Audiovisual Space: Recontextualising Sound-Image Media
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Greenwich
Department Name: Creative Prof. & Digital Arts, FACH
Abstract
The spatial turn, which swept the wider humanities, has not significantly contributed to inform our understandings of sound and image relationships. Audiovisual media are still often conceptualised in visually biassed, temporal frameworks, divided in relation to layers of narrative structure. This project seeks to investigate if spatial thinking can provide new understandings of the audiovisual, in which all sound and image elements (and their spatial properties) can be identified as fundamentally active participants in constituting our audiovisual experiences. This project will engage Oscar and EMMY award winning Sound Design professionals in collaborative research to unpack their tacit knowledge and to investigate the role that spatial thinking plays within their practice.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this project seeks to use concepts of space to analyse and critique established audiovisual theories, bridging traditional subject boundaries and inspiring new perspectives for understanding sound and image media. Both traditional scholarly research and creative practice will be applied as complementary methodologies to test and interrogate hypotheses, working towards knowing both 'about' and 'through' audiovisual artefacts.
Bringing together research from a range of different subject areas (including electroacoustic music, sound art, film musicology, film practice, spatial studies, architecture & anthropology) as well as adopting both scholarly and practice based methodologies, this project seeks to deliver new understandings which can be communicated to diverse academic audiences and practitioners within the creative industries. Outcomes have the potential to benefit scholars of audiovisual media, students and graduates looking to develop their creative practices through critical understandings, and creative industry professionals seeking to engage with the latest theoretical perspectives to advance their practices. Outcomes will be particularly relevant for studies in emerging areas such as Virtual Reality where conventional temporal constructs of film are dissolved by the medium
This project will:
1. Synthesise concepts from electroacoustic music, film sound practice, spatial studies and film studies towards developing new interdisciplinary understandings of the audiovisual as spatial constructs [Outputs - A,B,D,F,G].
2. Engage with non-academic film sound practitioners to stimulate knowledge exchange, informing theoretical understandings and seeding impact from academia into the creative industries [Outputs - E,F,G,C].
3. Establish agendas of research, facilitating international interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange via conferences, journal special issues and edited volumes [Outputs - C,D,E,F,G].
4. Host international networking events to bring together fellow researchers within audiovisual and contiguous fields to work collaboratively on projects and publications [Outputs - G,C,E,F].
In addition to academics and researchers in universities, this project actively involves leading creative professionals (via partnership with the Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS)) engaging the extensive tacit knowledge from professionals working in commercial film. This methodology enables the triangulation of research findings and the opportunity to investigate spatial conceptions of the audiovisual from a range of different perspectives. Outputs will include books, academic journal articles, edited volumes, audiovisual compositions, radiophonic work, public talks and conferences.
Networking events for researchers (with emphasis on supporting Early Career academics) will take place as part of the Leadership activities associated with this event, engaging both European and international research communities in the investigation of and promotion of new agendas of research in the area of audiovisual space.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this project seeks to use concepts of space to analyse and critique established audiovisual theories, bridging traditional subject boundaries and inspiring new perspectives for understanding sound and image media. Both traditional scholarly research and creative practice will be applied as complementary methodologies to test and interrogate hypotheses, working towards knowing both 'about' and 'through' audiovisual artefacts.
Bringing together research from a range of different subject areas (including electroacoustic music, sound art, film musicology, film practice, spatial studies, architecture & anthropology) as well as adopting both scholarly and practice based methodologies, this project seeks to deliver new understandings which can be communicated to diverse academic audiences and practitioners within the creative industries. Outcomes have the potential to benefit scholars of audiovisual media, students and graduates looking to develop their creative practices through critical understandings, and creative industry professionals seeking to engage with the latest theoretical perspectives to advance their practices. Outcomes will be particularly relevant for studies in emerging areas such as Virtual Reality where conventional temporal constructs of film are dissolved by the medium
This project will:
1. Synthesise concepts from electroacoustic music, film sound practice, spatial studies and film studies towards developing new interdisciplinary understandings of the audiovisual as spatial constructs [Outputs - A,B,D,F,G].
2. Engage with non-academic film sound practitioners to stimulate knowledge exchange, informing theoretical understandings and seeding impact from academia into the creative industries [Outputs - E,F,G,C].
3. Establish agendas of research, facilitating international interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange via conferences, journal special issues and edited volumes [Outputs - C,D,E,F,G].
4. Host international networking events to bring together fellow researchers within audiovisual and contiguous fields to work collaboratively on projects and publications [Outputs - G,C,E,F].
In addition to academics and researchers in universities, this project actively involves leading creative professionals (via partnership with the Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS)) engaging the extensive tacit knowledge from professionals working in commercial film. This methodology enables the triangulation of research findings and the opportunity to investigate spatial conceptions of the audiovisual from a range of different perspectives. Outputs will include books, academic journal articles, edited volumes, audiovisual compositions, radiophonic work, public talks and conferences.
Networking events for researchers (with emphasis on supporting Early Career academics) will take place as part of the Leadership activities associated with this event, engaging both European and international research communities in the investigation of and promotion of new agendas of research in the area of audiovisual space.
Publications
Knight-Hill A
(2022)
Convergence in Parallel Praxis: Electroacoustic Music and Sound Design
| Title | Gherstl's Ghost - Soundtrack |
| Description | String Quartet composition for 360 immersive film sequence Gherstl's Ghost (Dir. Peter Bathurst). This soundtrack was developed in two parts. An initial section composed to fixed timeline for an opening film sequence which seeks to convey the swirling, emotional vortex of the films primary discourse. And a second section designed for the immersive 360 sequence, designed to loop and be dynamically remixed as the user passes through the space. This bifurcated project enabled the development of two contrasting elements, a more traditional linear score and a more open and spatial dynamic score element. Both were developed around a common theme with exploration of the affordances of each emphasis explored. |
| Type Of Art | Composition/Score |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | This composition forms part of the practice research components of the "Audiovisual Space: Recontextualising Sound Image Media" AHRC Leadership Fellowship. These practical elements have been integrated into the full film which will be released within 2022. The practice of undertaking this research and negotiating its development has informed the development of conceptual ideas in the theoretical elements of the project and as part of the practical elements of my AV Space research project. Ae the film is released and distributed we hope to receive responses from audiences and to share and publish more details on the practice. |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/594715799 |
| Title | OVER LUNAN |
| Description | Over Lunan is a multifaceted collaborative project, commissioned by Aproxima Arts, originally as the finale work as part of the Arbroath 2020+1 celebrations. https://aproxima.co.uk/over-lunan The work includes a series of sub-strand elements: - Radiophonic Work / Radio Play (Recording 42 mins). - Sound Design for immersive theatre production (no fixed duration). - Musical composition for finale of immersive theatre event (Live Performance with Recorded Sound 20 mins). - Atra-hasis musical radio montage (Recording 18 minutes). - Atra-hasis choral work (Score and Recording) (9 minutes). The work was inspired by the Angus coastline of Lunan Bay, its rich geological history and creative links with contemporary geopolitical events. "Our world is formed and connected by the sea. Thousands of years ago, these coastlines were shaped by cataclysmic events; in Mesopotamia too, mythical floods gave rise to stories of the Apkallu - half-fish, half-human sages who emerged from the sea to bring wisdom to our ancestors, living in what became known as the 'cradle of civilisation'. Thousands of years later, those same lands lie decimated by war and the world's oceans are rising again what would the Apkallu say if they returned to speak for one last time?" The project involved a diverse team of creative collaborators including: Angus Farquhar - Director Approxima Arts Purni Morell - Dramaturg and script writer (former Director of Unicorn Theatre), Andrew Knight-Hill - Composer of electro-acoustic music, Bede Williams - Conch John and Patrick Kenny - Conch and Carnyx players Cameron Sinclair - Musician and composer Robin Laing - Actor Steve Urquhart - Radio Producer (BBC Scotland) Choir - Chamber Choir from the University of St Andrews Music Centre Rebecca Black Sarah Greer James McNinch Nathanael Fagerson Ross McArthur Guy Minch Elizabeth Unsworth Wilson Jane Pettegree Choir Director - Claire Innes-Hopkins |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | This work formed a significant part of the AHRC Leadership Project - Audiovisual Space, developing collaborative working skills and providing a platform for critical reflection and consideration of creative practices in media. Working with established professionals with extensive experience - Angus Farquhar, Purni Morell, Steve Urquhart - provided invaluable insights into collaborative working practices involved in delivering an industry ready output. Radio Play was broadcast on Radio North Angus, Resonance FM and Radiophrenia 2022. Beach production was attended by 20 audience groups of 50 people as part of the Arbroath 2020+1 festival and received highly favourable reviews in the press and media. The project continues to be disseminated via conferences and events and engaged with online. Outputs for the project will inform the development of outputs for the Audiovisual Space project |
