Resounding the Cinematic: Resonance, Proximity and the Acousmatic in the Apparatus
By Chiu Longina • Mar 8th, 2008 • Category: TEXTO
Photo of the Film “SUSPIRIA” (Dario Argento)
http://honours.katystevens.com/chaptertwo.htm
by Katy Stevens
Abstract
This thesis presents a theorisation of the cinematic apparatus which is able to account for the spectatorial engagement with sound. Interrogating the scopocentrism inherent in contemporary apparatus theory, I propose a model through which to examine the pleasurable possibilities for the aural spectator – the écouteur.
By considering the operations of the soundtrack within the apparatus I expose the potential for imagining a more complete, and corporeal spectator within the cinematic scenario. I endeavour to contribute to a more useful lexicon through which to conceive and develop écouteurism, rejecting the applicability of the established theoretical linguistic tools which are so reliant on visual metaphors for conceptualising the pleasures of the cinema. By identifying key differences between visual and sonic movement I discuss the unique qualities of the écouteur, founded on an engagement between sound and body. Such engagement generates a distinct physical and psychic relationship with the apparatus unaccounted for in existing theories of the apparatus.
In this thesis I propose that a sonic consideration of the pleasures of the spectator can be productively unravelled through transformations of established apparatus theory. Such a project necessarily enlivens a more complete understanding of cinematic pleasure and its relation to sensory gratification.
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