While historically adulated as a visual medium, cinema relies on masterful sound design to evoke the viewer’s emotional response that is critical to a film’s success.

Visuals lay the groundwork for emotional meaning, but sound gives picture its emotional punch. Sound also impacts understanding of story – and, because audiences often do not notice it, film sound can be manipulated to greater extremes than images, contributing to the film’s ultimate immersive power in the hands of talented artists in sound.

Buster’s seminar demonstrates how visionary directors in collaboration with creative sound designers create the specific, subconscious, emotional reactions and story moments in beloved iconic films.
The session starts with viewing the Tribeca-and-Cannes-selected feature documentary Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (which Buster wrote/produced) that captures the history, impact and creative process of this art form through the stories of legendary directors like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Barbra Streisand, Ang Lee, Christopher Nolan, Sofia Coppola and Ryan Coogler, and the creative sound practitioners they collaborate with.