Getty Images Gives Voice to the Iconic Vampire Nosferatu

Silent films used to heavily rely on their visual side, especially by training the viewers to work their imagination in order to understand what the movie is about. Alas the majority of these ‘old-timey’ art pieces is considered to be lost, literally. The rise of the talkie era meant a disaster to the world of silent movies. Moreover, given the fact that today’s films offer a huge sound library with amazing quality that englobes the artistic content of a movie, it’s no wonder why these silent motion pictures are frequently forgotten.

In an attempt to save such films, and also to promote its not-so-famous audio database, Getty Images Brasil, gave a distinct voice to the silent vampire who was the cause of one’s worst nightmares, Nosferatu. The company, known for its impressive photography stock, changed Murnau‘s original score by Hans Erdmann, and supported the music, sound effects, and characters in the film with a new, never-heard-before voice.

With an impressive amount of music and sound effects in the Getty Images database, AlmapBBDO had enough material to bring the story of the evil count contoured in 1922 back to life. Based on the original film, the audience is now invited to watch the “Symphony of Horror” with sound, through a sinister-sounding campaign dubbed “Nosferatu: The Non Silent Film.”

Although Getty Images remained silent when asked why users have to type “black” when searching for generic images that include African-American people, they certainly excel here. The company provided much needed material to re-record the sound of the old classic silent movie, in an effort to let viewers experience a unique journey to the mythical land of Transylvania.

Giving a horrifying voice to the almost one-century-old supernatural creature proved to be an tremendous task for the Brazilian ad agency, which had to consult thousands of audio files from its database. To compose the special sound of the horror movie in great detail, the firm had to work for three months together with Punch Audio.

You can hear Nosferatu’s impressive new voice for free at nonsilentfilm.com, where an interactive platform awaits all sound enthusiasts with an intelligent gift. While watching the movie, viewers can switch from Film View mode to Sound View, and then track all the sound effects there. Moreover, as part of the special treat, the audio files can be downloaded and used for personal purposes, but this time at a cost.

This improved version of the movie inspired Black Madre Atelier to create a series of film posters that creep you out with a balanced dose of horror. Based on the original movie posters of the classic film, the artists emphasize the scary traits of the unearthly being, but also its new ability to make himself heard.

Pictured using some contemporary tools, like a microphone or a pair of headsets, Count Orlok‘s voice goes beyond the isolated castle located within the Carpathian Mountains, creeping out the entire world with his diabolic chimes.

Talking about the work behind the modern version of the iconic film, the Chief Marketing Officer of Getty Images, Gene Foca, stated that, “Premium Access subscription programs offer our creative partners the widest selection of image, video, or audio content. I cannot imagine a better way of presenting the potential of this idea: we have transformed a classic movie into a new classic with the help of Getty Images audio library.”

Enjoy this masterpiece of horror and let us know if the monstrous voice of the frightening creature sent shivers down your spine.
Credits: