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In 2019, I presented a paper at a conference in NUI Maynooth, Ireland that used Kevin Donnelly’s notion of the soundtrack as spectre as the starting point for discussing performativity and presence in the films of Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev. During the discussion that followed, Danijela Kulezic-Wilson, who was in attendance, raised several observations concerning the relevance of Donnelly’s concept to her own research exploring the integrated soundtrack. This paper essentially seeks to continue that conversation. By revisiting several examples explored in Kulezic-Wilson’s chapter on “Soundtrack’s Liminal Spaces” in Sound Design Is the New Score, alongside others including Nick Cave’s score for The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005) and Birdman (Alejandro Iñárritu, 2014), I explore to what extent Donnelly’s analogy can be expanded to consider instances in film where the foregrounding of tactile musical gestures and spatial placement within the audio mix results in a distinctly performative, quasi-physical sensibility that challenges the “insubstantial” status of Donnelly’s spectral presence. Drawing on a broad framework of theoretical concepts including Miguel Mera’s discussion of the haptic score and Paul Sanden’s network of liveness, this paper aims to provide a complimentary perspective to an important aspect of Danijela Kulezic-Wilson’s significant contribution to the study of film sound and music.

Filmmakers have established editing rules that aim to create cinematic continuity across filmic cuts, thereby avoiding viewers' confusion despite the abrupt changes in perception. In our present project, we investigated the impact of 3D films, as opposed to 2D films, on the salience of filmic cuts. We employed a cut detection task and focused on within-scene cuts with mere changes in camera perspective. We presented short video clips to our participants and asked them to press a key whenever they noticed a filmic cut, and we measured their cut detection performance. In addition to viewing mode (2D vs. 3D presentation), we considered cross-modal auditory influences (visual vs. audiovisual presentation) on the salience of filmic cuts. Participants detected cuts more accurately and faster when the video clips were presented in 3D rather than in 2D and when the video clips were presented only visually (without soundtrack) rather than audiovisually (with soundtrack). Both factors influenced cut detection performance independently. We conclude that while the regular audiovisual presentation of films supports the filmmakers' mission to achieve cinematic continuity, filmmakers should also be aware of the additional salience of cuts that comes with 3D film presentation and consider its effects on cinematic continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to substantiate the importance of orchestral music in the creation of film music content based on the definition of its synergistic properties. The research methodology is based on the principles of a system-synergistic approach (in determining the synergistic properties of orchestral music and the components of film music production), methods of analysis (in processing scientific sources on the topic), synthesis (in formulating the conceptual apparatus of the study) and generalisation (in determining the scientific novelty and results of the study). The scientific novelty of the results obtained is that the synergistic properties, functions, stages of creation and recording of orchestral music for film are determined and scientifically substantiated. Conclusions. Orchestral music is an integral and full-fledged part of a film work; it performs artistic and expressive, emotional and psychological, and hedonistic functions. When creating a high-quality film soundtrack, one should take into account the synergistic properties of orchestral music (openness, attractiveness, coherence, emergence). The success of orchestral film music production depends on the creative interaction of the participants in this process - composer, arranger, orchestra and conductor, sound engineer, music producer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, my goal is to reveal the importance and potential of global history, an approach that is generally neglected in media and film history literature. The main characteristics of global history are de-centralizing history, taking a wide spatial and temporal perspective, avoiding Eurocentric and nationalist optics, and explaining patterns of causalities behind connections. I begin by explaining global history before presenting the differences between global history and similar approaches used in film and media studies literature. Then, I focus on a potential case study, the phenomenon of foreign music used as soundtracks in Turkish domestic films between the 1950s and the 1980s. I demonstrate how the 'borrowed soundtracks' creates a hitherto unstudied connectedness between disconnected audiences from different countries or societies. I consider the soundscapes of the films as a space of aural encounter, and I argue that global history would enable us to understand the emotional, cultural, and economic layers of this indirect connectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Musica Theorica is the property of Musica Theorica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article considers how poetry features in Pasolini’s cinema. It argues that the manner in which Pasolini films poetry provides insight into his theory of an affinity between poetry and film, and into more general judgements concerning social reality. The article begins with an analysis of the final sequence of Salò (1975) where I argue that Ezra Pound’s poetry provides a soundtrack for the spectacle of torture in which the film’s libertines engage. Following this, I consider Pasolini’s 1965 text “The Cinema of Poetry” and use this text as a way of reading the role played by a copy of Rimbaud’s collected poems in Teorema (Theorem, 1968). I then move to consider the relationship between oral recitation and text in Il decameron (The Decameron, 1971) and Il fiore della mille e una notte (The Arabian Nights, 1974). In doing this, I argue that one can observe a shift across these films whereby poetry and orality move from being a foundational moment for reciprocal community to being a vehicle for an ambiguous and violent fate. The article then considers the conspicuous presence of reading and writing within Salò before ending with a consideration of one scene towards the end of the film in which Pasolini appears to invest a recitation of the Gospel with a disruptive force that is otherwise lacking in his final film.

