Music and the Moving Image – serie

The scope of this collection is indicative of the breadth and diversity of music’s role in cinema, as is its emphasis on musical contributions to ‘non-musical’ films. By bringing together chapters that are concerned both with the relationship between performance, music and film and the specificity of national, historical, social, and cultural contexts, Film’s Musical Moments will be of equal importance to students of film studies, cultural studies and music. The book is organised into four sections: Music, Film, Culture focuses on cinema representations of music forms; Stars, Performance and Reception explores stars, fan cultures and intertextuality; The Post-Classical Hollywood Musical considers the importance of popular music to contemporary cinema; and Beyond Hollywood looks to specific national contexts. Chapters include jazz and animation, the Country and Western biopic, cult musicals and fandom, the importance of the soundtrack movie, and musicals from the former East Germany.

The scope of this collection is indicative of the breadth and diversity of music’s role in cinema, as is its emphasis on musical contributions to ‘non-musical’ films. By bringing together chapters that are concerned both with the relationship between performance, music and film and the specificity of national, historical, social, and cultural contexts, Film’s Musical Moments will be of equal importance to students of film studies, cultural studies and music. The book is organised into four sections: Music, Film, Culture focuses on cinema representations of music forms; Stars, Performance and Reception explores stars, fan cultures and intertextuality; The Post-Classical Hollywood Musical considers the importance of popular music to contemporary cinema; and Beyond Hollywood looks to specific national contexts. Chapters include jazz and animation, the Country and Western biopic, cult musicals and fandom, the importance of the soundtrack movie, and musicals from the former East Germany.

How can we engage critically with music video and its role in popular culture? What do contemporary music videos have to tell us about patterns of cultural identity today? Based around an eclectic series of vivid case studies, this fresh and timely examination is an entertaining and enlightening analysis of the forms, pleasures, and politics that music videos offer. In rethinking some classic approaches from film studies and popular music studies and connecting them with new debates about the current 'state' of feminism and feminist theory, Railton and Watson show why and how we should be studying music videos in the twenty-first century. Through its thorough overview of the music video as a visual medium, this is an ideal textbook for Media Studies students and all those with an interest in popular music and cultural studies. Key Features* Provides a framework for how to describe and analyse a music video.* Uses case studies from internationally well-know artists, such as Kylie, Shakira and Beyoncé to explore issues of representation of gender, sexuality and ethnicity.* Draws on classic and contemporary videos from a range of musical styles, from Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera to Gorillaz and Metallica.

Singing Out explores a broad range of singing voices and sung moments, from lavish film musical sequences, television and videogames, through to online platforms, advertising, and multimedia installation work. It illustrates the diverse ways in which the singing voice is produced and understood in different media across international contexts, taking into consideration issues such as corporeal form, age, race, reception, and gender. The act of singing emphasises issues of identity, technology, and the identifying markers of the voice itself, heightening communication, acting as an aid to memory, and inviting judgement. Singing demarcates and breaks down textual and conceptual boundaries, and offers an intensity of experience that gives it a special status on the soundtrack. Singing Out contains a range of approaches to the singing voice, offering students and researchers a variety of methodological and critical tools to understand the contemporary context and importance of singing in multimedia.

Singing Out explores a broad range of singing voices and sung moments, from lavish film musical sequences, television and videogames, through to online platforms, advertising, and multimedia installation work. It illustrates the diverse ways in which the singing voice is produced and understood in different media across international contexts, taking into consideration issues such as corporeal form, age, race, reception, and gender. The act of singing emphasises issues of identity, technology, and the identifying markers of the voice itself, heightening communication, acting as an aid to memory, and inviting judgement. Singing demarcates and breaks down textual and conceptual boundaries, and offers an intensity of experience that gives it a special status on the soundtrack. Singing Out contains a range of approaches to the singing voice, offering students and researchers a variety of methodological and critical tools to understand the contemporary context and importance of singing in multimedia.

Freak Scenes explores the increased licensing of indie music and representation of indie music cultures within American independent cinema since the 1980s. Indie music has, since the 2000s, become highlighted in some indie films as an attraction, but this book probes how the appeal of indie music stretches back to the late 1970s, when punk music made its impact on filmmaking. Sexton looks at a range of issues where indie music and indie film intersect, including commercial concerns, the growth of niche marketing, the increased employment of popular music in cinema and questions of authenticity, as well as the fraught tensions between commercial and artistic concerns. Case studies include: sonic authorship and indie music, representations of punk and indie scenes on screen, and an exploration of how racial and gender issues inform the representation and reception of indie cultures on film.

Sound/Space in Film: Craft, Aesthetics, Theory brings together two expanding fields in contemporary film studies: soundtrack studies and studies of cinematic space. It takes stock of the interest in the craft and theory of sound space and soundscapes in artistic and academic circles by exploring the construction of sound space in a specific medium film from a variety of perspectives: artistic, technical, aesthetic and discursive. ???????Building on seminal works in sound studies and film studies, it examines both the sonic characteristics of space and the spatial dimensions of sound. It explores the sound of places or setting but considers, more broadly, the experience of cinematic space in aural and visual terms. It follows contemporary trends in film history and production studies that value the craft and discourses of sound technicians and draws on contemporary theoretical frameworks that emphasize the corporeality of experience and/or consider the environment from an ecocritical perspective as alive with sounds.

Since the turn of the millennium, films such as Chicago (2002) and Phantom of the Opera  (2004) have reinvigorated the popularity of the screen musical. This edited collection, bringing together a number of international scholars, looks closely at the range and scope of contemporary film musicals, from stage adaptations like Mamma Mia! (2008) and Les Miserables (2012), to less conventional works that elide the genre, like Team America: World Police (2004) and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003/04). Looking at the varying aesthetic function of soundtrack and lyric in films like Disney’s wildly popular Frozen (2013) and the Fast and the Furious franchise, or the self-reflexive commentary of the ‘post-millennial rock musical’, this wide-ranging collection breaks new ground in its study of this multifaceted genre.

