3. It was a device in early B/W movies, to show it was night
I don't know when it became feasible to film at night, but if you look closely at old TV shows you can tell that it's really being filmed in daytime but with a filter on the camera to make it look dark. (Clue: there usually aren't such sharp shadows at night.)
To enhance the illusion of "night" the sound of crickets chirping was invariably added.
I find it amusing that DU has picked up this auditory shorthand.
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