Soundtrack, The - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2010

Run Lola Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998) is unconventional on many levels. Its narrative structure, editing style and use of mixed media are highly ambitious. Director, writer and composer Tom Tykwer had a strong creative vision for the film and wanted to captivate and fully engage the viewer. The underscore consists of prominently featured through-composed dance music. The chosen musical idiom is a pastiche of contemporary dance music, rock and pop, combining hypnotic techno beats with mainstream rock appeal. The cue Running One is analysed with regards to the correlation of music and (non-)diegetic sound, as well as music and visuals. The article considers the effect of dance music on the listener, the chosen musical idiom is described as an ideal choice to have a high level of impact on the target audience. The synergetic relationship of the narrative vehicles in Run Lola Run proves effective in attaining the dramatic expressiveness Tywker envisioned.

In view of Bigelow's Oscar achievements in 2010 with her Iraq war film The Hurt Locker (which included awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing as well as Best Director), this article explores the subversive ways that Bigelow uses sound-track and sound effects within her movies through focusing on her 1991 film, Point Break. Through close examination of the use of sound in this surfer/buddy movie and building on previous scholarly comment that identifies the two political ideologies embodied by the two central characters, I analyse the ways in which sound is used to represent both the dominant world of FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) and the subordinate world of surfer Bodhi (Patrick Swayze). I furthermore assert that the combination of soundtrack and the ambient sounds of water is used to create a soundscape that binds the two central characters, which is key in creating a homoerotic connection between them. I conclude by suggesting that the use of sound in the movie places the world of the subordinate ideology as a preferable existence to one within a dominant and restrictive ideology, which is underscored by the homoerotic relationship between the two central characters.

Darryl F. Zanuck produced The Rich Are Always with Us (Alfred E. Green, 1932) for Warner Bros. as a prestige star vehicle for Ruth Chatterton. Set among the New York high society, the picture features characters that, in addition to being wealthy, are clever, witty and well dressed, i.e. the smart set. They are adept at delivering banter in crisp articulate voices, speaking rapidly to signify intelligence, youth and modernity. This ultra-modern film had all the hallmarks of a prestige picture: a major star, a literary adaptation, stylish sets and props, elegant and fashionable costumes designed by Orry-Kelly, and some stunning cinematography by Ernest Haller. Nevertheless, it was shot quickly and cheaply, with a supporting cast made up largely of inexpensive contract players. As much as anything else, it was the rich voices of the cast that lent an air of distinction to this production, exploiting the audience's desire to hear smart talk delivered in voices that were full toned, highly modulated, carefully enunciated and refined. While this is not the kind of film most historians consider typical of Warners in the 1930s considering the likes of The Public Enemy (William Wellman, 1931), 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1931) and 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (Michael Curtiz, 1933) to be more representative this article reveals that there was a very different side to Warners' output during the early 1930s, one that sought to take advantage of Broadway talent and create articulate movies for upmarket audiences. This article, moreover, suggests that rich voices in talky talkies were a significant part of Warners' production strategy during the early 1930s and that New York's chattering classes provided the perfect subject for prestige talking pictures at this critical time of economic austerity.

In recent years, the term sound installation has been created and deployed to describe a variety of interdisciplinary artwork that, in one way or another, involves the phenomenon of sound. Sometimes, we encounter a piece of sound installation that seeks to heighten our auditory experience by removing any visual references.¹ More often, we see a piece of sound installation that incorporates visual elements that may or may not have direct relationship to the sound itself. It can be listened to through headphones to create an intimate relationship with the viewer/listener. Or it can be presented in a cacophonous manner that drives some viewers/listeners away whilst appealing to others.

In any case, there is always the role of space that hosts the existence of sound. The concept of space can be seen as one of the fundamental elements within the art of sight and sound. Therefore, in this article, by reflecting upon my own practice, I will explore the concept of space within the structure of sound installation, and the interdependent relationship of elements of sight and sound by drawing upon the tradition of electro-acoustic music and installation art.

Andrew Ktting is one of the most innovative film-makers working in Britain today, using his distinctive Punk multimedia aesthetic to circumvent not only the conventions of narrative cinema, but also the conventions of experimental film and fine art. One of Ktting's enduring concerns is the psychogeographical use of landscape and soundscape as a catalyst for arresting and inventive investigations into memory and identity. Composer R. Murray Schafer uses the word soundscape to identify sound that describes an environment, actual or abstract, but always a sound relevant to a place (Schafer 1994). The sounds of our environment have a powerful effect on our imaginations and memories and Ktting exploits this effect across his body of work. The use of the disembodied voice is another marked feature of Ktting's films, creating both implied narratives and the evocation of memory. Ktting's bodiless voices have a schizophonic quality to them. Kotting rips sounds and voices from their sources and imbues them with an independent existence that is at liberty to emanate from anywhere in the landscape. This article investigates Ktting's idiosyncratic creation of soundscapes as a filmic reproduction of the human psyche, exploring memory, identity and community through an interweaving of voice, music and environmental sound.

While we expect a dramatic feature film to use creative license in bringing the sound-track to life, does the same carte blanche approach apply for documentary? Does it, and should it, matter? This article highlights some of the problems and questions relating to the notions of realism and authenticity in the production of the documentary soundtrack. The production of the documentary film Gallipoli Submarine is used as a case study to examine the implications for practice.

What can be the status of sound in film? Is sound always dependent on image in film? Or is it possible to give sound a more autonomous status? If yes, what are the consequences for the workflow?

In the 1980s and early 1990s two opposing propositions about the relation of the audible and the visible in film were presented. For Michel Chion the auditory field is completely a function of what appears on screen and for Gilles Deleuze the externality of the visual image as uniquely framed has been replaced by the interstice between two framings, the visual and the sound.

Introducing the auditory field as multi-layered, dynamic, experienced and embodied, the author proposes a phenomenological approach of the audio-visual that moves towards a different understanding of the filmic experience, which has its roots in a phenomenology of auditory experience. In the practice-based research project, Surrounded, the author explored together with sound designer and sound mixer Griet Van Reeth, how the creative process of film-making can start from the auditory field, including inner sound and a heautonomy of the auditory field.

A Book About Listening Brandon Labelle, Acoustic Territories: Sound Culture and Everyday Life (2010) London: Continuum Books (304 pp.), ISBN: 978-14411-6136-9, paperback: (14.99)