Sound design deserves its own note. Even encoded audio often preserves the film’s quieter, diegetic sounds—the creak of wooden boats, the hush of nighttime conversations—that anchor the audience in place. Score is used sparingly, and this restraint pays off: when music appears, it accents rather than dictates feeling. This careful balance ensures that the film’s affective life emerges from scene composition and character interplay, not musical cues.