The Sound of Sunlight Shining Through the Window...

Somehow started this drama with no previews so I had no prior expectations. It's now one of those unique pieces of fiction that I won't be able to stop thinking about. This drama doesn't just think outside the box when it comes to creativity, they open up the box and play with what they found inside. Specifically, this drama plays around the perspective of the main character and how they immerse us in that character's views.

This drama doesn't just have us watching, it creates a way for us to really experience the story in a deeper way. Sound designers aren't exactly the most relatable characters because their passion for sound goes beyond music and trendy content like ASMR. By playing with the aspects of sound design the drama gives us a way to see (or rather hear) the drama's world through the main character's eyes (or rather ears).

Foley. The opening scene is one of the most unique character introductions I've seen. The editing truly highlighted Dokyung's job as a sound designer. Sound Design itself isn't an easy concept to visualize, but the intercutting between Dokyung and Haeyoung's scenes help visually express what Dokyung is doing. It also gives us a glimpse of Dokyung's creative mindset by showing us some unexpected props (the gun for the door) among the expected props (high heels). Above all else, foley works as a metaphor for Dokyung's character arc. His visions are like the scenes that need foley and what he does in between those scenes mimics the creative process. His therapist is like the director/screenwriter he consults to help him understand the scenes and come up with the sounds for foley. Dokyung himself puts a strong emphasis in adding sounds that aren't seen on screen such as sounds from outside an open window. He also emphasizes creating sounds for abstract concepts like sunlight shining through the window. In a similar way, Dokyung focuses on what he can do before his visions come true despite having almost no context for what causes Haeyoung to behave the way she does in the visions. Finally, seeing and hearing Dokyung's work in foley serves as a catalyst for us viewers to notice the foley more. In that sense, we can hear the drama from his perspective and possibly even make our own judgements on it in the same way Dokyung does. For example, I personally liked how we could still hear the foley during the scenes that played the OST because other dramas would usually just drown everything else out and only have us hear the OST.

Dialogue. As someone who relies on subtitles to watch dramas, I don't usually focus on listening to the dialogue. However, this drama gave a great scene that reminded me of the importance of dialogue when it came to sound. On the day Dokyung and Haeyoung first meet, they end up going to a bar. We don't hear anything in the scene except for their voices. Their dialogue is used to imply what they must be hearing: they're both shouting (background noise must be loud), they refer to a bartender we don't see (dialogue), and they ask to turn the music down (music). This scene was a glimpse of what these types of scenes would look like from a behind the scenes perspective. Dialogue is the main sound recorded on set. On the other hand, the lack of other sounds is likely referring to room tone, the other main sound recorded on set. Room tone is the silence we hear in movies/tv because it would sound different if there wasn't any sound in those silent parts. This scene is symbolic of Dokyung being an active listener. In loud places, it takes effort to listen and engage with someone in conversation. It's no mistake that Dokyung happens to find Haeyoung's voice recorded in his office. It also showcases Dokyung's specialty in sound. He's more of a listening type than someone who makes noise like the foley artists on his team. Prior examples are when he criticizes his brother's sound design work after listening. After this we see Dokyung mainly working as a sound recordist where he listens to what he or his team members are recording. An aspect of recording sounds is to also balance the levels so it doesn't clip. This shows Dokyung's perspective in that he listens to Haeyoung more than the other voices talking at him. I did the same and actively chose to not listen to certain characters that tried talking to him.

Backgrounds/Ambience. The thing Dokyung does most is going around and sampling background/ambience of different places. More importantly, he records his office. He is the only character that even cares about these sounds. They are easily ignored, but yet we still hear them in the same way Dokyung heard Haeyoung in his office's background noise recording. He's just someone who really listens and finds the little details that can make the sounds design better. It also takes the theme of not judging based on appearance to the next level because it was just a sound he heard. This shows his main difference with his judgmental mom who even sabotaged him in the past with a sound recording because of how she judged someone. I guess it goes to show that Dokyung has a sound judgement in the metaphorical way.

Overall I liked how this drama incorporated Dokyung's job as a symbol for his character. It was creative to highlight certain aspects of the job while using it in scenes that would show more of Dokyung's character. It worked out really well in showing his perspective, especially in combination with the visions he had.

On a minor note, I loved the reference to Memento because I could see the inspiration the drama took from it. In general, I think the drama captured Christopher Nolan's genre although not deep enough to make me want to rewatch for the details.

However,
I think there was an imbalance of how likable the characters could have been. Yes, we are watching from Dokyung's perspective where many characters are at a low point, but I wish we had more characters to cheer for. The sound team was likable, but they didn't get a lot of focus. Isadora did well as comical relief and it worked well that she was revealed to be a great sister when she confronted the mom on behalf of Dokyung and I wish more characters were likable like her early on. It just took way too long to resolve the main situation and it came off making Dokyung/Haeyoung 1-2 look bad and unlikable for a long time. Taejin's situation being explained make him redeemed early on, but he wasn't that involved in a lot of the story until the end where they made him look bad again.

Overall, it was difficult to watch through when 5/6 main characters are at rock bottom because of mistakes they made or just having a bad attitude in reaction of their situations. But it did make the episodes interesting since none were afraid to do the things they did.

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