More on Sound in Film Art: An Introduction

Here are three sample comments on sound from Bordwell & Thompson's Film Art: An Introduction. These were taken from the 6th edition (2001) but also appear in the 7th (2003); the current edition is the 8th (2006).

(timbre) ". . . in the opening sequence of Rouben Mamoulian's Love Me Tonight, people starting the day on a street pass a musical rhythm from object to object--a broom, a carpet beater--and the humor of the number springs in part from the very different timbres of the objects." (in the section "Timbre")

(frequency; timbre) " In The Wizard of OZ the disparity between the public image of the Wizard and the old charlatan who rigs it up is marked by the booming bass of the effigy and the old man's higher, softer, more quavering voice." (in the section "Timbre")

(manipulation of diegetic/nondiegetic relation) "In American Graffiti, a film that plays heavily on the distinction between diegetic and nondiegetic music, offscreen sounds of car radios often suggest that all of the cars on a street are tuned to the same radio station." (in the section "Resources of Diegetic Sound")

Link to Film Art on Bordwell's website: David Bordwell. And to the publisher: Film Art, 8th edition (this link goes to a table of contents).

Early film in the classroom (HtM, ch. 10)

I have been very pleased with students' responses to early film repertoires over the past two or three years. For some time prior to that, students had seemed increasingly disinterested in almost any films released earlier than their own generation and it was often a challenge to teach those sections of the course. It is true that the available DVD materials have improved considerably and undoubtedly have made the experience better.

In connection with HtM, ch. 10, I show Princess Nicotine (1905), a short, humorous special-effects film included in the first NFPF Treasures set: go to NFPF site. Martin Marks provides a historically sensitive piano accompaniment that "plays the picture." I also use the film to demonstrate at least a minute or two of indifferent performance of the kind that readers of this blog will know was a common source of complaint after 1910. (I literally play the piano with my back to the screen and make no attempt to synchronize rhythms or mood -- students typically find it quite disconcerting.)

I also use The Wizard of Oz (1910) from Treasures II. Students know the story so well (in its MGM version) that the film keeps their interest for its entire one-reel duration and gives them a good example of early narrative film and relationships to small-scale theatrical practices.