Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen by Michel Chion

Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen Reviews

• 
  Alialiarya

  در بخشی از کتاب می‌خوانیم: به یاد آریم که بتهوون سونات‌های پیانوی خود را برای پیانویی که از پیانوهای امروزی کوچک‌تر بود نوشت: آن‌جا که او در کلاویه‌هایش با محدودیت روبه‌رو شد ما دو یا سه اکتاو دیگر داریم. بدین اعتبار شاید نواختن آثار بتهوون روی پیانوهای دوره خودش درست‌تر باشد. اما مشاهده‌ی آهنگسازان معاصر که قطعاتی را برای پیانوهای امروزی با همان محدودیت‌هایی که خالق پاته‌تیک را محدود می‌کرد می‌نویسد بی‌معناست. باید داد بزنیم که چشمانتان را بسته‌اید؛ اکثر فیلمسازان این روزها نیز چشمانتان را بسته‌اند، بدون این‌که اصلا مسئله‌ی بودجه در میان باشد.(درباره‌ی امکانات امروز حوزه صدا)
  
  صدا-تصویر هم‌چنان از مهم‌ترین آثاری‌ست که به صدا در سینما می‌پردازد. شیون در چهارمین کتابش که همانند سه اثر دیگرش در انتشارات کایه‌دو سینما در دهه ۸۰ منتشر شده سعی دارد نظرات پیشین خود را به جمع‌بندی‌ برساند. شیون بعد از بررسی تحلیلی ساختار شنوایی و اهمیت و تفاوت آن با دیگر حواس نشان می‌دهد چگونه صدا در سینما همواره مغفول مانده و مورد بررسی قرار نگرفته. شیون با اشارات متعدد به سینمای اروپا و آمریکا نشان می‌دهد صدا در فیلم‌هایی که به قدرت آن واقف‌اند نقشی حیاتی و مهم دارد. شیون در دهه هشتاد معتقد است هم‌چنان حتی جوان‌های سینما در مقابل درک و استفاده‌ی درست از صدا مقاوت می‌کنند. بی‌شک از جذاب‌ترین کتاب‌های سینمایی‌ای بود که تا به حال خوانده‌ام... ترجمه‌ی کتاب هم بسیار قابل تقدیر است.
  
  
• 
  Christopher

  Both academic and accessible, Chion's text not only identifies and names many of the aspects and effects of cinematic sound, it also argues for and encourages a more directed and active form of audition. Valuable as both an introduction and a reference.
• 
  David Ashley

  Really enjoyed this book, it's like Michel is looking at sound and image from every possible angle but without it feeling bogged down and heavy. If anything it feels like the book could have been extended into a series of books as ideas aren't laboured over that much. Almost reads like a dictionary of all the different ways sound can be used as a device without it ever getting repetitive or boring.
  
  My only real complaint is that towards the end of the book everything moves towards putting forward a proposal for audio-visual analysis before then putting this proposal into practice for a deep dive into Bergman's Persona. This whole section whilst solid and interesting can read pretty dry. When all is said and done words can only do so much do get across sound and image. It's a little disappointment as everything leads to this point which ends up making you think that film is just something you have to experience, it's all in that moment to moment. Still, an incredible book that is very inspirational when thinking of how to situate sound in a mix and the devices and relations it can take on when put together images.
• 
  Matt

  I wish the class I took in college on film sound was half as good as this book. Michel Chion is a French musique-concrete composer and film theorist specializing in sound. In one of the only English translations of his work, Audio-Vision summarizes Chion's attempts to systematize the devices of film sound and come up with a kind of working grammar that can be used to "read" a film soundtrack. Really interesting stuff.
• 
  Matt

  An important work in cinema theory, largely ignored until recent years. In contrast with mainstream film theorists, Chion treats film sound as of primary importance in the phenomenology of cinema. Audio-Vision is not intended to be a phenomenology of film; Chion provides a framework and taxonomy within which film sound might be studied critically. A classic and highly accessible treatment.
• 
  Ingrid

  Made me think about sound in a whole different way, but I thought it got quite technical and obscure for me in parts. Maybe I wasn't patient enough to really get the full meaning out of it. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in movies or making movies at all, unique perspective we don't often talk about.
• 
  SeaOfSound

  *THE* book on sound for film. Chion's acute observations of sound design and music and their use in films to reinforce stories and to suspend the audience's disbelief is unlike any other book on the subject.
• 
  Grig O'

  The fact that dude's a composer and director as well as a film sound academic gives the book a systemic and comprehensive quality. A great book that will enrich the way you experience and think about films.
• 
  Sophie

  A fantastic book on sound as it applies to film.
• 
  FRR

  chion is an abnormal sound theorcian which whole books make any reader keen on sound theme even if he never studied sound
  I deeply recommand
• 
  Casey Browne

  Both academic and accessible, Chion's text not only identifies and names many of the aspects and effects of cinematic sound it also argues for and encourages a more directed and active form of audition. Valuable as both an introduction and a reference. I enjoyed this book. It's like Michel is looking at sound and image from every possible angle but without it feeling bogged down and heavy. If anything, it feels like the book could have been extended into a series of books as ideas aren't laboured over that much. It almost reads like a dictionary of all the different ways sound can be used as a device without it ever getting repetitive or boring.
  My only real complaint is that towards the end of the book, everything moves towards putting forward a proposal for audio-visual analysis before then putting this proposal into practice for a deep dive into Bergman's Persona. This whole section, whilst solid and exciting, can read pretty dry. Words can only do so much to get across sound and image when all is said and done. It's a bit of disappointment as everything leads to this point, which makes you think that film is just something you have to experience, it's all from that moment to moment. Still, it is an inspirational book when thinking of how to situate sound in a mix and the devices and relations it can take on when putting together images.
• 
  Nick Bentz

  Really great and novel concepts regarding the importance of sound in film, and how we hear-see film. Most striking to me are the ways in which Chion shows that audio effects our perception of imagery on a very deep level. The last section gets a little didactic for me, but the theoretical sections in the front of the book are well-done.
• 
  Peter Llantua

  A veces técnico, pero en general, muy amigable para explicarnos toda la importancia del sonido -un actor de suma importancia y que solemos tratar como secundario- en el cine, y cómo funciona éste para que las películas sean lo que son: Más que sólo imágenes, Audiovisuales.
• 
  Lucas

  Utterly groundbreaking.
• 
  malic

  while it's sometimes a bit boring, it is excellent audio theory, particularly for the moving image. yes, tech theory- not tech instruction! wish there were more good books like this.
• 
  Fernando Morán

  Uno de los mejores libros que leí en la universidad, sin dudas.
• 
  Kate

  A pretty clear summary of some major ways that image and sound work together. I found the ideas around added value and animation especially useful.
• 
  Andrés Ahumada gómez

  As an audio producer, this book open my ears to understand how sound evolves and shapes the screen. There is no isolated view or listen, they're bounded.