Audiovisual Contract Notes
The Audiovisual Contract
Sound as Manipulation
Sound, more than image, can insidiously manipulate affect and semantics in film.
Sound affects us physiologically, like breathing noises influencing our respiration.
Sound influences perception through added value, interpreting the image's meaning and altering our perception of it.
Sound's investment and localization differ from that of the image.
Harmony or Counterpoint?
The arrival of sound led to comparisons between cinema and music.
Counterpoint: Sound and image as parallel, loosely connected tracks, independent of each other.
In Western classical music:
Counterpoint: Concurrent musical voices are individuated and coherent horizontally.
Harmony: Vertical dimension, relations of notes forming chords.
Classical composition combines both dimensions.
Audiovisual counterpoint differs from musical counterpoint because sound and image fall into different sensory categories.
Films exclude horizontal-contrapuntal dynamics, favoring harmonic and vertical relations between sound and image.
Audiovisual Dissonance
Counterpoint analogy in film studies often misused; examples cited as counterpoint are often dissonant harmony.
Harmony doesn't account for the specificity of audiovisual phenomena.
Horizontal and vertical aspects of the audiovisual sequence are interdependent.
Films with horizontal freedom (e.g., music videos) have vigorous perceptual solidarity through synch points (harmonic framework).
Audiovisual counterpoint is noticeable only if it creates an opposition on a precise point of meaning, influencing our reading.
Counterpoint influences our reading, in postulating a certain linear interpretation of the meaning of the sounds.
Counterpoint-as-contradiction implies a prereading of the relation between sound and image, forcing simple, one-way meanings based on rhetorical opposition.
Audiovisual dissonance is merely the inverse of convention, and thus pays homage to it, imprisoning us in a binary logic that has only remotely to do with how cinema works.
Example of free counterpoint: Resurrection scene in Tarkovsky's Solaris, sounds of breaking glass are dubbed over images, which suggests that she is constituted of shards of ice.
The Predominance of the Vertical (There Is No Soundtrack)
There is no soundtrack in the cinema, in the sense of a coherent entity independent of the image.
The term 'soundtrack' is used technically to designate the aggregation of all sounds in a film without active autonomous meaning.
Sounds of a film do not form an internally coherent entity on equal footing with the image track.
Each audio element enters into simultaneous vertical relationship with narrative elements contained in the image.
Offscreen sound establishes itself as offscreen through confrontation with the image.
There is no image track and no soundtrack in the cinema, but a place of images, plus sounds.
Sound and Image in Relation to Editing
Sound Editing Has Not Created a Specific Unit
Sounds, like images, are editable.
Image editing created the shot as a specific unit of cinema.
Sound editing has not created a specific sound unit.
Sound splices neither jump to our ears nor permit us to demarcate identifiable units of sound montage.
Sounds have been edited in radio and recording, but no
The Audiovisual Contract
Sound as Manipulation
Sound serves as a powerful tool in film, often more potent than visual elements in shaping affect and semantics. It operates on multiple levels, influencing us physiologically; for instance, the sound of breathing can prompt changes in our own respiration patterns, creating an immersive experience. Furthermore, sound enriches our perception, adding layers of meaning to the visual content and transforming our understanding of what we see. The investment in sound differs considerably from that of the image, highlighting its unique role in the cinematic experience. Unlike an image that presents a fixed perspective, sound creates a dynamic auditory landscape that can manipulate the viewer’s emotions and interpretations. With sound, filmmakers can establish atmosphere, enhance narrative tension, and evoke emotional responses that may not derive solely from the visual elements.
Harmony or Counterpoint?
The introduction of sound in film generates discussions about its relationship with imagery, leading to comparisons with music. The concept of counterpoint arises, suggesting that sound and image can function as parallel tracks that are loosely connected yet independent. In Western classical music, counterpoint refers to the interaction of concurrent musical voices that maintain their individuality horizontally through melodic development while harmonizing vertically through the relationships of notes forming chords. Classical compositions employ a blend of both harmonies and counterpoints to create rich, multifaceted experiences.
However, audiovisual counterpoint in film deviates from musical counterpoint because sound and image engage different sensory modalities; sound activates auditory perception, whereas imagery engages visual perception. Thus, films tend to emphasize harmonic relationships over horizontal, contrapuntal dynamics, often opting for synchronization that creates a cohesive audiovisual experience.
Audiovisual Dissonance
The analogy of counterpoint in film studies is commonly misapplied. Instances labeled as counterpoint might actually exemplify dissonant harmony, where harmony fails to adequately represent the complexity of audiovisual interactions. The horizontal and vertical aspects of the audiovisual sequence are profoundly interdependent; for instance, films characterized by horizontal freedom, like music videos, exhibit strong perceptual unity through synchronized points or synch points that create a harmonic framework. The effectiveness of audiovisual counterpoint becomes apparent only when it establishes a clear opposition at a specific point of meaning, thereby guiding our interpretation of the narrative.
Counterpoint contributes to our reading by implying a certain linear interpretation of sound's meaning relative to the image. This idea of counterpoint-as-contradiction necessitates a decoding of the relationship between sound and image that can lead to simplistic binary interpretations. Thus, audiovisual dissonance becomes a reflection of convention rather than a true subversion, entrenching viewers within a rigid binary logic that may obscure the inherent complexity of cinematic language. A notable example of effective counterpoint can be found in Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Solaris, where the sounds of breaking glass, dubbed over imagery, suggest a compelling narrative about fragmentation and reality.
The Predominance of the Vertical (There Is No Soundtrack)
In the context of cinema, it is crucial to understand that what is commonly referred to as a soundtrack does not function as a coherent entity with autonomous meaning. Instead, the term 'soundtrack' technically signifies the collection of all sounds present in a film, which do not form a unified construct on par with the visual image track. Each audio element engages in a simultaneous vertical relationship with the narrative content portrayed by the image, where offscreen sounds establish significance through their confrontation with the visible elements. This emphasizes that, fundamentally, cinema comprises a confluence of images and sounds rather than distinct tracks existing independently of one another.
Sound and Image in Relation to Editing
Sound Editing Has Not Created a Specific Unit
Both sounds and images are subject to editing in cinema. However, a significant distinction exists: while image editing has successfully resulted in the establishment of the shot as a distinct unit of cinematic language, sound editing has not culminated in a comparable specific sound unit. Unlike images, sound splices do not have distinctive auditory markers that leap to our awareness or help us delineate identifiable units of sound montage. Though sounds can and have been edited in mediums such as radio and music recording, the structure and coherence that sound editing lacks in the context of film highlights the overall complexities and challenges of creating a unified audiovisual experience. This disparity reveals the fractal nature of sound in cinema, wherein individual sound elements interact dynamically with visual components, resulting in a rich, layered narrative experience.