Today's technologically eclectic media landscape – dominated by streaming algorithms, curated playlists and TikTok-spawned virality – has elevated the role of the television music supervisor. Film and television soundtracks, previously influenced by mixtapes and compilation CDs, have become inexorably shaped by the rise of streaming. Digging the infinite crates of the internet for rare and recycled tracks from yesterday and today, music supervisors for shows like High Fidelity (2020), The Bear (2022–present), Atlanta (2016–22) and Russian Doll (2019–present) have sculpted distinct sonic identities that grab viewers on-screen and retain their attention through their 'Official Spotify Playlists'. This article traces the possibilities of the soundtrack in the playlist era through case studies of HBO's eclectic anthology series High Maintenance (2012–20), as well as the unprecedented resurgence of Kate Bush via Netflix's Stranger Things (2016–present). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to define the main components of the film music scoring process and the corresponding professional competencies of a film composer. The methodology of research is based on the integrated application of systemic and competency-based approaches, methods of theoretical analysis, specification, synthesis, and generalisation. The scientific novelty. Based on the analysis of art criticism and the author's own practical experience, the author of the article has determined: the main components of the film scoring process; the essence of compositional innovations in the best soundtracks of Ukrainian and foreign films; the main professional competencies of a film composer required to create a film soundtrack. The musical and creative competence of a film composer reflects the level of their compositional skill and the ability to creatively adapt musical material. Artistic and communicative competence characterises the ability to communicate creatively with the film's directing team, understanding the artistic intent of the film and the means of its implementation in musical images. Technical and technological competence is realised in the possession of modern technologies of sound recording and sound processing and the ability to work with studio equipment. Conclusions. Film scoring is a complex creative process that includes several stages (familiarisation with the general concept and dramaturgy of the film, creation of a score with a system of music themes and leitmotifs, studio recording of music, editing and synchronisation with the video sequence, sound design, creation of the final version of the soundtrack). The success of this process depends on the professional skill of the film composer, which is manifested in the formation of musical and creative, artistic and communicative, technical and technological competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how poetry features in Pasolini's cinema. It argues that the manner in which Pasolini films poetry provides insight into his theory of an affinity between poetry and film, and into more general judgements concerning social reality. The article begins with an analysis of the final sequence of Salò (1975) where I argue that Ezra Pound's poetry provides a soundtrack for the spectacle of torture in which the film's libertines engage. Following this, I consider Pasolini's 1965 text "The Cinema of Poetry" and use this text as a way of reading the role played by a copy of Rimbaud's collected poems in Teorema (Theorem, 1968). I then move to consider the relationship between oral recitation and text in Il decameron (The Decameron, 1971) and Il fiore della mille e una notte (The Arabian Nights, 1974). In doing this, I argue that one can observe a shift across these films whereby poetry and orality move from being a foundational moment for reciprocal community to being a vehicle for an ambiguous and violent fate. The article then considers the conspicuous presence of reading and writing within Salò before ending with a consideration of one scene towards the end of the film in which Pasolini appears to invest a recitation of the Gospel with a disruptive force that is otherwise lacking in his final film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Etkileşim: Academic Journal of Uskudar University Faculty of Communication is the property of Etkilesim and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

What does music add to drama, or more specifically, movies? Without music, movies today would not be the same. When it comes to creating a film, the soundtrack is arguably just as important as videography or acting. Exploring the roots that soundtracks have in opera and investigating Wagner's leitmotif will help discover how it influenced modern-day movie scoring. Furthermore, a deeper understanding of filmmaking can be obtained by examining the role music has to play in modern movies. The soundtracks from the original Star Wars trilogy films can be used to demonstrate the application of these things by looking deeply into how each theme is formed and how each one shapes the characters it represents as well as the story that is portrayed in a film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does music add to drama, or more specifically, movies? Without music, movies today would not be the same. When it comes to creating a film, the soundtrack is arguably just as important as videography or acting. Exploring the roots that soundtracks have in opera and investigating Wagner’s leitmotif will help discover how it influenced modern-day movie scoring. Furthermore, a deeper understanding of filmmaking can be obtained by examining the role music has to play in modern movies. The soundtracks from the original Star Wars trilogy films can be used to demonstrate the application of these things by looking deeply into how each theme is formed and how each one shapes the characters it represents as well as the story that is portrayed in a film.

The study focuses on Bohemian Rhapsody (2018, directed by Bryan Singer, later Dexter Fletcher), the biographical drama that reflects on the extraordinary lives and career patterns of the four members of the rock band Queen, predominantly the band’s frontman, Freddie Mercury. Given the fact that this feature film has changed the way we perceive the economic potential of biopics entirely, we offer an overview of some of the reasons why it was so successful in terms of the globalised film industry. The main objective of the study is to outline the biographical drama’s synergistic tendency in relation to the movie industry and the music business. Acknowledging Bohemian Rhapsody’s unprecedented global success, we work with the assumption that certain biographical dramas can, in fact, become globally popular, partly thanks to the fact that they utilise music as a nostalgia-driven narrative tool making portrayals of musicians deeper and more complex. The assumption is addressed via a theoretical reflection on the given topic and through a qualitative content analysis of the biographical drama Bohemian Rhapsody [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This topic of the city has attracted sustained interest in film studies. However, when discussing the soundtrack of contemporary films, the specifics of urban soundscape representation in such genres as horror and science fiction, in which exactly the sound component plays a decisive role, facilitated by actively developing technical capabilities, is left aside. In American fantasy cinema, the urban soundscape is of interest only when it not only illustrates the plot of the film but also when it’s part of the narrative. We are talking primarily about dystopias, in which interesting musical and noise solutions reflect the unfamiliar, which is characteristic of sci-fi environments. In the soundtracks of sci-fi films, the dramatic increase in the complexity of the technological aspect is particularly noticeable. The combination of technology and processes used in the creation of soundscape, atmospheres, noises, and effects is usually grouped under the term sound design, which literally means "design and sound engineering". During this period, sound design was finally established and became a critical component of film sound design, especially in the sci-fi and horror genres. In these films, the former division of sound into speech, synchronous noise, background noise, and music are retained. Still, through sound design, an acoustic element is introduced that has a narrative function but is not purely noise or music. Hyperrealistic sound becomes a typical example of the application of sound design, in which diegetic synchronous noises are enriched with nondiegetic timbres that introduce an additional semantic load. As the unfamiliar medium of a fantasy film struggles to convey a narrative and needs support and interpretation, music and noise take on this function. If in a fantasy film the environment, particularly the city, has no narrative function, the soundscape is unremarkable, but if it has such a function, it is how the sound conveys the narrative that is important. As for dystopias, a characteristic feature of the urban soundscape in this genre is the sharp contrast with the film's overall sound.