The first academic book to explore indie music and indie music cultures on screenCombines historical, cultural, aesthetic and industry analysis to explore the functions and broader appeal of indie music on filmIncludes analyses of indie punk scenes on filmExamines gender and racial issues within indie music and filmFreak Scenes explores the increased licensing of indie music and representation of indie music cultures within American independent cinema since the 1980s. Indie music has, since the 2000s, become highlighted in some indie films as an attraction, but this book probes how the appeal of indie music stretches back to the late 1970s, when punk music made its impact on filmmaking.Sexton looks at a range of issues where indie music and indie film intersect, including commercial concerns, the growth of niche marketing, the increased employment of popular music in cinema and questions of authenticity, as well as the fraught tensions between commercial and artistic concerns. Case studies include: sonic authorship and indie music, representations of punk and indie scenes on screen, and an exploration of how racial and gender issues inform the representation and reception of indie cultures on film.

Investigating the core questions about Arab identity and history, this book tackles the time-honoured stereotypes that depict Arabs as ancient Arabian Bedouin, and reveals the stories to be a myth: tales told by Muslims to recreate the past to explain the meaning of Islam and its origins.

Since the turn of the millennium, films such as Chicago (2002) and Phantom of the Opera  (2004) have reinvigorated the popularity of the screen musical. This edited collection, bringing together a number of international scholars, looks closely at the range and scope of contemporary film musicals, from stage adaptations like Mamma Mia! (2008) and Les Miserables (2012), to less conventional works that elide the genre, like Team America: World Police (2004) and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003/04). Looking at the varying aesthetic function of soundtrack and lyric in films like Disney’s wildly popular Frozen (2013) and the Fast and the Furious franchise, or the self-reflexive commentary of the ‘post-millennial rock musical’, this wide-ranging collection breaks new ground in its study of this multifaceted genre.

Based on new archival evidence and interviews, and setting out a new theoretical framework for music video analysis, Emily Caston presents a major new analysis of music videos from 1966-2016, identifying not only their distinctive British traits, but their parallels with British film genres and styles. By analysing the genre, craft and authorial voice of music video within the context of film and popular music, the book sheds new light on existing theoretical and historical questions about audiences, authorship, art and the creative industries. Far from being an American cultural form, the book reveals music video’s roots in British and European film traditions, and suggests significant ways in which British video has impacted popular film and music culture.

Based on new archival evidence and interviews, and setting out a new theoretical framework for music video analysis, Emily Caston presents a major new analysis of music videos from 1966-2016, identifying not only their distinctive British traits, but their parallels with British film genres and styles. By analysing the genre, craft and authorial voice of music video within the context of film and popular music, the book sheds new light on existing theoretical and historical questions about audiences, authorship, art and the creative industries. Far from being an American cultural form, the book reveals music video’s roots in British and European film traditions, and suggests significant ways in which British video has impacted popular film and music culture.

The Auditory Setting introduces and investigates how narrative and a sense of place are constructed in film and media arts through the reproduction and mediation of site-specific environmental sounds, or ‘ambience’. Although this sonic backdrop acts as the acoustically mediated space where a story or event can take place, there has been little academic study of sound’s undervalued role in cinematic setting and production. Drawing on theories of narrative, diegesis, mimesis and presence, and following a varied number of relevant audio-visual works, this book is a ground-breaking exploration of human agency in mediating environmental sounds and the nature of the sonic experience in the Anthropocene.

Analyses the sonic environment mediated and crafted within the film and audiovisual media artsDefines the generally underexplored but well-used terms ambient sound" and "ambience" terms that denote an often unnoticed but significant element in the organization of sound in film and media productionsTraces the use of ambient sound in film and media art production through various technological trajectories leading to the contemporary milieu of digital sound systemsTakes a critical attitude towards the notions of diegetic sound, mimesis, presence, artistic transformations of soundscapes and technological innovationsQuestions the conventional assumptions about sound in film and audiovisual media art (e.g. image-based relationships), and intends to shift the focus on the notion of sculpting a site's presence in the diegetic world of media productions as a vital narrative strategyDraws inputs from prominent media artists and practitioners and their works across the globe as well as from this author's practiceIncludes examples from Indian, European and American films and many artworks from around the worldWatch the author introduce the book in webinar from the Centre for Screen Cultures, University of St AndrewsThe Auditory Setting introduces and investigates how narrative and a sense of place are constructed in film and media arts through the reproduction and mediation of site-specific environmental sounds, or 'ambience'. Although this sonic backdrop acts as the acoustically mediated space where a story or event can take place, there has been little academic study of sound's undervalued role in cinematic setting and production. Drawing on theories of narrative, diegesis, mimesis and presence, and following a varied number of relevant audio-visual works, this book is a ground-breaking exploration of human agency in mediating environmental sounds and the nature of the sonic experience in the Anthropocene."

Val Lewton’s horror films revolutionized a popular genre through a much-studied and still widely emulated visual style emphasizing shadows and absences. By denying audiences visual confirmation of horror, his reforms placed a fresh burden on the soundtrack of his films. This book offers a fine-grained study of the Lewton unit's transformational sonic style which introduced the first "jump scare," liberal use of pre-musique concrète, and an original orchestral score for every film in the series in violation of "B" movie norms. Their orchestral scores often exceed the conventions of film music as we hear the RKO Music Department ignoring instructions thus freeing their contributions to signpost the path toward each films’ essential themes.