Infrastructure, Voice, Emotion. Three Keywords for the Future of Research in Film Sound

The contribution by Paolo Magaudda, Elena Mosconi and Massimo Locatelli gives an overview of the now rich lineage of Sound Studies related to Film and Media, while highlighting three keywords that can serve as guiding notions to further expand the field of research. Magaudda considers the notion of infrastructure, which has always been relevant for sonic cultures and practices but has especially become even more so since the rise of digital media, platforms, and tools for recording and distribution. Mosconi’s keyword is voice, and while brilliantly reminding us of the traditionally vococentric – or better: logocentric – character of cinema, she invites to investigate this fascinating topic focusing on the purely acoustic, non-semantic aspects of the voice as expressive and communicative element. Locatelli completes this triadic reflection exploring “the emotional dimensions of audio-vision”, taking music as the primary vessel for emotions and moods within audiovisual structures, but expanding the discourse also to foley artists, and to the relevance of noises interacting with images in the creation of emotional responses and awareness.