Sound and Music in Film and Visual Media: An Overview

Beginning with the idea of 'conceptual resonance,' Harper (National Institute for Excellence in the Creative Industries, Bangor U., UK), a film studies scholar, and a media composer introduce an in-depth examination of the element of sound and its permutations in films and visual media. Contributors to 47 essays treat the technical, soundscape, cultural, human, industrial, and musicological aspects of these popular media. Interesting representative treatments of each aspect include: debates over silence vs. sound in early films; sound effects in comedy, horror, and other genres; cultural dimensions including postmodern reality/pop shows; the sound designer as composer; music in TV news and advertising; and the analysis of music in relation to fear and anguish management. The volume includes subject and broadcast bibliographies, a filmography, and musicography. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Graeme Harper is Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the National Institute for Excellence in the Creative Industries at Bangor University, UK. He is Editor of New Writing: the International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing. His most recent novels are Moon Dance (Parlor, 2008) and Small Maps of the World (Parlor, 2006). His previous book for Continuum was Teaching Creative Writing (Continuum, 2006).