Visual sound

Visual music films in the history of avant-garde and experimental film

Abstract

Various cinematographers (avant-garde artists of the first half of the last century, as well as modern experimenters) and their films are discussed in the article in an attempt the concept of visual music in film to be clarified. Historical review supports the search for the roots of the idea of art in which sound is visible. The aspiration of avant-garde cinematographers to free filmmaking from the influence of other arts does not concern music, as it has a similar feature to the moving image - development over time. The harmonious or chaotic interaction of music with the cinematic image provokes the imagination of the spectators, who have the opportunity to touch a film that extends beyond the framework of entertainment. The chronotope techniques, which are well known in the cinematic, contribute to the formation of common and recognizable aesthetic features of the visual music films, although they are not limited to them. Located in the field of digital technology, the visual music film is both a historical heritage, a model for the infinity of imagination, and a contemporary creative practice.

References:

Adorno, Teodor. Esteticheska teoriya. Sofia: Agata-A, 2019.

Astrukov, Yo. VideoDance. Sofia: Sdruzhenie “Tants BG”, 2015.

Marinchevska, Nadezhda. Kvadrati na vaobrazhenieto. Estetika na animatsionnite tehniki. Sofia: Kolibri, 2005.

Milev, Nedelcho. Teoriya na elementite na kinoto. Sofia: University Press St. Kliment Ohridski, 1998.

Neykova, Radostina. Komiksat i kinoto. In: Art Readings. Sofia: Institute of Art Studies – BAS, 2007, p. 324 - 328.

Yapova, Kristina. Muzikalnata estetika kato tema ot film („Hauards End“ na Dzheyms Ayvari). In: Art Readings. Sofia: Institute of Art Studies – BAS, 2010, p. 344 - 349.

Beckman, Karen (ed.). Animating Film Theory. Duke University Press, 2014. 

Campen, Cretien van. The Hidden Sense: Synesthesia in Art and Science. MIT Press, 2007.

Chion, Michel. Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen. Columbia University Press, 1990.

Dulac, Germaine. Writings on Cinema (1919-1937) [e-book]. Paris Expérimental, 2018.

Horak, Jan-Christopher (ed.). Lovers of Cinema. American avant-garde 1919-1945. The University of Wisconsin Press, 1995.

Horrocks, Roger. Art That Moves: The Work of Len Lye. Auckland University Press, 2013.

Mollaghan, Aimee. The Visual Music Film. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Moritz, William. Optical Poetry: The Life and Work of Oskar Fischinger. John Libbey Publishing, 2004.

Pisters, Patricia. The Matrix of Visual Culture: Working with Deleuze in Film Theory (Cultural Memory in the Present). Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.