With all the hype and attention given to the ground-breaking visual work done on James Cameron’s latest epic film (a hype that’s well deserved in my opinion), its easy to forget about the incredible soundscape that accompanied the film.

But the 3D aspect of the movie, as it relates to sound, is actually really interesting.  Surround sound has been with us for quite some time now, but I don’t think its really been utilized to its full potential.  The challenge has always been that a sound source placed behind us tends to pull us out of a story that is visually being told in front of us.

The exception is when there is a significant amount of material that happens off screen but is a key element of the story.  I think the best surround sound experience I’ve ever had was the movie U-571, where the majority of the movie takes place on a submarine and a lot of the sound sources for what you’re hearing are not on-screen elements.  Not only that, but the characters (what stories are all about) are also responding to those unseen sound sources as well.

The 3-dimensional experience that Avatar created however, takes it to a whole new level because the visual elements can now share some of the spacial environment created through surround sound.  That almost certainly helps our brains accept them as connected and part of the story, not some distraction happening at the back of the theater.

I know what you’re thinking – ‘but I feel like a loser wearing those glasses’.  Yeah.  Perhaps 3D movies won’t be here to stay until they can do it all without the 50′s style eyewear, and perhaps the glory days of surround sound will have to wait a little longer, but its definitely a step in the right direction!