Ep. 77: Film, Sound, & Music: Part 2 | A Discussion with Murray Smith скачать в хорошем качестве

Ep. 77: Film, Sound, & Music: Part 2 | A Discussion with Murray Smith

In this episode, Brandon Polite (Knox College | he/him) talks with Murray Smith (University of Kent | he/him) about the relationship between music and film. Link to *Part 1*:    • Ep. 77:  Film, Sound, & Music: Part 1 | A ...   This part of the interview begins by us shifting from the “straightforward” connections between film and music that we discussed in Part 1 to more complex interrelations between them. We begin by exploring their shared nature as time-based artforms. Smith argues that just as music unfolds in time with rhythmic structures and motifs, film similarly organizes events and edits according to temporal patterns. A prime example is the use of music sequences in films, particularly since the 1960s. He describes how films often include sequences akin to embedded music videos—montage scenes structured around a song’s rhythm, as seen in Trainspotting, where Lou Reed's “Perfect Day” ironically underscores a heroin overdose. We then discuss music videos as a distinct form, emphasizing their ability to visually accentuate musical details. While acknowledging that many are formulaic, Smith praises auteurs like Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze, who elevate the medium. He references Carol Vernallis’s book Experiencing Music Video, which argues that visuals can direct attention to specific musical elements, creating an integrated audiovisual experience. We then reverse direction, asking: Can music possess cinematic potential? I suggest musique concrète and psychedelic rock as examples of auditory storytelling akin to film. Smith builds on this by citing “imaginary soundtracks”—albums structured like film scores but without an actual movie. He mentions Radiohead’s song “Motion Picture Soundtrack” and Barry Adamson’s album Moss Side Story, among others, noting how a track from the latter eventually got used in a real film: David Lynch's Lost Highway*). David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” is also examined for its cinematic qualities, both lyrically and orchestrally. This leads us to consider film directors influenced by recorded music. I recount how Paul Thomas Anderson based Magnolia on some of Aimee Mann’s songs, and how the film culminates in a scene where characters sing along to one of them in a surreal, music video-like moment. Toward a similar end, Smith brings up William Friedkin’s use of Wang Chung’s album Points on the Curve as a temp track for To Live and Die in L.A. resulted in the band composing an original soundtrack inspired by the film’s themes. We then transitions to consider film and music as “arts of recording.” Smith draws from Ted Gracyk’s book Rhythm and Noise, which argues that recording technology has reshaped music, making the studio an instrument itself. He cites the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” as a landmark example of sound manipulation that could only exist through recording. Film, by its very nature, is an art of recording, but Smith sees a particularly strong parallel in Jean-Luc Godard’s early films. Godard’s radical editing and sound design—such as the disjunctive collage in *A Woman Is a Woman*—mirror experimental approaches in recorded music, disrupting conventional expectations of seamless integration. We conclude the discussion by recognizing how Godard’s approach highlights standard filmmaking norms by deliberately breaking them, namely by using contra-standard features of film as an artform. This meta-awareness ties back to the earlier discussion of how film borrows musical techniques to structure time and experience. References: Murray Smith, Film, Art, and the Third Culture, revised edition (Oxford University Press, 2020) Murray Smith, Engaging Characters: Fiction, Emotion, and the Cinema, second edition (Oxford University Press, 2022) Murray Smith, Trainspotting* updated edition (BFI Modern Classics, 2021) Theodore Gracyk, Rhythm and Noise: An Aesthetics of Rock (Duke University Press, 1996) Carol Vernallis, Experiencing Music Video (Columbia University Press, 2004) Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:22 Film & Music As Time-Based Arts 11:16 Music Video As an Artform 20:52 Imaginary Soundtracks & Cinematic Music 33:26 When Music Influences Directors 40:47 Constructed Soundscapes in Music & Film 52:23 Conclusion SUBSCRIBE TO THIS CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/c/Philosopher... Subtitles & audio edited by Athko Ehrnstein