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Film Sound: Theory and Practice 0th Edition

4.8 out of 5 stars 30 ratings

This classic anthology provides essential models for analyzing sound stylistics through the detailed study of critical sound films. Elisabeth Weis and John Belton carefully curate major essays from the world's most respected film historians, aestheticians, and theorists, including Douglas Gomery, Barry Salt, Rick Altman, Mary Ann Doane, S. M. Eisenstein, V. I. Pudovkin, René Clair, Béla Belázs, Siegfried Kracauer, Christian Metz, David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, Noël Burch, and Arthur Knight. Their selections recount the innovations and triumphs of Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Rouben Mamoulian, Dziga Vertov, Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, and Francis Ford Coppola, among many others, and explicate the techniques and practices of sound filmmaking from initial recordings to final theater playback. Film Sound is the ideal companion for anyone seeking both a comprehensive introduction to the form and a rich survey of its historical and global evolution.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

An extremely useful and wide-ranging collection of essays devoted to a topic often ignored or taken for granted by visually-dominated studies of the moving picture... -- Gerald Mast, University of Chicago

Both comprehensive in its choice of readings and creative in its editorial approach...
Film Sound, as well as being an eminent introduction to the writings in the field, forcefully demonstrates the need for the study of the media to be both textually and institutionally grounded, and both theoretically and historically informed. -- Richard Allen ― Framework

Indispensable... [a] superb collection of essays.... An important contribution to our literature on film theory and practice and... necessary reading for anyone interested in the art and the practice of filmmaking. ―
Journal of Popular Film and Television

Film Sound is a pleasure to read. In addition, the book's general organization and range of selections present an accurate summary of the development of film sound and attitudes toward it from the late twenties to the eighties. For anyone interested in finding ways out of the present theoretical confusion, Film Sound is an excellent place to start. ― Film Quarterly

Convincingly suggests that an exciting new field has been opened up, one that may well come to determine the way we look at the cinema as a whole.... [
Film Sound] pays attention to the new technologies as they affect not only the cinema but also how we come to view its history. ― Sight and Sound

From the Back Cover

The only comprehensive book on film sound, this anthology makes available for the first time and in a single volume major essays by the most respected film historians, aestheticians, and theorists of the past sixty years.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Columbia University Press
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 15, 1985
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 0
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 462 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0231056370
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0231056373
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.47 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.99 x 5.89 x 1.15 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 30 ratings

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
30 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book is full of great articles on film sound that give different perspectives on this matter. Really one of the great sources of information. Maybe it wouldn't be quite suitable for an amateur cinephile who's interests maybe rather general but for someone who's really interested in depth in this matter this book gives great opportunity to get to know one of the most useful articles in the field.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Use this book for class. Used condition was better than expected, very happy with purchase.
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The classic
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2011
    Format: Paperback
    I got this book because after 4 years of film school, I still felt as if I had been shortchanged when it came to learning sound design. I had been taught how to record and edit sound, been taught how to do ADR, been taught all the different types of microphones; but I still didn't know WHY to use one type of microphone over another, WHY using an omnidirectional, or a shotgun, or a lavalier mic would change the feel of a scene (and how this would in turn change depending on whether that sound was being matched with a closeup or a long shot). In short, I was never taught the aesthetic significance behind any of the options I was presented with. My formal education on the topic had been entirely technical. As the editors make clear in the preface to this anthology, it was their attempt to compile a book "addressed to aestheticians rather than technicians." At this they've done an incredible job.

    The scope is broad - covering theory, practice, history, as well as the technological side - different essays focusing on individual films, directors, genres, historical periods or the medium as a whole. The viewpoints of the authors are also as diverse as anything you'll find in film studies generally, ranging from Marxist, formalist and psychoanalytic analysis to more straightforward historical or technical writing.

    As a filmmaker, this book has been eye opening (or should I say ear opening?). For the first time I am finally able to think about sound design in the same way that I think about any other element of a film. Since starting to read the book, I've paid more attention to the sound design in all of the films I've watched.

    This book was written in 1985. No doubt does this mean that innovations in the field since 1985 (most notably the dawn of digital editing and sound mixing) are left out from the book. But even so, if you are a filmmaker who is looking to gain some insight into what film sound is all about, this is an excellent place to start.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2008
    Format: Paperback
    Part I. History, Technology, and Aesthetics

    Introduction
    The Coming of Sound: Technological Change in the American Film Industry, by Douglas Gomery
    Economic Struggle and Hollywood Imperialism: Europe Converts to Sound, by Douglas Gomery
    Film Style and Technology in the Thirties: Sound, by Barry Salt
    The Evolution of Sound Technology, by Rick Altman
    Ideology and the Practice of Sound Editing and Mixing, by Mary Ann Doane
    Technology and Aesthetics of Film Sound, by John Belton

    Part II: Theory

    Section 1: Classical Sound Theory
    A Statement, by S. M. Eisenstein, V. I. Pudovkin, and G. V. Alexandrov
    Asynchronism as a Principle of Sound Film, by V. I. Pudovkin
    The Art of Sound, by René Clair
    Manifesto: Dialogue on Sound, by Basil Wright and B. Vivian Braun
    Sound in Films, by Alberto Cavalcanti
    A New Laocoön: Artistic Composites and the Talking Film, by Rudolph Arnheim
    Theory of Film: Sound, by Bela Balazs
    Dialogue and Sound, by Siegfried Kracauer
    Slow-Motion Sound, by Jean Epstein

    Section 2: Modern Sound Theory
    Notes on Sound, by Robert Bresson
    Direct Sound: An Interview with, by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet
    Aural Objects, by Christian Metz
    The Voice in the Cinema: The Articulation of Body and Space, by Mary Ann Doane

    Part III: Practice

    Section I: Practice and Methodology
    Fundamental Aesthetics of Sound in the Cinema, by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson
    On the Structural Use of Sound, by Noël Burch

    Section 2: Pioneers
    The Movies Learn to Talk: Ernst Lubitsch, René Clair, and Rouben Mamoulian, by Arthur Knight
    American Sound Films, 1926-1930,, by Ron Mottram
    Applause: The Visual and Acoustic Landscape, by Lucy Fischer
    Enthusiasm: From Kino-Eye to Radio Eye, by Lucy Fischer
    Lang and Pabst: Paradigms for Early Sound Practice, by Noël Carroll
    The Voice of Silence: Sound Style in John Stahl's Back Street, by Martin Rubin

    Section 3: Stylists
    Orson Welles' Use of Sound, by Penny Mintz
    The Evolution of Hitchcock's Aural Style and Sound in The Birds, by Elisabeth Weis
    The Sound Track of The Rules of the Game, by Michael Litle
    Sound in Bresson's Mouchette, by Lindley Hanlon
    Godard's Use of Sound, by Alan Williams
    Section 4: Contemporary Innovators
    Altman, Dolby, and the Second Sound Revolution, by Charles Schreger
    Sound Mixing and Apocalypse Now: An Interview with Walter Murch, by Frank Paine
    The Sound Designer, by Marc Mancini
    Sound and Silence in Narrative and Nonnarrative Cinema, by Fred Camper
    15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • P
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2010
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I definitely agree with the previous review. An awesome book, being in the 2nd year of my degree and analyzing film, this book is extremely useful. Very clear definitions given on the terms used to describe the many relationships of sound to visuals.
    Again very clear on the history, art and aesthetics of sound. A must for anyone studying film and sound.
  • Boris Fabian Ortega
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good Filmmaker's resource
    Reviewed in Canada on October 30, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Solid articles and essays discussing the theory of sound on film. Good Filmmaker's resource.