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G. Heldt, T. Krohn, P. Moormann, and W. Strank, eds., *Sound Design, Vol. 1: Film Music*. Munich: et+k edition text + kritik, 2023.
Content
Special Issue "Sound Design" published by et+k edition text+kritik
This volume, “Sound Design,” explores the topic of sound and noise in film from the perspectives of musicology and media studies, focusing on the intersections and overlaps between different sound layers. The focus is on the narrative and aesthetic possibilities of controlling, interweaving, and blurring the boundaries between sound effects, music, and speech in film.
Just as art music, in the course of its development, sought a connection with its supposed opposite—non-musical sound—so too have sounds become intertwined in new ways with dialogue and music, the other two layers of the soundtrack. Using examples such as sound in silent film, musicalized sound in animated film, the intersection of music and sound, and meta-storytelling through sound, the four essays in this volume explore where film music begins and sound design ends. Or has such a distinction long since become obsolete?
The essay titled “Meta-Storytelling and Subtexts Through Intelligent Sound Design in Film” by Prof. J.U. Lensing begins with an audiovisual analysis of the exposition in an episode (S06, E06) from the Netflix series “Better Call Saul,” as an exemplary case of how even high-quality U.S. television today handles music, sound design, and dialogue in an exemplary manner. Even though almost all sound design publications here in Germany consistently sing the praises of the much better-funded sound design from the U.S., German feature films—especially since the 1980s—have nothing to be ashamed of in this regard. For this reason, the article provides an audio-visual review of a total of nine German-language films (focusing primarily on their opening sequences): *M—A City Searches for a Murderer*, *Wings of Desire*, *Brother of Sleep*, *Three*, The White Ribbon, Time of the Cannibals, The Man from the Ice, Taste of Cement, and System Crasher. Naturally, these reviews pay tribute not only to the directors but also—and above all—to the sound creatives involved, namely the sound designers and composers.
With contributions by Julia Heimerdinger, Saskia Jaszoltowski, Jörg Lensing, and Claus Tieber.
References and Relationships
ISBN 9783967077629
Keywords
Sound design
Film music