Introduction: the rise of current sound fiction requires from Communication studies an attention that verifies the abilities of students in fictional sound creation for their future work. The dependency on the visual image and the word that the young generations have requires, in turn, an empirical verification. Methodology: the experience that is now presented carries out an action of writing sound fiction micro-stories, designed to detect the difficulties encountered by the students when putting into practice all the sound elements with the absence of the word, incorporating it after gradually in different phases of script writing. The guided writing work is completed with a double movement: one analytical on the scripts made and another based on the surveys completed by the authors on the complexity of this task of scriptwriting. Results: the micro-stories generated had a total lack of non-verbal sound resources, without exploitation of other elements of sound language. Discussion: the results confirm a "functional deafness" that leads to a failure to build fictional sound stories, beyond the design of soundscapes. Conclusions: the analysis of the creations points to the existence of a variation in the cognitive narrative of the new and future generations of creators and listeners in regards to sound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses certain aspects of the use of compositional techniques practiced by Hans Zimmer for the purpose of building the dynamics of the narrative of the film image. Based on the analysis of selected scenes from the movie Interstellar (dir. Christopher Nolan, 2014), it shows how the development of musical material inspired by American minimalism serves the specific functions of a sci-fi genre, and the appropriate manipulation of this material by the director significantly influences the construction of spatio-temporal relations in the cinematographic picture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ICT in Muzical Field / Tehnologii Informatice si de Comunicatie in Domeniul Muzical is the property of Tehnologii Informatice si de Comunicatie in Domeniul Muzical / ICT in Musical Field and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During the 1980s, media images of white boomer nostalgia were often accompanied by 1960s Motown songs due to the popularity of the hit film The Big Chill as well as advertising and licensing strategies inspired by it. In previous decades, however, Motown was used to dramatize onscreen representations of Black male film characters' emotional experiences of aspiration and resilience. This article explores how 1960s Motown songs came to be employed in two motion pictures--Nothing But a Man and Cooley High--to represent particular notions of everyday Black life, and then provides an industrial backdrop for why such cinematic uses of Motown came to effectively be replaced by invocations of white nostalgia. By analyzing the uses of Motown music within film narratives and the industrial conditions through which such licensing took place, this study goes beyond the formal analysis of film music in order to demonstrate how the act of licensing popular songs for film participates in the making of songs' social, cultural, and political meanings. In so doing, this article shows how the material conditions of licensing music for film shape what and whose experiences of popular music are able to be represented onscreen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the musical dimension of experimentation in the creative space of science fiction film, concerning its uncanny, new and fantastic places, and otherworldly encounters within fictional, but possible worlds. The aim is to consider the function and potential of the audible – to examine how sound is used in the filmic exploration of the boundaries between the human and the alien (the unknown). More particularly, we are interested in the role that human voice-like and human vocal sounds can play in this divide, as we believe manipulations with such audible qualities contribute greatly to the emotional dimension of cinematic stories of otherworldly encounters. For that purpose, we concentrate on Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival (2016) and its soundtrack composed by Jóhann Jóhannsson, who resorts to different singing practices and vocal techniques to accompany a story charting the territories between the human and the alien.

A notable stylistic element of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is the innovative use of classical music, which, isolated from dialogue or sound effects, possesses an autonomous dimension of meaning. Borrowing Michel Chion’s concept of “anempathetic music”, we posit that two musical pieces—the Also sprach Zarathustra fanfare and the Blue Danube waltz—have very specific narrative and formal functions, to be analyzed here in terms of Lacan’s concepts of the imaginary and the symbolic, the gaze, suture, spectatorship, and the Kantian sublime. We aim to address and build on Annette Michelson’s formulation, in her seminal criticism, that 2001 is a film of cognitive restructuring and redefinition of cinema’s “shape of content”, through the role of music.

