Course description

This series of talks introduces you to a deeper understanding of sound design focusing on the true importance of sound in cinema and how we develop strategies to work creatively with sound.

The talks start with a survey of the different approaches to film sound design leading to key topics and concepts: the influence of Michel Chion’s seminal book, Audiovision; different ways sound transforms the image; and how sound operates in the production of meaning.

The talks cover all genres, from classics by Lang, Hitchcock, Godard and Kubrick, to contemporary works by Lynch, Fincher, the Coen brothers, Nolan and Martel – and even The Simpsons and Breaking Bad – providing a wide perspective of what sound provides, and making the case for why studying sound design is so important for those working in media and the arts.

Each module will be held on Saturday and Sunday.

The 3 sets of talks are designed to work together as a complete short course in film sound design. However, you may book each module individually.

Saturday and Sunday, 8 and 9 July 2023
2:00 PM – 6:00 PM GMT (London), each day

Module 3: Music and cases of complex sound design

* An introduction to the uses of music in audiovisual productions
Music is a topic in itself. Fundamentally it is about emotion. And, as is the case with all elements of the soundtrack, it can be understood according to its use, be it diegetic or non-diegetic, empathetic or anempathetic. Examples from films by Hitchcock and Lynch.

* Beyond incidental and empathetic music
Through an auditive and graphic analysis of a film’s music, we trace its function: as meaning, as information, or as counterpoint to other aspects of the narrative. Examples from films by Kubrick, the Coens and Demme.

* Analysis of complex sound design
Here we see fragments of films that cover most of the topics discussed during the course, focusing on the sophisticated sound work in David Fincher’s Zodiac, Lucrecia Martel’s La cienaga, and Jean-Luc Godard’s Nouvelle vague.

* The ‘official’ beginning of sound design: Apocalypse Now
In this final talk, we discuss the complexity of one of the milestones of sound design, and to what extent sound design may be involved in the creation of an imaginary realm (and be realistic at the same time).

See Module 1
See Module 2

The modules are independent of each other. Module 3 can be understood and appreciated without having attended Modules 1 or 2.

Following each event, a recording is available in the Shop.

Gustavo Costantini is an Argentinean sound designer, musician, professor, and researcher. He received his PhD in Sound Design from the University of Buenos Aires (under the guidance of Michel Chion), and is now professor of Sound and Editing at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and at the National University of the Arts (UNA). As a visiting professor, he has taught at University of London (Goldsmiths and Royal Holloway), University for Creative Arts, London Film School, International Film School (Cologne, Germany), European Film College (Ebeltoft, Denmark), John Cabot University (Rome), and at ORT University and the University of La Republica (Montevideo, Uruguay), among others. He has worked in cinema, video, theatre and radio, in Argentina and internationally. He was a member of the Editorial Board of The Soundtrack and The New Soundtrack, along with Walter Murch, Michel Chion, Roberto Perpignani, Carter Burwell, among others.