University of Kent

Cinema has typically been conceived of as an essentially visual phenomenon – films, it is often said, are essentially moving pictures. Sound has, nevertheless, played an important role from the beginnings of cinema, a fact which has been acknowledged in the detailed historical, theoretical, and critical work on film music, and film sound more generally. This course provides an overview of this field of research, and provides students with a clearer understanding of and greater sensitivity to the soundtrack. The course begins by setting up an introductory framework for the understanding of sound, which considers the relationship between music and other aspects of film sound (speech, ambient sound, sound effects), as well as the nature of the relationship between sound and image. Subsequent sessions consider the evolution of sound technology and its impact on the aural aesthetics of film; the use of classical and popular music in film scores; the emergence of sound designers, in contemporary cinema; and the distinctive and innovative use of sound and music by a number of "sound stylists."

This course explores the long history of oratorical performance in the USA, from presidential speeches to University debates, from Native American orature to political activism. In so doing, students are introduced to the necessary tools to understand and critique the rhetorical choices of a range of speakers; to analyze the specific historical and cultural factors that give rise both to the speeches they encounter and the rhetorical choices of their delivery; and to a range of key historical and political events in the life of the USA as well as the range of activists and advocates that give voice to them.

The key themes of this course are contextualizing the work of students by gaining a historical overview of genre filmmaking, and guiding students towards making a short film within the parameters of a chosen genre(s). From seminars and a series of instruction sessions in camera, sound and editing, students will develop, shoot and edit in groups an original short fiction film idea in a genre chosen from or combining, but not exclusive to, the following: crime, musical, horror, melodrama, western, science fiction, road movie, romantic comedy. This idea is brought to fruition in a series of seminars designed to develop students' creative potential, alongside screenings of relevant genre films. Secondly, students are asked to write an essay in which they analyze a feature film in a chosen genre and relate it to their own project idea.