Gustavo Costantini: Sound Design and Audiovision, Module 1 (recording, 7 hrs)

This series of talks by Gustavo Costantini  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 3 sets of talks are designed to work together as a complete short course in film sound design.

The lectures 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.

Module 1: Approaches to Sound Design

* What is sound design?
We survey styles of sound design from the beginning of sound cinema to the present. Examples from M, The Godfather and Star Wars with an overview of key sound designers and their techniques, including Walter Murch and Ben Burtt.

* Audiovision
With reference to Michel Chion’s Audiovision, we’ll discuss how sound affects and transforms the image. We’ll explore the way sound ‘adds value’ to the image and define different types of sound (music, noise, voice) according to their role in the soundtrack. With an analysis of a sequence from Hitchcock’s The Birds.

* Time and Sync
Here we look at the ways sound transforms the perception of time in the image. Key to this what Chion calls ‘synchresis’, the relationship between sound and image when they occur together. Examples from films by Bergman, De Palma, Boorman, Hitchcock and Lynch.

* Timbre: sound as material
Considering the quality of a sound, or its timbre, is a fundamental aspect of innovative sound design. This section focuses on sound and the sensation of materiality using The Exorcist as an example of applying timbre and a sound palette to sound design.