International
Conference on Film Scores & Sound Design held annually in Melbourne
@ RMIT University - Media Arts - 1998-2001
Book published annually by the Australian Film TV & Radio School,
Sydney (3 volumes)
SOLD OUT This publication is now sold out. An online version will be implemented early 2009. Contact pb@philipbrophy for news of its online launch.
Cinesonic:
Experiencing the Soundtrack
Proceedings from the 3rd CINESONIC Conference
Edited by Philip Brophy
246 pgs bound softback
Published by the Australian Film TV & Radio School, Sydney
Introduction There is no subtlety in sound design these days.
Movies are too loud these days. Too many pop songs destroy movies
these days. There are no great film scores these days.
'These days' is an era wherein film sound is changing, yet audiences'
reactions to those changes remain unacknowledged and uncharted.
The heightened aural receptiveness of the audiences of today perfectly
mirrors the reduced receptiveness film theory and criticism has
accorded contemporary cinema, sprouting a rash of pap altruisms
(referenced above) which lamely voice a conservative desire for
a visual, literary art form they call 'the cinema'. Despite the
long trail of silence which wheezes forth from sleeping academia's
nostrils, the audience has been well and truly listening ever since
the 80s' THX cinema trailers solemnly stated as such.
This collection of articles speaks of what can be heard. From pop
songs in Dazed & Confused to lush romanticism in The Mark of
Zorro to Kubrick's use of Strauss in 2001: A Space Odessy; from
American voices in Godzilla: King of Monsters to Australian accents
in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert; from the glass harp in One Flew
Over The Cuckoo's Nest to guitar feedback in Mallboy; from the fracture
of song by Dennis Potter to the diffusion of song in dub music;
from the sound of speech in silent movies to the space of speech
in Dolby Digital.
This volume is dedicated to the late Jack Nitzsche - with the hope
that the many unsung film composers, score producers, sound designers
and production mixers can be contacted, heard, and given due praise
so as to uncover their oft-ignored contribution to this thing we
sonically call 'the cinema'.
Part
1:
Issues in Film Scores & Sound Design
Jack Nitzsche in conversation REVOLUTIONIZING CINEMA: OR, HOW I PUT ROCK'N'ROLL IN THE MOVIES
Referenced films: Performance, One Flew Over the CuckooÕs Nest,
Cruising, Blue Collar, Starman, CutterÕs Way, The Hot Spot,
Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard
Vince
Giarrusso, Fiona Eagger & Philip Brophy in conversation
MALLBOY: A CASE STUDY OF SOUND AND MUSIC FOR AN AUSTRALIAN FEATURE
Bruce Emery in conversation
BEYOND THE MATRIX: DOLBY DIGITAL MULTICHANNEL SOUND NOW
Part 2:
Transformations of Songs into Soundtracks Adrian Martin
MUSICAL MUTATIONS: BEFORE, BEYOND AND AGAINST HOLLYWOOD
Referenced films: Same Old Song, Up Down Fragile, Pennies From Heaven
(BBC TV & US film), Ally McBeal, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Une
Femme Est Une Femme, Dancer In The Dark, The Hole, Pierre le fou, Les
Demoiselles du Rochefort
IAN PENMAN
GARVEYÕS GHOST > K L A N G! < HEIDEGGERÕS GEIST
Jeff Smith
TAKING MUSIC SUPERVISORS SERIOUSLY
Referenced films: The Graduate, Easy Rider; Midnight Cowboy, Saturday
Night Fever, Roadie, The Ice Storm, 200 Cigarettes, Can't Hardly Wait,
Ten Things I Hate About You, Singles, Forrest Gump, Waiting to Exhale,
The Crow, Boys on the Side, Bulworth, Dazed and Confused, Batman Forever,
Twister
Part 3:
Considerations of Musical Identity Krin Gabbard
REDEEMED BY LUDWIG VAN: STANLEY KUBRICK'S MUSICAL STRATEGY IN A CLOCKWORK
ORANGE
Referenced films: A Clockwork Orange, Paths of Glory, 2001: A Space
Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut
Anahid Kassabian
LISTENING FOR IDENTIFICATIONS: COMPILED VS. COMPOSED SCORES IN CONTEMPORARY
HOLLYWOOD FILMS
Referenced films: The Mask of Zorro [1998, d. Martin Campbell, music
by James Horner]; Dangerous Minds [1995, d. John N. Smith, music by
Wendy & Lisa]
Part 4:
Contexts for Voice and Speech Bill Routt
HEARING SILENT FILMS
Referenced films: A House Divided, Hypocrites, Alias Jimmy Valentine,
A Florida Enchantment, A Fool There Was, And The Light Went Out, The
Children & The Major, Trooper Campbell, The Sick Stockrider
Rebecca Coyle
SPEAKING 'STRINE': LOCATING 'AUSTRALIA' IN FILM VOICE & SPEECH
Referenced films: Walkabout, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, the Mad
Max trilogy [Mad Max, Mad Max Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome],
Crocodile Dundee, Muriel's Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen
of the Desert, Kiss or Kill, Toyota car advertisement
Philip Brophy FUNNY
ACCENTS: The Sound of Racism
Referenced films: Farinelli, Rock, Rock, Rock!, What's Up Tiger Lilly?
[1966 d. Woody Allen from the original Kokusei Himitsu Keisatsu: Kagi
No Kagi, 1964, d. Senkichi Tanaguchi]; Godzilla: King of Monsters [1956,
d. Terry Morse from the original Gojira, 1954, d. Ishiro Honda]; The
Queen of Blood [1966, d. Curtis Harrington from the original Niebo Zowiet,
1959, d. Aleksander Kozyr]
