This course will explore the use of sound in relation to moving images, including film scoring, musicals, soundtracks, music videos, and experimental sound and video art. Significant attention will be devoted to digital technology and media soundscapes, and we will return to several questions throughout the course: How does sound reinforce regimes of audiovisual representation? How does it disrupt them? To what political ends do artists deploy sound, music, and noise? What role does technology play in their effectiveness? Screenings will range from Hollywood blockbusters and immersive media to fine art, video games, and independent cinema.
Sample reading list:
Michel Chion, The Real and the Rendered
Alexander Weheliye, Desiring Machines in Black Popular Music
Tara Rodgers, Pink Noises
Wayne Kostenbaum, The Queen’s Throat
Will Cheng, Monstrous Noise and the Aesthetic Economics of Fear
Ed Halter, From Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Video Games
See instructor for complete list.
Reading/Writing assignments:
Presentation/discussion leading, Four online reading responses, Participation, Formal Analysis Paper, Research Project (with proposal)
