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Unique and often startling encounters between music and the moving image in the films of Stanley Kubrick are trademarks of his style; witness the powerful effects of Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" in 2001: A Space Odyssey and of Beethoven's 9th Symphony in A Clockwork Orange, each excerpt vetted by Kubrick himself. We'll Meet Again argues that, for Kubrick, music is neither post-production afterthought nor background nor incidental, but instead is core to films' effects and meanings. The book first identifies the building blocks in Kubrick's sonic world and illuminates the ways in which Kubrick uses them to support his characters and to define character relationships. It then delves int...
Occult Aesthetics: Synchronization in Sound Film opens up an often-overlooked aspect of audiovisual culture which is crucial to the medium's powerful illusions. Author Kevin Donnelly contends that a film soundtrack's musical qualities can unlock the occult psychology joining sound and image, an effect both esoteric and easily destroyed.
One of the most visually compelling films ever made, Barry Lyndon can--and should, argues the author--be seen as Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece. This comprehensive analysis examines such topics as the unique way in which Kubrick photographed the film, Kubrick's subtle understanding of cinematic storytelling, the deliberate upturning of generic expectation, and the eclectic use of music. It also provides a more rigorous reading of the film from a diverse range of theoretical approaches: structuralist, feminist, psychoanalytical, Marxist and postcolonial readings.
The Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of screen music and sound studies, addressing the ways in which music and sound interact with forms of narrative media such as television, videogames, and film. The inclusive framework of "screen music and sound" allows readers to explore the intersections and connections between various types of media and music and sound, reflecting the current state of scholarship and the future of the field. A diverse range of international scholars have contributed an impressive set of forty-six chapters that move from foundational knowledge to cutting edge topics that highlight new key areas. The companion i...
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) is an esteemed member of the twentieth century’s pantheon of outstanding films while also perhaps being the director’s most accessible film. It is a rarity in that on the one hand it was a successful mainstream horror film about a violent father in a deserted and haunted hotel, but on the other is a more rarefied and esoteric object for cult audiences who are convinced that the film means something totally different. Indeed, the film appears replete with enigmatic and provocative allusions, which provide The Shining with an almost unmatched sense of resonance. Seeing the film as a vehicle for secret messages has led to a myriad of different interpretations, which has helped elevate the film’s cult status over the years to make it a special case in cinema. Indeed, it is so singular that it arguably even redefines the notion of cult film. This volume investigates The Shining’s most fascinating aspects as a film while also addressing the range of meanings and interpretations assigned to the film, looking into what has made it one of the key cult films of the last half century.
This book is a collection of essays that examine the work of filmmakers whose concern is not just for the eye, but also for the ear.
Why are some popular musical forms and performers universally reviled by critics and ignored by scholars-despite enjoying large-scale popularity? How has the notion of what makes "good" or "bad" music changed over the years-and what does this tell us about the writers who have assigned these tags to different musical genres? Many composers that are today part of the classical "canon" were greeted initially by bad reviews. Similarly, jazz, country, and pop musics were all once rejected as "bad" by the academy that now has courses on these and many other types of music. This book addresses why this is so through a series of essays on different musical forms and performers. It looks at alternate ways of judging musical performance beyond the critical/academic nexus, and suggests new paths to follow in understanding what makes some music "popular" even if it is judged to be "bad." For anyone who has ever secretly enjoyed ABBA, Kenny G, or disco, Bad Music will be a guilty pleasure!
This volume features a set of thought-provoking and long overdue approaches to situating Stanley Kubrick’s films in contemporary debates around gender, race, and age—with a focus on women’s representations. Offering new historical and critical perspectives on Kubrick’s cinema, the book asks how his work should be viewed bearing in mind issues of gender equality, sexual harassment, and abuse. The authors tackle issues such as Kubrick’s at times questionable relationships with his actresses and former wives; the dynamics of power, misogyny, and miscegenation in his films; and auteur "apologism," among others. The selections delineate these complex contours of Kubrick’s work by drawing on archival sources, engaging in close readings of specific films, and exploring Kubrick through unorthodox venture points. With an interdisciplinary scope and social justice-centered focus, this book offers new perspectives on a well-established area of study. It will appeal to scholars and upper-level students of film studies, media studies, gender studies, and visual culture, as well as to fans of the director interested in revisiting his work from a new perspective.
Director David Lynch is best known for films that channel the uncanny and the weird into a distinct "Lynchian" aesthetic, in which sound and music play a key role: Lynch not only writes his intended sounds into the script but also often takes on the role of creating the sounds himself. This concise study explores what makes Lynch’s sonic imprint distinct, breaking down three different sound styles that create Lynch’s sound aesthetic across his films. Showing how sound offers new insights into the aesthetic and narrative work of Lynch’s filmmaking, this book highlights new dimensions in the work of a key American auteur and deconstructs the process of building a unique sound world.
A Critical Companion to Stanley Kubrick offers a thorough and detailed study of the films of the legendary director. Labeled a recluse, a provocateur, and a perfectionist, Kubrick revolutionized filmmaking, from the use of music in film, narrative pacing and structure, to depictions of war and violence. An unparalleled visionary, his work continues to influence contemporary cinema and visual culture. This book delves into the complexities of his work and examines the wide range of topics and the multiple interpretations that his films inspire. The eighteen chapters in this book use a wide range of methodologies and explore new trends of research in film studies, providing a series of unique and novel perspectives on all of Kubrick’s thirteen feature films, from Fear and Desire (1953) to Eyes Wide Shut (1999), as well as his work on A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001).