The Sound of Silence

Michael Tyburski’s film The Sound of Silence, marked several firsts for the Dolby Institute Fellowship. It was the first time we expanded the Fellowship to include finishing the film in the ultravivid picture of Dolby Vision®, our high-dynamic-range format, in addition to the immersive sound of Dolby Atmos®. We expanded the Dolby Institute Fellowship to include projects developed by SF FILM. And for the first time, the Dolby Institute Fellowship was given to a film at the script stage, before the team started filming.

The Sound of Silence stars Peter Sarsgaard as a “house tuner” in New York City who calibrates the sound in people’s homes in order to adjust their moods, until he meets a client (Rashida Jones) with a problem he can’t solve.

The importance of sound to tell this story was clear upon first reading the script. “The movie is presented through this character, who happens to have a heightened ability to hear,” explained director and co-writer Michael Tyburski. This gave the filmmakers the opportunity to use the Dolby Atmos format to give the audience the experience of hearing the world the way Sarsgaard’s character experiences it.

“Getting the Dolby [Institute Fellowship] fulfilled the movie’s potential,” said producer and co-writer Ben Nabors, “It was potential that we didn’t even know existed.”