This article offers a close analysis of the 1968 'soundtrack' LP Auto Jazz: Tragic Destiny of Lorenzo Bandini (MPS) by the French saxophone player Barney Wilen. The theme of the LP is Italian racing driver Lorenzo Bandini's death in a motor racing accident at the Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco in 1967. The article also discusses the visual dimension of the work; image materials were originally to have been presented with the recording to make Auto Jazz a multi-media experience. We tend to associate the late 1960s with revolutionary jazz, free jazz and experiments with jazz form and Auto Jazz: Tragic Destiny of Lorenzo Bandini is certainly 'far out'. Jazz music at this time took on revolutionary tendencies both aurally and ideologically. However, it is not the politics of such countercultural acts that the recording expresses but rather (as a unique soundscape with elements of musique concrète) the emotional impact of a tragic real-life event through organized sound. The article examines the context for the LP: the development of 'new wave' cinema and use of jazz in this form, the concurrent revolution in modern jazz and contemporary experimental music and the form of 'expanded cinema' (Youngblood 1970) that Auto Jazz: Tragic Destiny of Lorenzo Bandini was conceived to a contribution to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses the 1978 film Nameless Star (directed by Mikhail Kozakov, music by Edison Denisov) as one of the few examples of on-screen art in which music not only supports the story, but comes to the fore, becoming one of its characters. Naturally enough, in this article, Nameless Star is considered through the lens of its musical concept. The focus is on some of the composer’s individual features that characterize his film music. Among the main ones is Denisov’s fundamental idea about integrating music into a single canvas of a film work, which directly affects its figurative and stylistic characteristics and poetics in general. In this vein, the author analyzes various interpretations of the plot (or, rather, plotlines—the encounters of the main characters, the discovery of a new star, etc.), which have significant divergences in the texts of different authors and direct participants in the filming process; the main semantic points highlighted in the film by keywords (“station”, “diesel-electric locomotive”, etc.); and, finally, the film’s sound and musical design shaping a single line of storytelling. The special role of sound elements (train noise, station bell, etc.) accompanying the narration and endowing it with special thoroughness and authenticity is revealed. It is noted that the dramatic center of the film is an impromptu performance of the Symphony composed by one of the main characters—Mr. Udrea, music teacher. The significance of this artwork in the context of the narration is extremely high: decisive plot turns are associated with the Symphony; it combines intonations and leitmotifs that determine the overall emotional tone of the film. Edison Denisov manages to reproduce Udrea’s intention to the finest detail, creating a nuanced intonation-thematic profile of the Symphony, thanks to, among other things, skillful timbre-rhythmic differentiation. Over and above, he structures musical drama in such a way that during performance of the Symphony, the semantic dominants of the film, embodied in the system of its main sound images, get actualized (theme of the city, Mona’s theme, etc.). In a sense, the music here goes beyond being a mere soundtrack: it becomes an integral part of the plot, penetrating into the words of the heroes (recurring mentioning of the English horn or the story about the structure of the Symphony). Largely thanks to the music, which brings new implications to the film, the romantic comedy appears as a complex, multiplanar work, revealing an unordinary facet in the creative gift of one of the most convinced avant-garde composers of the 20th century. Статья посвящена телевизионному фильму «Безымянная звезда» (1978, режиссер М.М. Козаков, композитор Э.В. Денисов) как одному из немногих примеров экранного искусства, где музыка не просто поддерживает повествование, но выходит на первый план киноленты, становясь одним из её персонажей. Поэтому естественно, что фильм М. Козакова – Э. Денисова в данной статье рассмотрен сквозь призму его музыкальной концепции. В фокусе внимания оказываются некоторые индивидуальноавторские особенности, характеризующие киномузыку Денисова. В числе главных — принципиальная установка композитора на интеграцию музыки в единый текст кинопроизведения, непосредственным образом влияющая на его образно-стилевые характеристики и поэтику в целом. В этом русле анализируются различные интерпретации сюжета (точнее, основных его линий — встречи главных героев, открытия новой звезды и т.д.), имеющие существенные расхождения в текстах разных авторов и непосредственных участников съемочного процесса; главные смысловые точки, подчеркнутые в фильме ключевыми словами («вокзал», «дизель-электропоезд» и т.п.); наконец, звуковой и музыкальный дизайн картины, создающий единую линию повествования. Обнаруживается особая роль звуковых деталей (шум поезда, вокзальный колокол и т.д.), сопровождающих повествование и придающих ему особую тщательность и достоверность. Отмечается, что драматургическим центром фильма становится импровизированное исполнение Симфонии, сочиненной одним из главных персонажей — учителем музыки Удрей. Значимость этого произведения в контексте повествования чрезвычайно велика: с Симфонией связаны решающие повороты сюжета, в ней соединяются интонации и лейтмотивы, определяющие общий эмоциональный тон картины. Эдисону Денисову удается в точности воспроизвести замысел Удри, создав детализированный интонационно-тематический профиль Симфонии, чему способствовала и искусная темброво-ритмическая дифференциация. Кроме того, он выстраивает музыкальную драматургию таким образом, что в момент звучания Симфонии актуализируются смысловые доминанты фильма, воплощенные в системе его главных звукообразов (тема Города, тема Моны и др.). В определенном смысле можно утверждать, что в этом фильме музыка становится чем-то бо́льшим, чем саундтрек в привычном понимании этого слова: она является неотъемлемой частью сюжета, проникает в реплики героев (повторяющееся упоминание английского рожка или рассказа о строении Симфонии). Во многом благодаря музыке, вносящей в действие фильма новые подтексты, романтическая комедия предстает как сложное неодноплановое произведение, обнаруживая непривычную грань творческого дарования одного из самых убежденных композиторов-авангардистов XX века.

