Voice in Cinema by Michel Chion (18-Mar-1999) Paperback

by Michel Chion

-- Rick Altman, editor of Sound Theory, Sound PracticeHow can a voice whose source is never seen--such as Norman Bates's mother in Psycho or Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey--have such a powerful hold over an audience? And how have such directors as Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock used "the being heard but not seen" to build suspense in films since the advent of "talkies" in 1927? In a brilliant exploration of a subject no one else has written on at any length, one of the foremost experts on film sound explores the mysterious power of the human voice-particularly the disembodied voice-as deployed in cinema. Michel Chion, author of Audio-Vision, analyzes imaginative uses of the human voice by directors like Lang, Hitchcock, Ophuls, Duras, and de Palma. The first part of The Cinematic Voice considers the hidden, faceless voice and its magical powers, particularly as used in Fritz Lang's Testament of Dr. Mabuse. Chion sees this film, produced at the dawn of the sound era, as a template for the voice in cinema. The middle section's five essays explore entrapment by telephone, voice-thieves, screams of terror, siren calls, and the silence of mute characters. Finally, Chion looks at "the monstrous marriage of the filmed voice and body" as figured in Psycho's Norman Bates. Claudia Gorbman's fluent translation introduces readers to Chion's sophisticated and accessible analysis in a work that established his reputation as a major voice in French film criticism.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Music, Ebooks, Art

Paperback

First published January 20, 1999

Reviews

[Eloy Rhöwenta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy interesante. Intuitivo y pura interpretación. Magnífico el capítulo dedicado a la acusmática. Sin embargo, si algún referente visual que menciona no se tiene en mente puede ser un poco tedioso. Acompañado de una serie de visionados se convierte en un seminario.

[Matt Micucci · Rating 2 out of 5]

My enthusiasm for cinama and original cinematic prose and theory was partially let down by the uninteresting style of writing of Michel Chion, whose theories of the voice in cinema are quite original, but his style of writing is not really. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking that some of the book's charm may have been lost as a result of the english translation from French.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro es una excelente descripción general de teorías, ejemplos y análisis de sonidos y voces en el cine. Es un poco denso y teórico, pero el tema es rico y complejo. No se lee como un libro de texto, pero tampoco es exactamente fácil de leer. Es en parte estudio de cine, en parte teoría musical, en parte psicoanálisis.

Hasta cierto punto la teoría que expone es revolucionaria y por ello tiene el mérito de sensibilizar al lector con una dimensión del cine que muchas veces no es pensada a profundidad, En general es fácil de seguir, pero no es exactamente una lectura fácil.

Se lo recomendaría a cualquier persona interesada en el sonido de las películas o el cine en general. Pero definitivamente no es una lectura para todos o para cualquier momento.

A mi lo que más me gustó son las películas que pone de ejemplo. Bajé algunas y la verdad resultaron ser una chingonería.

[Abraham Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy útil

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A constantly thought-provoking exploration of the many ways that cinema conjures bodies-without-voices and voices-without-bodies

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times I felt that Chion was making words up especially when he said "it's tempting to call this...." But I also thought that there so many huge words that were all pomp and not really essential, he could have made this book a lot easier to read by putting some of the terms he used in layman's terms...

Overall though there is A LOT of material in this book and the fact that I haven't actually seen any other books covering this subject I think this is probably quite an important book.

There were times when he prattled on about what happened in a movie as opposed to getting to the point, but mostly everything in this book was focused on the task at hand.

[Yuri Cunha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many nice insights into the voice and sound in cinema. I have read other books which focused more on the words (either in script or in dialogue), but less on the voice. In this aspect, this is the first time I'm reading about sound through this scope.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this one quite as well as the other Chion book I read, but it's still got some interesting ideas. It just seems a little disjoined and not quite as practical in places.

[Myhte]

This, then, is what happens when you take a voice for an umbilical cord.