Quick Analysis of Sound in Eraserhead

David Lynch and Alan Splet created the sound for Eraserhead. Lynch claims that all of the sound effects are organic , but this does not assume that they are applied realistically throughout the film. Sounds and background noise are overbearing, while tunes are sparse. Apparently, only twenty-two pages of dialogue were scripted for Eraserhead, which usually represents only twenty-two minutes of footage. Alternatively, long cuts, dream sequences and constant sound effects draw the film out to a troubled and unsettling eighty-nine minutes (Goodwin 1984 pp. 41-50). I will examine several aural aspects of the film and analyse its purpose in the context of the narrative.

Non-diegetic sounds are off-screen and not related to the narrative. Further to non-diegetic sounds, Eraserhead is consistent with its use of ‘territory sounds’, a term used to describe sounds that are heard in a setting without observing the source. The industrial mayhem - whooshing, hissing, clanging, knockin...