The article is devoted to the question of the categories of the epic as part of the theoretical paradigm of contemporary musicology. It is proven that nowadays there are many books, magazines and articles about the epic genre of music. The concept of a soundtrack that appeared in the 1950s is highlighted of XX century. The compilation of songs "Carmina Burana", which became the reason for the appearance of the music for the trailers was investigated. It has been established that since the 90s of the XX century, the first companies that were engaged in the creation of music for trailers began to appear - "Globus" and "Inmediate Music". It is determined that the first studio album of the group "Globus" was "Epicon". It is noted that video games belong to epic music. It has been studied that epic soundtracks are most often used in video games with the plot of war, confrontation and battles. It is noted that Jeremy Soule, who gained fame thanks to the game series "Elder Scrolls" and "Harry Potter" is the most famous composer of orchestral music video games. The importance of music is emphasized for the video games of the famous American composer Garry Schyman. Emphasis is placed on the talented works of German instrumentalist Hans Zimmer. It is noted that the music is epic and cinematic. Samples of the musical epic of Ukrainian composers are highlighted. Explored Japanese anime style animation. Revealed that talented artists receive the MTV Video Music Awards every year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music is a central element of film, and in the case of The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) and The Hobbit (2012-2014), it played a defining part in the shaping of Tolkien's adaptation to cinema. Nonetheless, attention to the soundtrack has often bypassed the pop songs released with each film of both trilogies. This chapter intends to analyse one of these songs, 'I See Fire', by Ed Sheeran, released for the last but one of these films, The Desolation of Smaug (2013). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this essay is to highlight and comment on the importance of musical presence within Jennie Livingston's documentary film Paris is Burning (1990), a pivotal film of the cinematographic moment of New Queer Cinema. Despite multiple analyses, from Judith Butler in Bodies That Matters (1993) to Peggy Phelan in Unmarked: The Politics of Performance (1996), there is a lack of literature regarding the narrative, performative and resilient potential of its soundtrack. The essay proposes a new methodological approach by presenting, following a brief historical framework, the audiovisual analysis of three thematic nuclei. The first object of study is the resilience of the pre-existing songs that compile the Paris Is Burning soundtrack, both for their trans-genre nature and for the high number of beats per minute that distinguishes them. Subsequently, a spatial and sound tripartition is proposed which initially diversifies the collective queer minority environments from the heteronormal, cis-gender, collective ones and afterward from the individual queer ones; also determining how Realness compare itself with urban and sound spatiality. Moreover, a new suggestion about the bequest of Paris is Burning on a cinematographic, musical and performative level has been pointed out.

This article presents a taxonomic proposal for the semiotic and aesthetic classification of the elements of the soundtrack, this instrument is developed through the theoretical contributions of the cinematographic sound of Chalko (2014), Chion (1993), Jullier and Rodríguez (2007), Bordwell and Compson (2003), Rodríguez Bravo (1998), the semiotics of the cinematographic language of Saussure and Peirce and in turn will be complemented by the contributions from the theories of Ensestein (2004); this taxonomy is used punctually in an exercise of cinematographic analysis to the feature films Los hongos (Ruiz Navia, 2014), Las tetas de mi madre (Zapata, 2015) and Los nadie (Mesa, 2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is, a part of a larger chapter, which treats the analysis of also other drama soundtracks, with various plots, directing visions and kinds of typologies in order to draw a line between the conventions and codes in music. Still, it is hard, since the final result is mostly an eclecticism between program music, large types of audio layouts, applied accordingly to the script and the personal craft of the composer. I identified some general approaches in drama film music, such as: the large usage of strings, or the highlight of melodic parameter, the minor keys and so on. I believe, for a composer it is essential to know the tools one needs to choose before writing music for a film. Even more, the codes found in an soundtrack are necessary because of the fact that they „talk" about the composer s style, his trademark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ERAS: European Review of Artistic Studies is the property of European Review of Artistic Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the early 1990s the “trendy drama” became part of Korean TV programming. Mainly focused on a younger audience, it not only showed the modern urban life style of its protagonists searching for love, but also integrated newly composed pop music into the series, first as theme songs and later by playing musical pieces at crucial moments in the developing relationships of the young couples. This article analyzes the crucial part these songs play both in marketing a Korean series (or K-Drama), as well as in the development of its narrative, exemplified by the musical concepts of three recent series, Dokkaebi: The Lonely And Great God (2016-2017), While You Were Sleeping (2017) and Because This Is My First Life (2017). Similar to the concept of a leitmotif, once established as a song for a character, a couple or a mood, pop songs are used throughout the run of a series. They, therefore, add a new layer of meaning to a scene, not only through lyrics and music, but especially by referring to past developments and incidents, thus holding the whole series together and giving it an individual character.

