Punctuated Incorporated

I happened to catch an episode of the Outer Limits (the remake of course) a couple of days ago. It was an okay episode. The plot followed a scientist who worked for a world government. He was hired to investigate an obelisk like object that had landed in a large city. The obelisk kept emitting new and changing sounds and continued to change the environment around it into a more natural state. Eventually, our protagonist realizes that the sound emitted by the object was a form of communication and its message was directions on how to enter it which, of course, the scientist does. The plot was a bit predictable and there was nothing overly amazing visually either. What kept my attention was the sound design.
Nearly every sound on the screen was carefully selected or crafted by the sound editor. Obviously, I could go on and on about the use of the sound to describe the obelisk, but since this blog is about punctuation, I’ll focus on a very specific scene. Near the end of the episode, the scientist enters the obelisk and the sound scene changes very abruptly. As he walks toward the object, there is myriad of sound effects that are suppose to represent the encroaching nature such as birds squawking, animals snorting, and the character’s muffled footfalls as he steps from concrete to grass. Throughout this scene, the musical score is very tense with a long crescendo reaching climax just as the scientist enters the object. However, when he enters he stands in a room composed of nothing but white light. There is no sound; no background sound effects or musical score. He stands there dumbfounded until a nonhuman voice rumbles “Hello” and the scene cuts abruptly to credits after the alien speaks.
What is interesting is how the lack of sound inside the obelisk is used to punctuate the scene. It helps reinforce the idea of an alien environment and stands out in stark contrast to the ocean of sound we are given for the scene prior. The abrupt cut at the end, also, reinforces and maintains the alien-like environment in the mind of the viewer. Overall, I thought this was an excellent example of punctuation.