Film, a Sound Art (Film and Culture Series)

I perhaps-too-hastily gave this book 5 stars upon only having read a couple chapters, but based on what I read, those who like Chion will not be disappointed. Plus, I think you might be familiar with versions of some chunks of it from periodical publications in the past.Here is the TOC, which is missing from this Amazon product page, perhaps useful if you're wondering whether to invest:Preface to the English Edition ixTranslator's Note xiiiPart 1 HistoryChapter 1 When Film Was Deaf (1895-1927) 3Chapter 2 Chaplin: Three Steps into Speech 21Chapter 3 Birth of the Talkies or of Sound Film? (1927-1935) 31Chapter 4 Jean Vigo: The Material and the Ideal 59Chapter 5 The Ascendancy of King Text (1935-1950) 67Chapter 6 Babel 85Chapter 7 The Time It Takes for Time to "Harden" (1950-1975) 99Chapter 8 The Return of the Sensorial (1975-1990) 117Chapter 9 The Silence of the Loudspeakers (1990-2003) 147Chapter 10 On a Sequence from The Birds: Sound Film as Palimpsestic Art 165Part 2 Aesthetics and PoeticsChapter 11 Jacques Tati: The Cow and the Moo 189Chapter 12 The Disappointed Fairies Around the Cradle 201Chapter 13 The Separation 221Chapter 14 The Real and the Rendered 237Chapter 15 The Three Borders 247Chapter 16 Audiovisual Phrasing 263Chapter 17 Alfred Hitchcock: Seeing and Hearing 281Chapter 18 The Twelve Ears 289Chapter 19 Orson Welles: The Voice and the House 321Chapter 20 The Talking Machine 327Chapter 21 Faces and Speech 353Chapter 22 Andrei Tarkovsky: Language and the World 379Chapter 23 The Five Powers 385Chapter 24 God Is a Disc Jockey 407Chapter 25 Max Ophuls: Music, Noise, and Speech 439Chapter 26 Like Tears in Rain 453Glossary 465List of Illustrations 501Index 507

Surely the greatest of Michel Chion's books on this matter. It gives great historical and theoretical background to the advent of sound and its development in terms of Europe and the rest of the World. I would also advise for those who are interested in this book to get Chion's Audio Vision and Voice in Cinema which are a great set of articles on this matter and that explain well some terms used in this book too like Acustomere and etc.

Chion writes about a lot of famous movies, and if you have seen them, his writings are much more digestible and interesting. His analysis of a lot of movie scenes are spot on and he still offers much contemplation to the films and their elements. This book, however, is definitely only for those who need to study film or are extreme aficionados of film theory, filmmaking. For the average joe, this book may be too dense.

Although it did not arrive on time, the seller responds quickly. I would recommend that all items should have a tracking number. The item arrived safely and was placed safely in the package. Also, i really like the fact that all orders include a bookmark. Really professional seller!

Excellent quality, I was very pleased with this book and the price was excellent too. Thank you!

I recommend this fabulous book to anybody with a keen interest in movies & sound!

A great book!