One of the most tangible effects of music is its ability to alter our perception of time. Research on waiting times and time estimation of musical excerpts has attested its veritable effects. Nevertheless, there exist contrasting results regarding several musical features' influence on time perception. When considering emotional valence and arousal, there is some evidence that positive affect music fosters time underestimation, whereas negative affect music leads to overestimation. Instead, contrasting results exist with regard to arousal. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, a systematic investigation has not yet been conducted within the audiovisual domain, wherein music might improve the interaction between the user and the audiovisual media by shaping the recipients' time perception. Through the current between-subjects online experiment (n = 565), we sought to analyze the influence that four soundtracks (happy, relaxing, sad, scary), differing in valence and arousal, exerted on the time estimation of a short movie, as compared to a no-music condition. The results reveal that (1) the mere presence of music led to time overestimation as opposed to the absence of music, (2) the soundtracks that were perceived as more arousing (i.e., happy and scary) led to time overestimation. The findings are discussed in terms of psychological and phenomenological models of time perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assisted by the technological advances of the past decades, stereoscopic 3D cues are being integrated increasingly in both interactive and non-interactive media. Arguably, the main focus of this effort is placed on the creation of an increased sense of visual depth. Considering that human perception relies heavily on the audiovisual integration rather than on visual information alone, it is rather surprising that relatively little attention has been given so far to the potential effect of the soundtrack on 3D depth perception in contrast to the evident interest towards the study of realistic 3D audio spatialisation techniques and technologies. The multisensory nature of human perception suggests that the potential of sound design as a means to influence depth perception in the stereoscopic 3D visual environments may be worthy of further exploration. This study reports on our research into the possibilities of using alterations of the volume levels of the soundtrack in order to influence the perception of visual depth while viewing stereoscopic 3D animation clips. Based on previous findings indicating that the volume level of the soundtrack may be related to the perception of visual depth, a series of experiments further explored the effectiveness of this auditory cue. Results suggest that, under certain conditions, differences in volume levels of the soundtrack could influence the judgement of visual depth in a way that frequently contradicts real-life expectations. It is suggested that different, more metaphorical perceptual mechanisms may be in play when viewing stereoscopic 3D presentations than in real life. In this context, we conclude that stereoscopic 3D media can benefit from further exploration of the effectiveness of certain auditory cues as a means to influence the perception of depth within the stereoscopic 3D environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tolkien's literary work recreates a complex fictional world inhabited by different peoples and ethnic groups with their own history and culture. Given his philological motivation, works such as The Lord of the Rings show the idiosyncrasies of each people through their history and traditions, their language and speech and even their names. Peter Jackson's film version, however, provides an additional element that contributes to the representation of these peoples and cultures: the soundtrack. Hence, Howard's Shore music plays a major role in the configuration of the identity of elves, men, hobbits or orcs, by means of different instruments, themes, modes and dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an attempt to analyze selected characteristics of contemporary cinematic sound on the basis of the sound design in Sicario (2015, dir. Denis Villeneuve), which encompasses a digitally-processed orchestral score with originally texturized sound effects. I elaborate on the features of the sound design in Sicario in regard to production and composition. Moreover, I attempt to demonstrate the ways in which sound in Sicario, due to its characteristics, is outside any typical musical genre. Finally, the article focuses on sound effects which are used in an unusual way, for instance, so as to reflect characters’ personalities. The analysis of Sicario demonstrates that a creatively and meticulously constructed sound design in film has the power to exceed its traditional, supporting role in the narrative.

Comprised of eight articles that focus on mainstream and even independent cinema from the silent era to the 21st century, this issue explores the creative possibilities of music in US-American cinema and aims to contribute to a renewal of methodological perspectives. In a day and age when film music and sound studies are increasingly paying attention to the history, technique and technology of sound film and sound design, the articles refocus attention on music itself in order to assess the continued relevance of the analytical tools developed in the classical studies of film music, in particular those developed by the Michel Chion-Claudia Gorbman-Karthyn Kalinak trio. The articles demonstrate the continued applicability of their tools, notably when it comes to analyzing a score’s structure or the relationship between music and image. But taken as a whole, they also single out areas that require more critical attention, including the praxis of creating film music itself and its central role in the filmmaking process, as well as the central role of silence in a film music score. The authors also emphasize that music is steeped in ideology and that its non-verbal quality endows it with political power. As a whole, the issue suggests that music in US-American cinema remains constantly open to invention and experimentation; classical Hollywood music refers more to a period than to an actual style or set of conventions.

The article analyzes the role played by both the diegetic sounds and the music in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974). Resorting to some atonal score made of jarring notes coupled with diegetic sounds of the most bizarre sort (from the rattling of chainsaws to the cackling of encaged hens, without forgetting the screaming of the unyielding heroine), Tobe Hooper means to literally set the viewers’ teeth on edge. By counting on the sense of hearing more than on special effects, the director creates some kind of prolonged sticky red scream that still unsettles the most blasé spectators of today’s horror films.

