Description
Book SynopsisA contemporary study of the rise of sound design and its relationship to science fiction cinema.
Trade Review"Sound Design is a major achievement in film studies that should be widely read as a general introduction to the underappreciated art and practice of sound. Whittington makes a compelling case for the centrality of sound to the modern Hollywood aesthetic. While surveying the evolution of sound technology, post-production practices and design in seminal science-fiction films of the last forty years, he concurrently provides a comprehensive introduction to the various components of the soundtrack and how they create meaning. He carefully defines terms such as Foley and source music not just in a glossary but as they arise, in such a way that the book can serve as a textbook on sound design in general, not just on the one genre...given the brilliant research that has been devoted to the transition to sound, I am particularly excited that Whittington has chosen to focus on more recent developments." Elisabeth Weis, Screen 2008, issue 49
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I. The Dawn of Sound Design
- Chapter 1. Sound Design: Origins and Influences
- Chapter 2. Music and Speculation in 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Part II. Sound Montage
- Chapter 3. The Convergence of Hollywood and New Wave Science Fiction
- Chapter 4. Suggestive Fragments in THX 1138
- Part III. Sound Designing
- Chapter 5. From Sound Capture to Construction: Building the Lexicon of Sound Designs for Star Wars
- Chapter 6. Surround Sound and Science Fiction
- Part IV. Sound Effects
- Chapter 7. Genre Splicing: Horror and Science Fiction
- Chapter 8. Alien: Audio-biomechanics
- Part V. Voice Design
- Chapter 9. Blade Runners: A Crisis in Voicing Authority, Identity, and Spectacle
- Part VI. Final Design
- Chapter 10. Sound Mixing and Sound Design in Science Fiction Cinema: A Mixed Paradox
- Chapter 11. Mixing Man and Machine in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- Part VII. Conclusion: A Sounding of the Future
- Chapter 12. What is The Matrix? Sound Design in a Digital World
- Appendix: Overview of the General Processes of Sound Design
- Notes
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Filmography
- Index
