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Analysis of Sound in Inception

One of the first sound effects that we come across is the use of sonically enhanced sounds, most notably used during the collapse of the dream world and when one of the protagonists gets shot in the foot. Sonically exaggerated sounds help to create a more believable experience from the audiences perspective, but also help to emphasise that the characters are in genuine danger as the dream world begins to collapse.
We also see non diegetic sound at the start of the clip whilst the protagonist is stealing information from the safe. this sound is used to not only build tension within the audience but also foreshadow the immediate danger that follows and in that sense the threatening music works well with the threatening situation that follows for the protagonist. The pace of the non diegetic music is also fast and gives a sense of how little time is left for them to escape before the dream world collapses, the soundtrack which is heard most notably in the dream world is also a sound bridge as it manages to link lots of quick shots together.
The level of sound also fluctuates as the clip switches from the dream world back to the real world. Whilst in the real world, the soundtrack is reasonably quiet and calm with little or no movement, however in comparison the sound within the dream world is very discordant with lots of crescendos and dramatics, this helps to emphasise to the audience that whilst the characters may appear safe to an extent in the real world, their livelihood in the dream world is being threatened and the crescendos in the dramatic soundtrack only help to emphasise this.
We also hear the use of direct sound during the first exchange of dialouge which was recorded at the time filming took place, we can tell this as we hear a slight echo in their voices and this helps to create a subtle serious tone to the conversation that they are having and gives more of an atmosphere than post synchronised sound would in this situation.