Sound is like the offensive line of television and movies – without sound, you’ll be sacked for sure but yet sound is rarely given the props it deserves. Jen Ralston is a Hall of Fame offensive lineman of sound without a doubt and because sound is so underappreciated, Jen Ralston was able to build a stellar career doing something that no one else wanted to do.

Until this class, I can honestly say that I never appreciated the sounds that you hear in the backgrounds of show or even realized just how much thought goes into the sounds that you do hear. Even though Ralston wanted to keep the documentary feel of the sound in The Wire, it’s amazing just how much work goes into something sounding authentic. I was very surprised to find out that she actually had to tear down the original sounds and then build them back up because the show does have such an authentic vibe to it. In the interview she also talked about how you still hear sounds even when it’s supposed to be silent and then making sure that you still hear the sounds that you only hear when it is quiet. I saw Pink in concert last year and she sings a song in which the lyrics and music completely stop. During that “silence” you could still hear her breathing and that moment is the first thing that came to mind when Ralston was talking about what you actually hear when it is supposed to be silent. It’s just ironic that the world is never silent.

I laughed out loud when she talked about the music playing in the car when McNulty was panicked about finding his kids. Just as I have thought many times in my chaotic life, the soundtrack is never playing what I want it to play so when she said that I could totally relate. I just like how they put that realistic element into the show because that is true to life.

I really enjoyed this interview because it made me realize just how important sound is to television and movies and how much thought and effort go into that process. As she said about certain sounds evoking certain elements and if the wrong sound is put in then the vibe the show is trying to get across may never come through.