Sonic diegesis: reality and the expressive potential of sound in narrative film

Perspectives and approaches from electroacoustic music are applied to support a phenomenological understanding of the role of sound in film, whereby all sounds are presented as potential drivers of cinematic diegesis. Building upon notions of the non-diegetic fallacy (Winters 2010, Kassabian 2008) and extending these concepts from film music into an examination of all sound, conventional classifications of sound into binary (diegetic / non-diegetic) and tripartite (Voice / Music / Sound Effects) divisions are challenged. Such divisions are argued as limiting to an understanding of the full expressive potentials of sound, failing to reflect the filmic experience, by assigning limited functional roles to specific types of sound. Notions of “reality” are core to this exposition, with existing analytical distinctions operating in relation to an assumed objective reality, a transparent mimesis, which fails to take into consideration the subjectivity of the audience nor the diegetic potential of mimetic sounds. However, with reference to specific examples drawn from mainstream cinema – Gravity [2013], Dunkirk [2017] – and creative practice research ¬– coccolith [2016] – the expressive potential of sound is demonstrated to be embodied by all sound types, with the apparent realism of mimetic sounds belying their significant diegetic power. Indeed, the illusory realism of mimetic sounds is argued as core to their communicative action and affect, extending audiences’ own experiences of sonic phenomena. Approaches to the analysis of sound within narrative film contexts are demonstrated and posited as affording deeper and more nuanced readings of the role of all sound in the construction of filmic diegesis

Stories of a ruined space: filmic and sonic approaches to practice-as-research

This article reflects on the authors’ work in investigating how audiovisual practices might represent the experience of disused or ruined structures. With backgrounds in visual and sound practice respectively, the authors have, in their most recent experimental film project Coccolith [UK: Coccolith Productions], conceived the Ramsgate wartime tunnels in Kent as a point of collision for divergent artistic approaches to the representation of space. Challenging the site’s association with wartime mythology, the project sought to reconfigure the relationship between film and sound practice in order to articulate an alternative representation of the tunnels’ history, heritage and temporality. The article reflects on the role of the sound designer in developing soundscapes that embodied the ruined space, and on the role of the director in visually conceiving a spatial experience of the tunnels characterized by the absence of sound – silence. We argue that in conceiving an audiovisual project in terms of texture and gesture, it is possible to reconceptualize both the role of the soundtrack in relation to a film’s diegesis, and the role of the director in relation to sound design

Escuta Ubíqua

O objeto deste ensaio é analisar as mudanças na escuta que foram e estão sendo condicionadas pelas evoluções tecnológicas de todos os tipos, desde a internet aos projetos de “casa do futuro”. Eu sugiro que essas mudanças são parte de uma mudança generalizada no lugar da música e, em particular, na escuta, na vida cotidiana da maioria das pessoas que vivem em países industrializados. Em particular, quero propor que estas mudanças devem ocasionar evoluções paralelas e substanciais na maneira em que pensamos sobre a música como acadêmicos, através das disciplinasPalavras-chave: Escuta, música ubíqua, novas mídias, gênero.AbstractThe object of this essay is to consider the changes to listening that have been and are being conditioned by technological developments of all kinds, from the Internet to designs of the ‘home of the future’. I suggest that these changes are part of a widespread shift in the place of music, and in particular, listening, in the routine everyday lives of most people living in industrialised countries. In particular, I want to suggest that these changes should occasion parallel and substantial changes in the way we think about music as scholars across the disciplines.Keywords: Listening, Ubiquitous Music, New Media, Genre.      

Sound Tracks. Tracce, scenari e convergenze negli studi musicali

Il volume raccoglie saggi originali di alcuni dei più autorevoli studiosi di popular music a livello internazionale in diversi ambiti disciplinari (sociologia, semiotica, musicologia, antropologia, media studies, ethnic studies): Simon Frith, "Note introduttive"; John Shepherd, "Dal testo al genere: musica, comunicazione e società"; Franco Fabbri, "Appunti sui generi: da Aristotele a Yahoo!"; Roberto Agostini, "Chimere. Note su alcune musiche (im)popolari contemporanee"; George Lipsitz, "World cities e world beat: la musica come pharmakon"; Steve Jones, "Distribuzione e downloading: la musica e le tecnologie del web"; Anahid Kassabian, "L’ascolto ubiquo"; Francesco D’Amato, "Coordinate e prospettive: le riflessioni sui rapporti fra testo e contesto"The volume contains original essays by some of the most influential popular music scholars in various disciplines (sociology, semiotics, musicology, anthropology, media studies, ethnic studies): Simon Frith, "Introductory Notes"; John Shepherd, "From text to genre: music, communication and society"; Franco Fabbri, "Notes on genres: from Aristotle to Yahoo!"; Roberto Agostini, "Chimeras. Notes on some (un)popular contemporary music"; George Lipsitz, "" World cities and world beat: music as pharmakon"; Steve Jones, "Distribution and downloading: music and Web technologies"; Anahid Kassabian, "Ubiquitous listening"; Francesco D’Amato, "Co-ordinates and perspectives: the relationship between text and context