Creating a Sound World for Dracula (Browning,1931)
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Creating a Sound World for Dracula (Browning,1931) Titas Petrikis A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Bournemouth University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2014 Bournemouth University Copyright statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and due acknowledgement must always be made of the use of any material contained in, or derived from, this thesis. 2 Abstract Creating a Sound World for Dracula (Browning, 1931) The first use of recorded sound in a feature film was in Don Juan (Crosland 1926). From 1933 onwards, rich film scoring and Foley effects were common in many films. In this context, Dracula (Browning 1931)1 belongs to the transitional period between silent and sound films. Dracula’s original soundtrack consists of only a few sonic elements: dialogue and incidental sound effects. Music is used only at the beginning and in the middle (one diegetic scene) of the film; there is no underscoring. The reasons for the ‘emptiness’ of the soundtrack are partly technological, partly cultural. Browning’s film remains a significant filmic event, despite its noisy original soundtrack and the absence of music. In this study Dracula’s original dialogue has been revoiced, and the film has been scored with new sound design and music, becoming part of a larger, contextual composition. This creative practice-based research explores the potential convergence of film sound and music, and the potential for additional meaning to be created by a multi-channel composition outside the dramatic trajectory of Dracula. This research also offers an analysis of how a multi-channel composition may enhance or change the way an audience reads the film. The audiovisual composition is original, but it uses an existing feature film as an element of the new art piece. Browning’s Dracula gains a new interpretation due to the semantic meaning provided by associations with major cataclysmic events of the 20th century, namely the rise of two totalitarian powers in Europe. The new soundtrack includes samples from the original that are modified, synthesised and re-worked: elements of historical speeches; quotes from Stoker’s Dracula; references to the sounds of the time period (Nazi rallies, warfare, Soviet prosecution), and the original recordings of Transylvania (similar to the geographical location and season Stoker describes in Dracula). 1 Dracula (in italics) will refer to Browning’s film (1931) throughout this paper. 3 The soundtrack composition also includes elements of a new, specially composed Requiem, which share the same sonic and musical expression tools: music language, varying sound pitch, time stretch, granular synthesising, and vocal techniques such as singing, speech, whispering, etc.) 4 List of Contents Copyright statement ................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3 List of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 5 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 7 Acknowledgement ..................................................................................................................... 9 Author’s Declaration ................................................................................................................ 10 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 11 Methodology and literature review .......................................................................................... 14 Dracula’s original soundtrack in the context of early sound films (1926-1931) .................... 24 The preparation of the original soundtrack for the research .................................................... 32 The implication of the revoiced soundtrack for the film ..................................................... 35 Mapping the film.............................................................................................................. 36 The composition process of the film soundtrack ............................................................. 39 Music and sound palette for Dracula............................................................................... 42 Reflecting Count Dracula in film ..................................................................................... 49 Van Helsing as the main protagonist ............................................................................... 52 Renfield ............................................................................................................................ 56 Mina and Harker’s Love theme ........................................................................................ 57 Other musical material ..................................................................................................... 58 The multi-channel composition of Dracula ............................................................................. 61 The symbolism of malevolence in the artefact .................................................................... 65 The creative process of the multi-channel composition ...................................................... 70 The implication of the Requiem in Dracula .................................................................... 80 Compositional devices and references to other works ......................................................... 85 5 The sound-manipulation techniques ................................................................................ 86 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 89 References ................................................................................................................................ 94 Books ................................................................................................................................... 94 Internet ................................................................................................................................. 99 Music.................................................................................................................................. 100 Films .................................................................................................................................. 101 Other .................................................................................................................................. 103 Appendices ............................................................................................................................. 105 A. Examples of practice-based research methodologies .............................................. 105 B. The detailed preparation process of Dracula’s soundtrack ..................................... 106 Automation vs manual settings ...................................................................................... 110 C. Soundtrack comparison: the original and prepared versions .................................. 112 D. The revoiced soundtrack in mono – creating cohesion between music and sound effects ............................................................................................................................................ 114 E. Tonality and its implication to perception............................................................... 117 F. The audio pitch manipulation techniques in the multi-channel composition ............. 118 G. The liturgical text of the Dies Irae .......................................................................... 120 H. The ‘Map of Dracula’ (1931) ................................................................................. 122 I. The digital audio workstation and software settings used in the project .................... 142 6 List of Figures Figure 1. Dracula’s ‘aristocratic theme’ implies ambiguity through dissonant accompaniment to a Baroque style melody (07A_Dracula theme.mp3). .......................................................... 50 Figure 2.Dracula’s vampire theme (08A_Dracula theme2.mp3) ............................................. 51 Figure 3. Browning portrays Van Helsing with similar gestures to Count Dracula. He insists on examining Mina with everyone’s acquiescence. ................................................................ 53 Figure 4. Van Helsing remains calm throughout the film. He does not show any emotional change even after Dracula’s neutralisation. Furthermore, he decides to remain in the cellar as he has ‘more things to do’ after Harker and Mina leave. ......................................................... 55 Figure 5. The Multi-Channel Composition Channel Map. ...................................................... 76 Figure 6.The visual plan of the multi-channel composition. ................................................... 79 Figure 7. Contrary to the conventional audio normalisation, the maximiser plug-in allows to achieve the maximum level of the digital signal through ‘lookahead’ peak control, whereas its