Nenad Stefanoski abstract

Abstract

This dissertation studies the signification process regarding sound and the moving image. Its main scientific purpose is to understand how sound design strategies can reveal the inner feelings of characters in the context of film production. In order to achieve these objectives, various semiotic approaches are covered so that the mechanisms that allow the articulation between sound and the moving image can be unveiled and addressed in film. The unnatural naturalness concept delimits the broadness of study as it focuses on the unnatural nature of sounds in the context of natural (realistic) visual narratives. Through the case study of three small video fragments, the semiotic based theoretical framework will answer to questions raised about how sound design can reveal the inner-feelings of characters.

Peirce’s theory if signs is widely recognized as being extremely efficient at answering to various signification questions problems regarding the meaning of sound and music. In this regard, his General Theory of Signs was the starting point of this study. In order to build a solid analytical approach for sound in film, some music semiotic references were taken seriously due to the fact that they can relate closely to the sound design’s creative process. In this perspective, the semiotic works of Phillip Tagg and Nicholas Cook are key references in the unveiling of signification process regarding the relationship between music, sound and film.

Cooks transference connotative attributes helps introduce the theoretical basis that can lead to the understanding of how sound articulates meaning with film, favouring new perspectives on the concept of sound metaphors.