Sound in the Films of Rolf De Heer
AURAL AUTEUR: SOUND IN THE FILMS OF ROLF DE HEER. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Published Papers in the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. Supervisors: Ms. Helen Yeates Lecturer, Film and TV, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT. Dr. Vivienne Muller Lecturer, Creative Writing and Literary Studies, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT. Associate Professor Geoff Portmann Discipline Leader, Film and TV, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT. Written and submitted by David Bruno Starrs BSc (ANU), PGDipHlthSc (Curtin), BTh (Hons) (JCU), MFTV (Bond), MCA (Melb). Self-archived publications available at: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Starrs,_D._Bruno.html January 2009. Aural Auteur: Sound in the Films of Rolf de Heer. 2 Aural Auteur: Sound in the Films of Rolf de Heer. ABSTRACT. Aural Auteur: Sound in the Films of Rolf de Heer. An interpretative methodology for understanding meaning in cinema since the 1950s, auteur analysis is an approach to film studies in which an individual, usually the director, is studied as the author of her or his films. The principal argument of this thesis is that proponents of auteurism have privileged examination of the visual components in a film-maker’s body of work, neglecting the potentially significant role played by sound. The thesis seeks to address this problematic imbalance by interrogating the creative use of sound in the films written and directed by Rolf de Heer, asking the question, “Does his use of sound make Rolf de Heer an aural auteur?” In so far as the term ‘aural’ encompasses everything in the film that is heard by the audience, the analysis seeks to discover if de Heer has, as Peter Wollen suggests of the auteur and her or his directing of the visual components (1968, 1972 and 1998), unconsciously left a detectable aural signature on his films.
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