7. Theres Sound, But Only When The Characters Hear It
We all know, from either science lessons or Alien posters, that space, being a vacuum and all, is completely devoid of sound. Hollywood rarely engages with this rather large technicality out of an unquenchable desire to once again whack out that sci-fi soundboard. Some films occasionally use this to create an immediate, silent effect amongst the bombastic sound - look to the opening of Star Trek - but few post Star Wars would commit fully. While Gravity is one of those rare ones that sticks to the rule, you'd be forgiven for thinking it wasn't. Throughout the film, particularly in the opening when working on the Hubble Telescope, you can hear all assortment of mechanical movements. Rather than betraying the conceit of realism, its actually only the sound the characters are hearing reverberating through their suits. It's so prominent at the beginning so you can slowly acclimatise to this strange void. There's oddly a couple of moments of exception, however. When Ryan screams at the Soyuz's lack of oxygen the camera zooms out the window to present us with pure silence. But even then things are helping create the feeling of space.