a Shepard tone in almost every one of his films in the last decade. 1985-1986 Free Online. He even writes his scripts to match the effect. In a recent interview, Nolan explained how he used Shepard tones in his newest film, Dunkirk The screenplay had been written according to musical principals. Theres an audio illusion, if you will, in music called a Shepard tone and with my composer David Julyan on The Prestige we explored that and based a lot of the score around that. And its an illusion where theres a continuing ascension of tone. Its a corkscrew effect. Its always going up and up and up but it never goes outside of its range. And I wrote the script according to that principle. I interwove the three timelines in such a way that theres a continual feeling of intensity. Increasing intensity. So I wanted to build the music on similar mathematical principals. Knowing this, you gain a deeper understanding of films like Interstellar, Inception, and The Prestige. It also explains why these films seem somehow inconclusive. A Shepards tone creates a conflict that cant be resolved, just like Nolans plots. Digg, Business Insider. You Can Stream Thousands of Movies for Free With a New York Public Library Card. Starting Friday, anyone with a New York Public Library or Brooklyn Public Library will be able to stream thousands of awesome movies, including the entire Criterion Collection. Why Because libraries are awesome, thats why. Truth be told, New York is playing a bit of catch up, after Los Angeles offered its public library card holders streaming movie privileges last month. Both cities offer this great new perk through Kanopy, a streaming video service that works with public libraries and universities all over the country. Even if you dont live in New York or LA, theres a chance your local public library also offers this service. Go to Kanopys website to see if youre in luck. Were not talking about free access to a bunch crappy movies youve never heard of. In addition to the Criterion Collection, youll find indie hits like 2 Days in Paris, classic masterpieces like Day of the Dead, and award winning documentaries like I Am Not Your Negro. The New York Public Library deal does have some limitations, though. You can only stream 1. NYPL card and just six if you have a BPL card. Its unclear if Brooklynites can double up and use both library cards to watch 1. On the bright side, you can stream movies from Kanopy to any device. Do you live in Los Angeles and pay for online access to the New York Times Have I got a cheapskate Read more Read. You can apply online for a New York Public Library card here and a Brooklyn Public Library card here. Information about LA Public Library cards can be found here. And dont forget Not only do these library cards offer free movies, you can borrow books for free, too. Free knowledgeGothamist.