| URL | https://aproxima.co.uk/over-lunan |
| Title | OVER LUNAN - Radio Play |
| Description | Radio play and sound design composition composed for the OVER LUNAN project. This constituted a major practical component of the practice research element of my AHRC Leadership Fellowship, working with and reflecting upon the collaborative creative process towards the development of a work that sought to evoke and explore notions of place and space. This 45 minute radio play involved the articulation of soundscapes that blurred the lines between representation and creativity, extending mimesis into abstraction. The creative challenge informed the elaboration of conceptual ideas within the research project and enabled reflection upon the challenges and expectations of the collaborative process. "Things are not always as they seem. Obvious, perhaps, yet Over Lunan sheds light on some of the hidden connections between Lunan and places far afield, in both time and space" "In 2015 the journalist Charlie Ross spent a summer in Lunan Bay on the north east coast of Scotland, investigating the area's history and mythology, and the natural forces that have shaped this coast through millennia. He died before his work was complete, but his discoveries, including Lunan's connection to the ancient cultures of the Middle East, are now brought to life posthumously in this new radio piece, produced by Steve Urquhart and directed by Purni Morell, with music and sound design by Andrew Knight-Hill." It has been broadcast locally and nationally multiple times on Radio North Angus, Resonance FM, Resonance Extra & Radiophrenia. |
| Type Of Art | Composition/Score |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Impact | Broadcasts: Resonance FM - 10.9.2021 / 13.09.2021 / 18.12.2021 - Radio North Angus - 6.9.2021 / 8.9.2021 Radiophrenia - February 11th 2022. And online streaming. |
| URL | https://aproxima.co.uk/over-lunan |
| Title | Interviews with Film Sound Practitioners and Electroacoustic Composers |
| Description | Bringing together world-leading industry professionals in sound design and composition with academics and sound artists, to critique and reflect upon each others work and the role of spatiality within it. Facilitating interdisciplinary knowledge exchange and the potential to further seed academic impact into the creative industries. We have conducted 32 interviews (average 1 hour each) in total. This includes both solo interviews with each partner. And joined discussion interviews with pairs of practitioners brought together to discuss their practices. Leading film sound professionals featured include: Randy Thom, Paula Fairfield, Anne Kroeber, Nina Hartstone, Jesse Dodd, Peter Albrechtsen, Steven Fanagan, George Vlad, Onalee Blank. Leading electroacosutic music composers include: Annette Vande Gorne, John Young, Trevor Wishart, Hildegarde Westerkamp, KAMRU, Annie Mhatani, Cathy Lane, Nikos Stravopoulous, Natasha Barrett. This constitutes one significant data collection component for our AHRC Leadership Fellowship - Audiovisual Space: Recontextualising Sound-Image Media |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Original knowledge has been generated and will be disseminated within an edited volume publication. This has the potential to deliver future impact once shared. |
| Description | British Audiovisual Research Network Virtual - Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk to the BARN Virtual Network Symposium. Postgraduate researchers interested in audiovisual practice. In this presentation I shared elements from my early monograph chapters and the talk elicited many enquiries from these early career researchers which have generated interest in future research networking activities to be hosted by my project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.barnvirtual.com/home |
| Description | Guest Lecture - Sound & Space University of the Arts Helsinki |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Guest lecture to students an alumni at University of the Arts Helsinki. SAMA (Sound Art & Sonic Arts) is a minor studies Masters level module within the joint studies of our university, meaning that such courses are offered to all Uniarts students as electives. This session also included continuing studies students in attendance through our Open University (who are often alumni and working artists). The students who attended were a broad mix of Academy of Fine Arts students (many of whom have a background in moving image), Theatre Academy students (often lighting and sound students), and Sibelius students (most frequently music technology). The students' diverse backgrounds presented a challenge, particularly in these one-off lecture situations, but this proved to be a rewarding a session which triggered lively discussion and questioning. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Perth College - Guest Lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Invited Guest lecture on sound design and composition of the site specific "Over Lunan" performance [Artistic Output]. This talk focussed upon the challenges of practice research and on responding to notions of space, place and identity within the creative process. It also engaged discussions on creativity, collaboration and teamwork towards the realisation of outputs. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |