CISA–Annie Book Review
- “Cinesonic: The World of Sound in Film”
Philip Brophy
Quote—Coyle, R. (2000) ‘Cinesonic, The World of Sound in Film’, Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy. Sage Publications, Inc, p. 187.
Cinesonic’s back cover claims: ‘If you were blind, the cinema would be a world of sound’, assuming that cinema as an audiovisual event is unheard.
While it is true that film sound passes largely unrecognised by image-bedazzled viewers, audiences do hear, hone into and hum to particular elements in cinema soundscapes. What they lack is a broad understanding of how to talk about what is heard, particularly in relation to what is seen.
At its best, this is what Cinesonic offers in an engaging and inspiring form
– namely, a set of approaches, analyses and arguments around soundtracks, speech and scores. At their worst, some essays merely make tantalising reference to sound while actually talking about narrative or film form.
Philip Brophy explores the cinematic soundscape in further detail in his book “Cinesonic.” He investigates how a film’s overall visual and emotional impact is influenced by its use of sound design, sound effects, and audio editing. Brophy investigates how, for instance, sound effects that are added to the soundtrack, off-screen, and during post-production can significantly affect how a viewer experiences and interprets a movie. Certain films may employ sound effects to heighten the impact of certain visual scenes or to build tension. Changing audio components, such as a voice’s pitch, volume, or timbre, makes a scene more emotionally impactful.
2.”Hearing the Movies: Music and Sound in Film History”
James Buhler, David Neumeyer, and Rob Deemer.
quote：https://api.equinoxpub.com/articles/fulltext/10808
For those interested in the relationship of music and film, this is the most rewarding portion of the book.The well-organized section begins with an overview and then examines the variety of musical functions in film extending from its most independent uses (credits, performance segments, and montages) to its more supportive roles (leitmotivs, dialogue, and action). Examples range from the silent-film era to the twenty-first century; international films are thankfully included as well. Without delving too far into any one film, this provides an excellent theoretical summary of film music organized by function. Of course, there are inevitable points that a musicologist could choose to argue. From the perspective of a historian, it would have been preferable to have an analysis of a silent film with its original music, rather than one with newly created music by Martin Marks. We should also add a reminder that Wagner did not invent the term “leitmotiv.” While a minor point, this common misconception has led to heated debates about the appropriateness of the term in discussions of film music.
Several facets of how sound is used in movies were covered in this book, including the usage of music, how sound effects are used, and the overall sound design.
Music can be employed as narrative and emotional support: music has the power to strengthen emotional impact, support the story, and establish a sense of continuity. Additionally, they assert that music can amplify dramatic situations, express character motivations, or heighten tension.
Sound Effects and Their Role in Immersion: Using sound effects in movies can make viewers feel more immersed.
Cooperation and sound design: The artistic concept of the movie is influenced by the collaborative process, which also shapes the entire sonic experience.
Historical perspectives and technological developments: A variety of genres and eras have used sound to produce distinctive cinematic experiences.
In addition, a very distinctive feature of the book is the authors’ emphasis on practicality for teachers and students.
3.”Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen”
Michel Chion
Quote：
（1）Harmony or Counterpoint?
The arrival of sound in the late twenties coincided
with an extraordinary surge of aestheticism in silent film, and people took passionate interest in comparing cinema with music.
This is why they came up with the term counterpoint to designate their notion of the sound film’s ideal state as a cinema free ofr edundancy where sound and image would constitute two parallel and loosely connected tracks, neither dependent on the other. （pp.36-37）
（2）
I shall call internal logic of the audiovisual flow a mode of connecting images and sounds that appears to follow a flexible, organic process of development, variation, and growth, born out of the narrative situation itself and the feelings it inspires. Internal logic tends toward continuous and progressive modifications in the sonic flow, and makes use of sudden breaks only when the narrative so requires. I shall call external logic that which brings out effects of discontinuity and rupture as interventions external to the represented content: editing that disrupts the continuity of an image or a sound, breaks, interruptions, sudden changes of tempo, and so on.
Films like Ophuls’s Earrings of Madame de, Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, or Randa Haines’s Children of a Lesser God adopt an internal logic.
The sound swells, dies, reappears, diminishes, or grows as if cued by the characters’ feelings, perceptions, or behaviors. Films such as Scott’s Alien, Lang’s M, or Godard’s Nouvelle Vague obey an external logic, with marked effects of transitions and breaks.（pp.46）
Famous film theorist and musician Michel Chion has written extensively about the use of sound in cinema, including studies of silent films. Chion examines how sound can improve the viewer’s experience and interpretation of a film in his book “Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen,” which examines the relationship between image and sound.
According to the aesthetics of silent film, sound and image would be two independent, loosely coupled tracks that run parallel to one another.
Additionally, he views the audiovisual stream’s inherent logic as a way to link image and sound, with sound improving the characters.
The Lack of Synchronised Sound in Silent Films: Chion emphasises the special features of silent films while highlighting the lack of synchronised sound as a crucial aesthetic component. He contends that the lack of music enables viewers to interact more with the image, relying more on their imagination and visual interpretation to grasp the story and emotions depicted on screen.
The Expressive Potential of Silent Film Scores: Chion also looks into the other expressive capabilities of sound in silent films outside of music. He talks about how non-musical noises, including noise effects, can be used to establish certain moods, heighten dramatic scenes, and give clues about the story. Chion suggests that even without speaking, these sounds can help silent films create stories and evoke strong emotions.