Explosive silence: how negative space can tell a story

There’s an ancient apocryphal anecdote in the art world that the Old Masters viewed the white of a canvas as more valuable than anything they could add. 

But when everyone’s competing in a loudness war, how do you stand apart? 

This precious real estate was always at a premium, and only the most assured hand would leave any part of the canvas untouched. Those who had truly mastered their art knew that, done correctly, the painting could act as an elaborate border to the blank white spaces, where the real punch was.

In the always-on, 365/24/7, real-time, play-next-episode world we currently find ourselves in, the same could be said of sound and silence.  

There’s an ancient apocryphal anecdote in the art world that the Old Masters viewed the white of a canvas as more valuable than anything they could add.

The 30 seconds of the traditional commercial is not a lot of time in which to make an impression. The increasingly popular 15 seconds is even less time. In fact, recent research suggests that we as advertisers actually have less than three seconds to capture the attention of a modern serial-scroller.

Advertising has used the audio ellipsis to heighten recall since the Golden Age of commercials to capture attention.

So, what do we do? One answer, of course, is to turn the volume up.

But when everyone’s competing in a loudness war, how do you stand apart? 

By going quiet. 

Because judicious silence can hit harder than a bomb. 

Meditation app Calm realised the power of this years ago, in a simple spot that captured its brand essence beautifully. While not completely silent, it was a proto-ASMR antidote to the increasing social bombardment, and introduced the brand to the world neatly by epitomising every creative director’s favourite piece of feedback: show, don’t tell. 

Miles Davis said: “It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play.”

Returning to the annals of history, advertising has used the audio ellipsis to heighten recall since the Golden Age of commercials to capture attention, give viewers pause to absorb information, and especially to evoke and underline emotional states. 

Attention-grabbing silence

Jonathan Glazer’s iconic surfing ad for Guinness is still the benchmark for event advertising, and of the many techniques it employs, completely dropping the sound out as our hero is victorious atop the epic wave is one of its most powerful. This was especially effective in the context the ad was made for: the cinema. 

French composer Claude Debussy wrote that the music is not in the notes, but in the spaces between

There’s a stature and a grandeur here that’s breathtaking; when most would revel in the crescendo of Leftfield’s bombastic Phat Planet, we’re plunged into completely dissonant silence, only to be slowly brought back into the world through the friends’ celebration.

Information-absorbing silence

This is a slight cheat because it features a little bit of reverb and echo, but Apple’s Bulbs advert climaxes with a huge dip from the frenetic William Tell Overture into almost nothing, to help the audience marinate in what they’ve seen, and then - crucially - make the intellectual leap to the product. 

 It’s a powerful moment of contemplation, timed to perfection.

Conceptually, the story is that the new MacBook stands in the line of great ideas and tools that have helped shape the future, and it’s within this pause that we’re asked to connect the dots. 

Heartstring-pulling silence

In the John Lewis catalogue, 2015’s Man on the Moon still resonates strongly with me. It excels as a piece of visual storytelling and editing, building to an emotional head as our heroine spends a lively Christmas Day with her family. The stark contrast with the eponymous deuteragonist’s isolation is underlined by the silence, before the warmth of the gift’s arrival brings with it the track’s reprise. It’s a powerful moment of contemplation, timed to perfection, and helped underline the brand’s partnership with Age UK. 

As social beings, we’re hardwired to interpret breaks in the flow of human communication. We recognise the pregnant pause, the stunned silence and the expectant hush. 

Musical theory has been wise to the power of silence virtually since its inception. In traditional Japanese music, the term ma suggests the space in between sounds that a performer must master. French composer Claude Debussy wrote that the music is not in the notes, but in the spaces between. And Miles Davis said: “It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play.”

The theory goes that - like the aforementioned artistic maestros - when one truly masters their soundscape, silence can be the loudest note a musician can play. Eloquent, provocative, deafening. 

A one-beat delay on an answer can reveal hesitation or hurt, or play us for laughs.

And that’s because as social beings, we’re hardwired to interpret breaks in the flow of human communication. We recognise the pregnant pause, the stunned silence and the expectant hush. 

A one-beat delay on an answer can reveal hesitation or hurt, or play us for laughs. As in a limerick or rap lyric recited with the last word missing, the brain jumps in to complete the rhyme. This Audi spot from DDB Barcelona used silence as a wonderful punchline.