Cinema sound typically asks the question: "Where [does this sound come from]?" 

Visually identifying the source of the sound, the image usually responds: " Here!" The sound hermeneutic is full question and answer process, as followed by the film spectator/auditor 

Rick Altman: Sound Theory/Sound Practice page 252 

22/3 1997 

To FilmSound.org http://www.filmsound.org 

Sound motif 

A sound effect or combination of sound effects that are associated with a particular character, setting, situation or idea through the film. 

The sound motifs condition the audience emotionally for the intervention, arrival, or actions of a particular character. The sound motifs can be very useful in the rough cut, where they help clarify the narrative functions of the characters and provide a sound association for those characters as we move through the story. 

The use of sound motifs can help shape a story that requires many characters and many locations and help unify the the film and sustain its narrative and thematic development. 

Edited excerpt 
Dancyger: Technique of Film and Video Editing 

Robert Bresson's A man Escaped (Un Condamné à mort c'est éscappè) shows how sound motifs function through a film (Functions of Film sound in Film Art p 318 - 326) 

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