Hearing with Your Eyes: Science Fiction Television and Hearing the Unseen

By: Reba A. Wissner (Montclair State University) // Hearing the unseen through non-diegetic music is nothing new to film. Although John Williams made the technique famous in his scores for Jaws (1975) and Star Wars (1977), it dates back to horror films of the 1930s and radio dramas of the 1940s. Early radio plays were …

The Power of Sound: The 2016 Presidential Campaign

By: Justin Patch (Vassar College) // The modern political campaign is an emotional and sensory affair. It is not rational or reasonable, nor is it concerned with presenting best policies and practices for governance, fostering the greatest good for all, or sensibly managing the world’s largest economy. Instead, campaigns appeal to pathos, optimism, nationalism, and …

Selma’s Music: The Politics of Commemorating Bloody Sunday

By: Felicia Miyakawa (Round Rock, TX) // In 1965, documentary filmmaker Stefan Sharff captured the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sharff’s style is sonically sparse: in the entire 17-minute film, we hear only the chopping of helicopter blades; the voice of Dr. King, taken from a recording of …

Audible Interiors: Music and Emotion in the Hollywood Film Score

By: Stephan Prock (New Zealand School of Music) // Music in film has the power to make audible the emotions, thoughts, and desires of characters on screen. During the silent film era, music was often continuously performed to convey the feeling of a scene because, though their words might be displayed on the screen, characters could …