Film Sound Theory

Michel Chion´s Terminology

Acousmêtre 
- a kind of invisible voice-character with mysterious powers 

Added Value 
- the expressive and/or informative value with which a sound enriches a image 

Audiovisual Contract 
- an agreement to forget that sound is coming from loudspeakers and picture from screen  

Anempathetic Sound 
- music or sound effects that seems to exhibit conspicuous indifference to what is going on in the film's plot 

Chronography ^{On the web again!!!!} 
-  the stabilisation of projection speed made cinema an art of time  

Empathetic Sound 
- music or sound effects whose mood matches the mood of the action 

Extension (of Sound Space) ^{Lost image} 

External logic 
- the logic by which the flow of sound includes effects of discontinuity as nondiegetic interventions 

Internal logic 
- the logic by which the sound flow is apparently born out of the narrative situation itself  

Magnetization (spatial) 
-  "mental pan" of the sound source 

Materializing Sound Indices (M. S. I.) 
- sonic details that "materialize" the sound source 

Rendering 
- the use of sounds to convey the feelings or effects associated with the situation on screen  

Synchresis 
- the mental fusion between a sound and a visual when these occur at exactly the same time  

Temporalization 
- influence of sound on the perception of time in the image 

Vococentrism ^New 
- the privilige of the voice in audiovisual media 
 
 

On-line Articles

• Tucker: The Man and His Dream

Sound design for a dreamer^New 
by Nick Pasquariello

•  The Sonic Playground:  Hollywood Cinema and its Listeners 

- by Gianluca Sergi

• Roles of sound - Tomlinson Holman's classification

• Sound Design of Star Wars

• SOUND of ILLUSIONS - Sound of Moving Images

• Designing a Movie for Sound

- sound designer Randy Thom's manifesto 
• Articles by Randy Thom

• Sound Design of The Hunt for Red October

• Robert Bresson's Notes on Sound

• Lang's M - editing sound as visuals

•  Blue Velvet - a mixed genre film with horror film sound 

• The Purpose of Sound effects - Marwin K Kerner's classification of film sound effects

• Moving Pictures That Talk  - The early history of film sound   

Sound recording and the ability to photograph and reproduce motion pictures began intersecting at the very beginning...... In 1891 a Dr. Georges Demeny makes claim to synchronous sound....Even earlier, in 1891, Edison was making inflated claims of achieving synchronous projected sound films....(by Mark Ulano, C.A.S)

• Film Sound Bibliography

- contains links to more than 30 on-line articles

•  Orson Wells and ADR^New

-  Audio postproduction of The Magnificent Ambersons

• Post Audio FAQ^New

- Frequently Asked Questions About Film & TV Post-Production

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