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Hearing Film: Film Sound and Music

Module description

Film sound and music have had key roles in influencing both the form and the meanings of filmic texts, and are central to audiences' experiences in the cinema. Despite this fact discussions of film sound and music have tended to be marginalised in the critical discussions of film studies by the dominance of a visually based paradigm. The module will address the critical neglect of film sound and music by fostering a deep engagement with the study of sound. The focus will mainly be on American cinema, but illustrative film examples will be drawn from wider filmmaking contexts. Film sound will be explored from a variety of historical, critical and theoretical perspectives.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• To consider the theoretical, aesthetic and methodological questions raised through the reading and critical discussion of film sound and music.

• To discuss how the history of film sound technologies and their institutional practices have influenced film form, with reference to a range of films from the 1920s to the present day.

• To explore the role that creative personnel, such as composers, sound editors and sound designers, have had in shaping and influencing the meanings of film texts. 

• To discuss the parts that sound and music play in the construction of national, racial and gendered identities.

• To investigate the relationships between film sound and genre.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. exhibit an advanced knowledge of theoretical, critical and historical debates about film sound and music;
• 2. demonstrate advanced skills in the textual analysis of an historically diverse range of film texts;
• 3. display a familiarity with films of the 1920s to the present and their relevance to theoretical, critical and historical accounts of film sound and music;
• 4. exhibit a sophisticated knowledge of approaches to the critical analysis of such films and the institutional and cultural contexts in which they were made;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. demonstrate a sophisticated and intellectually mature ability to analyse film of different periods and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical context;
• 6. demonstrate advanced and precise skills in the close formal, thematic, generic and authorial analysis of different kinds of films;
• 7. demonstrate advanced and autonomous skills in the research and evaluation of relevant critical and historical materials for the study of film;
• 8. demonstrate an advanced and autonomous ability to understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to films;
• 9. demonstrate an ability to devise, research, and execute a programme of archival research;

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 10. through seminar work and presentations, demonstrate advanced communication skills, and an ability to articulate their views convincingly both individually and in groups;
• 11. through essay-writing, demonstrate advanced research and bibliographic skills, an advanced and intellectually mature capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument and to write clear and correct prose;
• 12. through research for seminars, essays, and presentations demonstrate an advanced proficiency in information retrieval and analysis;
• 13. through the planning and organisation of research projects, demonstrate independence of thought and confidence in developing ideas and formulating questions;
• 14. through responses to constructive feedback, demonstrate an advanced and intellectually mature ability to reflect upon and strengthen written and other work.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Concepts and Terminology 1
• Concepts and Terminology 2
• Film Sound History 1 Transition to Sound
• Film Sound History 2 Early Talkies (Seminar in Bill Douglas Centre)
• The Voice in the Cinema
• The Film Composer
• Film Sound Aesthetics 1 The War Film
• Film Sound Aesthetics 2 The Musical
• Post-classical Film Sound
• Pop Soundtracks

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927)
• The Testament of Dr Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933)
• Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933)
• Blackmail (Alfred Hitchcock, 1929)
• Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (Blake Edwards, 1961)
• American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973)
• The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
• Saturday Night Fever (John Badham 1977)
• Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
• Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997)
• The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick, 1998)
• The Lives of Others (Leben der Anderen, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2007)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=687
• FilmSound.org – www.filmsound.org
• Module Viewing on Box of Broadcasts, access via University of Exeter IT login

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Reading for week 1

• David Bordwell & Kristin Thompson, Chapter 9 Sound in the Cinema from their Film Art: An Introduction: 5th Edition (New York: McGraw Hill, 1997).pp. 315-354
• The Audiovisual Contract from Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen trans. Claudia Gorbman, (1990; New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), pp. 1-137
• Michel Chion, Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen Rick Altman, Afterword: A Baker's Dozen Terms for Sound Analysis in Altman (ed) Sound Theory/Sound Practice (London: Routedge, 1992), pp. 249-253

Key words search

Film, sound, music