Sonic interaction design studies how digital sound can be used in interactive contexts to convey information, meaning, aesthetic and emotional qualities. This area of research is positioned at the intersection of sound and music computing, auditory displays and interaction design. The key issue the designer is asked to tackle is to create meaningful sound for objects and interactions that are often new. To date, there are no set design methodologies, but a variety of approaches available to the designer. Knowledge and understandingofhow humans listen and interpret sound is the first step toward being able to create such sounds.This article discusses two original approaches that borrow techniques from film sound and theatre. Cinematic sound highlights how our interpretation of sounddependson listening modes and context, while theatre settings allow us to explore sonic interactions from the different perspectives of the interacting subject, the observer and the designer.