Director David Wagner says Trade Queen 'was never intended to be a period film'. However, the suitability of black-and-white 35 mm for the story points to the inflection between markers of analogue and digital registration as one that also codes the boundary between queer and straight experience. This article argues that while Trade Queen is tagged as a film without dialogue, the use of sound design and music in the film is critical to a narrative told aurally as well as visually. Furthermore, it is the use of sound in this film – which ends with vinyl interference – that articulates the tension between analogue and digital, and between heteronormative and queer experience. In punchlines, the synthesized reverb of Ruby Treasure's score, and in interiors heard from the gated picket fence, we hear as well as see the transitions between public and private selves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay reflects upon an experience of Ensemble Classes that took place in an elementary school, with inexperienced students that, departing from an Anglophone poetic text to be declaimed in public, as a work of Literature, reached as a result, the performance of a musical piece that created an adequate musical atmosphere to the poem, enabling in its pedagogy pathway a multidisciplinary pedagogical cooperation of Literature, Music, Drama and Fine Arts faculty that, in offering to Music and Literature apprentices distinct perspectives, based on their specific knowledge, broadened the active construction of knowledge in diversity and depth. Successful experiences of composer Bernard Herrmann in the field of film music, specially his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, served as inspiration for this creative accomplishment that, departing from a music structure previously established by the instructor, allowed the students the collective experience of guided ludic musical improvisation without, however, losing sight of the sense of the resulting aesthetical discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mecmua is the property of MECMUA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With its schema-activating potential to influence an audience's perception and interpretation of film plot and protagonists, film music goes far beyond the role of an emotionalizing accessory in film contexts. For this review, 24 German and English empirical studies that tested music's potential to convey meaning were identified to be compared in their research questions, the characteristics of their methods, designs, samples, and stimulus materials, as well as main results. Depending on the degree of realism and the abstraction level of the audio-visual stimulus material, differently connoted music or music of different genres trigger supra-individual associations, which make the recipients' perceptual patterns and evaluations of film plot and protagonists predictable. The review provides a systematization of music's effects as well as methodological and content-related indications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents two studies that deepen the theme of how soundtracks shape our interpretation of audiovisuals. Embracing a multivariate perspective, Study 1 (N = 118) demonstrated, through an online between-subjects experiment, that two different music scores (melancholic vs. anxious) deeply affected the interpretations of an unknown movie scene in terms of empathy felt toward the main character, impressions of his personality, plot anticipations, and perception of the environment of the scene. With the melancholic music, participants felt empathy toward the character, viewing him as more agreeable and introverted, more oriented to memories than to decisions, while perceiving the environment as cozier. An almost opposite pattern emerged with the anxious music. In Study 2 (N = 92), we replicated the experiment in our lab but with the addition of eye-tracking and pupillometric measurements. Results of Study 1 were largely replicated; moreover, we proved that the anxious score, by increasing the participants’ vigilance and state of alert (wider pupil dilation), favored greater attention to minor details, as in the case of another character who was very hard to be noticed (more time spent on his figure). Results highlight the pervasive nature of the influence of music within the process of interpretation of visual scenes.

In his third novel, Rompepistas (2009), Catalan writer Kiko Amat creates a semi-autobiographical first-person narrative that observes national crisis as inextricable from geographic and economic issues of migration and constructions/locations of class as markers of identity in Spanish and Catalan national imaginaries. In a context of internal tensions and official discourses of consensus to organize the city in terms of what ‘should’ be visible, a teen narrator describes an emotional punk attitude during the summer of 1987 in post-dictatorial Barcelona in terms of embodying a cultural misdemeanor in Catalan nationalist context. Amat’s affective literary response to the role of ‘foreign’ music in his early life imbues the novel with a soundtrack of a pre-internet, pan-national sense of solidarity among working-class teenagers as the disenfranchised ‘other,’ producing a counter-consensus within official national discourses and unfettered neoliberal urban development plans.

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, some American soldiers commonly listened to music in order to “motivate” themselves before action. Previous studies have shown that their most frequent choices to this effect pertained to two genres: “gangsta” rap and heavy metal. At another extreme of armed violence, Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik reported listening to a selection of tunes in the preparation of his 2011 massacre and possibly also during its perpetration. His musical choices sounded radically different from metal and rap. Yet, all of these styles of music had previously been associated with graphic violence throughout popular movies and video games. This paper asks how each type of music “worked” in motivating its listener for armed confrontation. The comparison requires going beyond the fact that mainstream media interact with common imaginaries of violence. The hypothesis here is that the differences between the terrorist’s and the soldier’s playlists reflect deeper contrasts in their engagements with the opponent. This case study of musical “motivation” leads to a broader discussion of the interplay between the agency of the listener, as opposed to the agency which he or she sometimes locates in the music itself.

While it might already seem unusual to turn attention first and foremost to the soundtrack in a study of documentary film,1 it probably seems even more unusual if the field of study is limited to the use of sound in historical (television) documentaries. But the situation threatens to become entirely absurd if we reduce the field even more and focus on the least prominent aspect of the soundtrack, noise.

History produces sound recordings. And sound recordings shape history in turn. This interrelationship is clearly attested to in recordings of historical voices, such as that of John F. Kennedy’s speech before the Schöneberger Rathaus in Berlin on June 26, 1963. Sections of this recording have taken on a life of their own, becoming iconic sound bites over the course of their frequent rebroadcasting, not least Kennedy’s famous phrase “Ich bin ein Berliner”.

The relationship between film and history has assumed many and varied forms over the course of time. During the twentieth century, film increasingly became a medium through which contemporary political and historical events were discussed and interpreted.1 Cinematic narration of history influenced twentieth-century film production in myriad ways and constantly challenged “classical” historiography, especially its function of disseminating historical knowledge.

