Please do not remove this page Insounds : human sonic permeability and the practice of cinema sound design within ecologies of silences Delmotte, Isabelle https://researchportal.scu.edu.au/discovery/delivery/61SCU_INST:ResearchRepository/1267125620002368?l#1367374680002368 Delmotte, I. (2013). Insounds: human sonic permeability and the practice of cinema sound design within ecologies of silences [Southern Cross University]. https://researchportal.scu.edu.au/discovery/fulldisplay/alma991012821334302368/61SCU_INST:Research Repository Southern Cross University Research Portal: https://researchportal.scu.edu.au/discovery/search?vid=61SCU_INST:ResearchRepository [email protected] Open Downloaded On 2021/10/01 00:25:06 +1000 Please do not remove this page ‘Insounds’: Human sonic permeability and the practice of cinema sound design within ecologies of silences Isabelle Delmotte MFA Research (1st class Honours) (U.N.S.W) School of Arts and Social Sciences Media Studies Southern Cross University, NSW Exegesis supporting a multi-media exhibition entitled ‘Inaudible Visions, Oscillating Silences’ and submitted towards fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2013 Statement of Authorship I certify that the work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text, and that the material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. I acknowledge that I have read and understood the University’s rules, requirements, procedures and policy relating to my higher degree research award and to my thesis. I certify that I have complied with the rules, requirements, procedures and policy of the University. Isabelle Delmotte Signature:............................................................................. Date: ................................................................................... i Abstract This research establishes links between the human experience of living in sound and the practice of cinema sound design. Environmental ‘silences’ are the absorbed but often cognitively dismissed sonic entities of the everyday. Their perceived ubiquity provides cinematic vocabulary that includes the expressions ‘room tone’, ‘silence’, ‘atmospheres’, ‘backgrounds’, and ‘ambiences’. Movies are framed by social constructs, and the qualities of cinematic silences allow for primal discoveries of affective sonic activities that ‘feel silent’. My project aims to embody ‘silences’ as dynamic spaces that echo human lifelong sonic absorption and state of being ‘insounds’, of being part of the sonic matter moulding the coenesthetic system of the body. The exploration of this paradigm generates a sonic awareness that in turn encourages an expansive attention to bodily and auditory perceptions. A phenomenological approach to the creative practice of cinema sound design provides an alternative and innovative view on sonic affect and created silences in film. As a practice-based research project, resulting in an exhibition supported by an exegesis, this investigation is qualitative, multidisciplinary, and experimental in both the approaches to data collection and the design of the exhibited work. The creative processes associated with the data gathering, as well as with the design of the exhibition and its multimodal artifacts, offer a different paradigm of sound as a way of knowing. In order to explore ways in which Western contemporary soundscapes are perceived and silences are conceived, selected research participants have contributed unique interpretations of the same cinematic script. The creators of the exhibited artifacts are professional cinema sound designers, a screenwriter, a storyboard artist and myself as I act at once as art practitioner, curator and PhD researcher. The knowledge gained provides inter- relational views on sonic affect, acoustic ecologies, semiotics of film sound and the professional practice of cinema sound design. ‘Inaudible Visions, Oscillating Silences’ is the title of the exhibition marking the end of the study’s explorations of creative and curatorial practices. The use and display of different mediums, text, images and sound, allows the researcher to acknowledge all participants’ contribution to the research. The designed perambulatory path articulates the research journey of all participants and provides a physical integration of the exegesis within ii the exhibition. By triggering awareness to the sound of the everyday, the gallery’s exploration allows for different experiential possibilities of silences and states of being ‘insounds’. The PhD thereby contributes to an understanding of everyday soundscapes in addition to the specific uses of atmospheric sound in cinematic practices. iii Acknowledgements Over four years the list of people who have contributed to and supported this research in different capacities has grown exponentially. I sincerely apologise if some names are missing from the following paragraphs. I would like to dedicate this research to Margaret Balding, a very dear and generous friend who suggested that a PhD could provide a framework for my project to see the light of the day. Unfortunately Margaret left this world a few months before the completion of my endeavour. My loved and loving partner, Tess Corino, deserves more than gratitude for her unwavering support and the precious keeping of her sense of humour. My mother, Marianne Delmotte, has brought love and warmth to our lives during these years. Patience and inquisitive perseverance are virtues inherent to my supervisors and I am indebted to their academic thoroughness. As my main supervisor, Associate Professor Rebecca Coyle demonstrated a patient and formidable academic rigueur despite the exhaustive demands of her career and her failing health. It is a great pity to all that she passed away a few months short of witnessing the fruits of her sustained efforts towards the successful completion of my research. As a co-supervisor, Dr. Grayson Cooke patiently deciphered my bi-lingual idiosyncrasies and vastly contributed in clarifying theoretical and critical perspectives. The professional complementarity of Associate Professor Rebecca Coyle and Dr. Grayson Cooke contributed to an engaging supervision. My sincere thanks also go to Professor Nel Glass, Dr. Susan Ward and Dr. Adele Wessell for their contributions at the beginning and at the end of this research. The theoretical exploration of this research and its art practice would have been non- existent without the incredible generosity of all its respondents and creative participants. My most sincere thanks go to Damian Candusso, Carlos Choconta, Tom Heuzenroeder, John Kassab, Markus Kellow, Evan Kitchener, Benjamin Leon, Roger Monk, Tony Murtagh, Ben Vlad and Michael Worthington. I am grateful for their trustful support, professional passion and willingness to share their creative skills. I would also like to thank the director of the Australian film Noise, Matthew Saville, and the film score composer Bryony Marks, for their encouragements. Equally, I would like to acknowledge the generosity of Trevor iv Blainey, producer of the feature film Noise (Saville, 2007) as he allowed me to use a visual extract of that striking movie. The most precious allies of researchers are librarians. The Southern Cross librarians of the Lismore campus deserve unreserved thanks for their patience and professionalism. Often, their friendliness gave a human face to obscure academic meanderings. The technical team of the school of Arts and Social Sciences, led by Alan Hughes, has also been kind and efficient. I am indebted to the Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina (NSW) and its director, Ingrid Hedgcock, for taking the risk to host the first exhibition of an unusual project. Ingrid trusted without fail that the exhibition had the potential to reach different audiences as well as intrigue the gallery’s usual public. Her professionalism and open mindedness are real assets to the artistic community at large. It has been a privilege to exhibit in a gallery warmed by the generosity of its volunteers. Their genuine interest in artistic pursuits and desire to communicate their enthusiasm were second to none. I also would like to thank Northern Rivers Performance Arts (Norpa, Lismore) and Dax Cowan (Good Guys™, Ballina) for the in-kind support they provided for the exhibition. I am very grateful to Bruce McIntyre, Tess Corino, Robert Judd and Joan Ajala for having occasionally accepted, despite their busy schedule, to proofread pieces of laborious writing and thereby exemplified the expression ‘long suffering friends’. Last, but not least, I would like to acknowledge friends and acquaintances who have kindly hosted me as a ‘noise refugee’ on their porch or in their house. Their understanding has allowed me to think without having to devote precious energy blocking debilitating acoustic ecologies. My sincere thanks go to Leonie, Paula and Don, Helena and Don, Peter, Lucille, Sue, Karin and Graham, and Lilith in Suffolk Park, Alan and Paul in Wilsons Creek, as well as Luciano and Susi in Cobbitty. Although they were not involved in this project I would like to acknowledge Michel Delmotte, Dr. Sally Pryor, Professor Dr. Jill Scott and Professor William Seaman for the long lasting influences of their respective art practice and ethics. v Table of Contents Statement of Authorship i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents vi List of Figures ix Part 1: