This book bridges the existing gap between film sound and film music studies by bringing together scholars from both disciplines who challenge the constraints of their subject areas by thinking about integrated approaches to the soundtrack. As the boundaries between scoring and sound design in contemporary cinema have become increasingly blurred, both film music and film sound studies have responded by expanding their range of topics and the scope of their analysis beyond those traditionally addressed. The running theme of the book is the disintegration of boundaries, which permeates discussions about industry, labour, technology, aesthetics and audiovisual spectatorship. The collaborative nature of screen media is addressed not only in scholarly chapters but also through interviews with key practitioners that include sound recordists, sound designers, composers, orchestrators and music supervisors who honed their skills on films, TV programmes, video games, commercials and music videos.

The practice of blurring the line between score and sound design has transformed contemporary film soundscape by challenging not only the long-established hierarchical relationships between dialogue, music, and sound effects, but also the modes of perception shaped by classical soundtrack practices. The methods of this new trend rely on the language of contemporary popular and art music, producing soundtracks in which it is difficult to tell the difference between score and ambient sound, where pieces of electroacoustic music are merged with diegetic sound, sound effects are absorbed into the score or treated as music, and diegetic sound is treated as musique concrète. In Sound Design is the New Score, Kulezic-Wilson explores theoretical, aesthetic, and sensuous dimensions of this new trend, providing a multifaceted portrait of a practice which recognizes the interconnectedness of all soundtrack elements and emphasizes their inherent musicality. The aesthetic concerns of this practice are illuminated through the concept of the aesthetics of reticence which rejects classical narrative and scoring conventions and uses integrated soundtrack strategies to create the space for mystery in art and for individuality in the cinematic experience. The book's emphasis on sensuous and musical aspects of this practice, informed by the feminist discourse on the erotics of art, challenges popular notions about sensory cinema, demonstrating that the sensuousness of film form and its soundscapes is more sophisticated than simply being the result of excessive sensory stimulation facilitated by the use of digital technology or the "intensified" aesthetics it inspires. The discussion is supported by a wide range of case studies from American Independent, Asian, Australian, and European cinemas, including films by Shane Carruth, Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Harmony Korine, David Michôd, Gus Van Sant, and Peter Strickland.

The Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of screen music and sound studies, addressing the ways in which music and sound interact with forms of narrative media such as television, videogames, and film. The inclusive framework of "screen music and sound" allows readers to explore the intersections and connections between various types of media and music and sound, reflecting the current state of scholarship and the future of the field. A diverse range of international scholars have contributed an impressive set of forty-six chapters that move from foundational knowledge to cutting edge topics that highlight new key areas. The companion is thematically organized into five cohesive areas of study: Issues in the Study of Screen Music and Sound—discusses the essential topics of the discipline Historical Approaches—examines periods of historical change or transition Production and Process—focuses on issues of collaboration, institutional politics, and the impact of technology and industrial practices Cultural and Aesthetic Perspectives—contextualizes an aesthetic approach within a wider framework of cultural knowledge Analyses and Methodologies—explores potential methodologies for interrogating screen music and sound Covering a wide range of topic areas drawn from musicology, sound studies, and media studies, The Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound provides researchers and students with an effective overview of music’s role in narrative media, as well as new methodological and aesthetic insights.

The Palgrave Handbook to Music and Sound in Peak TV charts the transformation of television’s sonic storytelling during the new “golden age” of televisual narrative from the late 1990s to the early 2020s. Grounded in close analytical, critical, and theoretical work identifying the key traits of music and sound in this “peak TV” period, the book casts its critical net wider to develop interpretations of significance not just for screen music studies and musicology, but for screen and media studies too. By theorizing “peakness” with respect to sound and music, and by drawing together contributions from a diverse collection of prominent musicologists, media scholars, and practitioners, this handbook provides the authoritative guide to the role music has played in creating the success of some of the most culturally and commercially significant popular art of the early twenty-first century. The volume contains 25 essays in three main sections—Concepts and Aesthetics, Practices and Production, and Audiences and Interpretations. Topics discussed include peakness, complexity, ostentatious scoring, antiheroes, memory, franchises, worldbuilding, nostalgia, maternity, trauma, actor’s voices, title sequences, library music, branding, queer/camp scoring, kids TV, captioning, industry practices, HBO, and sound design. Shows examined include The Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones, Battlestar Galactica, Westworld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stranger Things, The Bridge, Dexter, Killing Eve, Mad Men, American Horror Story, Rings of Power, Fargo, Peaky Blinders, Call the Midwife, Twin Peaks, and Twin Peaks: The Return.

The Oxford Handbook of Cinematic Listening explores the intersection between the history of listening and the history of the moving image. Featuring established and emergent scholars from musicology, film studies, and literary studies, ethnomusicology and sound studies, popular music,sociology, media and communications, and psychology, this Handbook offers a wide range of case studies and methodological perspectives on the archaeologies, aesthetics, and extensions of cinematic listening.Chapters are structured around six themes: Part I ("Genealogies and Beginnings") considers film sound in light of pre-existing genres such as opera and shadow theatre, and explores changes in listening taking place at critical junctures in the early history of cinema. Part II ("Locations andRelocations") focuses on specific venues and presentational practices (from roadshow movies to and contemporary live-score screenings). Part III ("Representations and Re-presentations") zooms into the formal properties of specific films, analysing representations of listening on screen as well as onthe role of sound as a representational surplus. Part IV ("The Listening Body") focuses on cinematic sound as a powerful and sensual stimulus that has the power to engage the full body sensorium. Part V ("Listening again") discusses a range of ways in which film sound is encountered andreinterpreted outside the cinema, through ancillary materials like songs and soundtrack albums, in experimental conditions, and in pedagogical contexts. Part VI ("Between Media") compares the listening protocols of cinema with those of TV series and music video, promenade theatre and personalstereos, video games and Virtual Reality.

This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to foundational topics in sound design for linear media, such as listening and recording; audio postproduction; key musical concepts and forms such as harmony, conceptual sound design, electronica, soundscape, and electroacoustic composition; the audio commons; and sound’s ontology and phenomenology. The reader will gain a broad understanding of the key concepts and practices that define sound design for its use with moving images as well as important forms of composed sound. The chapters are written by international authors from diverse backgrounds who provide multidisciplinary perspectives on sound in its linear forms. The volume is designed as a textbook for students and teachers, as a handbook for researchers in sound, media and experience, and as a survey of key trends and ideas for practitioners interested in exploring the boundaries of their profession.

This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to foundational topics in sound design for interactive media, such as gaming and virtual reality; compositional techniques; new interfaces; sound spatialization; sonic cues and semiotics; performance and installations; music on the web; augmented reality applications; and sound producing software design. The reader will gain a broad understanding of the key concepts and practices that define sound design for its use in computational media and design. The chapters are written by international authors from diverse backgrounds who provide multidisciplinary perspectives on sound in its interactive forms. The volume is designed as a textbook for students and teachers, as a handbook for researchers in sound, design and media, and as a survey of key trends and ideas for practitioners interested in exploring the boundaries of their profession.