The article presents a detailed analysis of the musical compositions sounded out in Alexei Balabanov’s film “Brat 2” [“Brother 2”]. The author arrives at the conclusion that the film producer uses the expansively symbolic potential of songs and arranges them by means of the field of “secondary meanings,” which frequently contradict the meanings of the direct plot narrative. In the structure of the film, in the opinion of the author, two systems of musical leitmotifs are traced out. The first system is connected with the leitmotifs of the protagonists and the character of the surrounding environment, whereas the second system—the more complex and semantically more saturated—builds special relations with the image of America. The programmatic musical composition in the structure of this second system is the song “Goodbye, America” (“Farewell Letter”) of the group “Nautilus Pompilius.” Its symbolic polyvalence complements and develops a whole set of other songs, which ultimately turns into an independent “off-screen” vocal cycle about love. In this cycle all the basic stages of relations are traced out: the foretaste of love, meeting and entrancement with feelings, the first disillusionment, an insurmountable conflict, exinanition, saying farewell, the syndrome after being in love with the sense of inevitability of loneliness and, finally, the ultimate parting. However, in the unfolding story of love the main hero is not in the least Danila Bargov, but it is Alexei Balabanov as the representative of a certain generation. It is particularly his perspective of America as a paradise-country, very personalized, and hence hidden behind irony, becomes the secondary plot-related and semantic core of the film, which few people are able to read through, which makes it very important. В статье представлен детальный анализ музыкальных композиций, звучащих в фильме Алексея Балабанова «Брат 2». Автор приходит к выводу, что режиссер использует расширительно-символический потенциал песен и выстраивает с их помощью поле «вторых смыслов», нередко противоречащих смыслам прямого сюжетного нарратива. В структуре фильма, по мнению автора, вырисовываются две системы музыкальных лейтмотивов. Первая система связана с лейтмотивами персонажей и характером окружающей среды, тогда как вторая система — более сложная и семантически насыщенная — выстраивает особые отношения с образом Америки. Программной композицией в структуре этой второй системы выступает песня «Гуд-бай, Америка» («Прощальное письмо») группы «Наутилус Помпилиус». Ее символическую многозначность дополняет и развивает целый ряд других песен, в конечном итоге превращающийся в самостоятельный «закадровый» вокальный цикл о любви. В этом цикле прослеживаются все основные стадии отношений: предвкушение любви, встреча и упоенность чувствами, первое разочарование, непреодолимый конфликт, опустошенность, прощание, синдром пост-влюбленности с осознанием неизбежности одиночества и, наконец, окончательное расставание. Однако в развертывающейся истории любви главным героем является отнюдь не Данила Багров, а сам Алексей Балабанов как представитель определенного поколения. Именно его очень личностный, а потому нередко спрятанный за иронию взгляд на Америку как на страну-рай становится вторым, мало кем прочитываемым, но крайне важным сюжетным и смысловым стержнем фильма.

This article discusses Michelangelo Antonioni’s use of music in his 1964 film Red Desert (Il deserto rosso). Before Red Desert, Antonioni had avoided the Hollywood convention of the near-continuous musical score, and made only very sparing use of largely diegetic music. Instead of music in any straightforward sense, he used a kind of structured sound-effects score instead. In Red Desert, there is much more music, and in many ways it performs the traditional function of elucidating or enhancing the film’s narrative and symbolic elements. Even so, the content of the music was strikingly original at the time: an abstract electronic score by Vittorio Gelmetti. Close examination reveals Antonioni’s subtle and ambiguous play with the diegetic or non-diegetic role of his music. At the same time, he retains a sound-effects score that begins to take on musical properties, and which also has a significant function in elucidating the narrative. The two scores contribute much to Antonioni’s portrayal of the central character, Giuliana. Much of the critical response to the film took the main theme to be alienation brought on by industrial development, and demoted the story of Giuliana’s mental illness, assuming that she was to be understood as frivolous and trivial as a character. This article presents an alternative reading, drawing on the rich musical evidence that Antonioni did indeed place his plot at the centre of the film, and, contrary to many of the critics, it demonstrates how the music foregrounds the mental state of Giuliana and invites the viewer to view her plight with compassion.

This article presents two studies that deepen the theme of how soundtracks shape our interpretation of audiovisuals. Embracing a multivariate perspective, Study 1 (N = 118) demonstrated, through an online between-subjects experiment, that two different music scores (melancholic vs. anxious) deeply affected the interpretations of an unknown movie scene in terms of empathy felt toward the main character, impressions of his personality, plot anticipations, and perception of the environment of the scene. With the melancholic music, participants felt empathy toward the character, viewing him as more agreeable and introverted, more oriented to memories than to decisions, while perceiving the environment as cozier. An almost opposite pattern emerged with the anxious music. In Study 2 (N = 92), we replicated the experiment in our lab but with the addition of eye-tracking and pupillometric measurements. Results of Study 1 were largely replicated; moreover, we proved that the anxious score, by increasing the participants' vigilance and state of alert (wider pupil dilation), favored greater attention to minor details, as in the case of another character who was very hard to be noticed (more time spent on his figure). Results highlight the pervasive nature of the influence of music within the process of interpretation of visual scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of the original score for the 2015 film The Childhood of a Leader, which was composed by the enigmatic and reclusive popstar-turned-avant-garde-experimentalist Scott Walker. In particular, the analysis here considers that important function that Walker's score plays in illuminating the central protagonist's evolving megalomaniacal state. The film's narration of a would-be Fascist leader's childhood is punctuated and enhanced by Walker's challenging and aggressive composition, which aurally complements and symbolises the growing disquiet in the youngster's mind. Focussing firstly on the significant influence of European art and culture on Walker's musical style and the role of European cinema and aesthetics in Brady Corbet's direction of the film, the understanding of Walker's sonic techniques and their use in the film become contextualised with a specific grounding in 'European Imagination'. The article also explores the combination of sound and images through conceptual and theoretical notions such as Gilles Deleuze's 'any-space-whatever'; the use of avant-garde sound techniques such as cacophony and distortion in the composition and sound mixing; before concluding with a textual analysis of the film's primary creative mode of aligning music to the characterisation of a megalomaniacal mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]