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Sound Design & Science Fiction by William Whittington. University of Texas Press 2007. $55.00 hardcover; $22.95 paper. 280 pages
Reviewed by Jay Beck
In Sound Design & Science Fiction, William Whittington provides a fresh perspective on one of the most underdeveloped areas of sound studies: the intersection between film sound and genre. The book offers a persuasive argument regarding the interplay between the rise in popularity and status of the science fiction film in American cinema and concurrent changes of sound practices in relation to cinematic construction. In the balance between genre and sound, the book is less a genre study and more an exploration of the function of science fiction in the development of cinematic sound techniques since the 1960s. By simultaneously examining the rise of multiple notions of sound design in narrative cinema and the growth of science fiction's popularity, Whittington reveals the interdependence between genre codes and film sound while analyzing the constructed nature of both. His central argument hinges on the way that the development of new sound practices allowed for an emphasis on spectatorial engagement in the science fiction genre, while the genre served as a platform for both the conceptualization of sound design and the launch of new sound technologies.
The book chronologically charts seven major science fiction film projects while tying each to a specific theme associated with sound design. Whittington acknowledges that the concept of sound design is a loaded term with multiple diachronic meanings. Specifically, he defines sound design in four major ways: as the construction of new sounds, as the conceptual design of the overall soundtrack, as hardwired multichannel theatrical sound formats, and as a model for critical analysis. It is this last definition that functions as the book's prime operative.
The book succeeds by placing canonical critical writings on science fiction studies into dialogue with film sound theory and history. For example, Whittington anchors the first part of his book - "The Dawn of Sound Design" -in the late 1960s and uses Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) as his first case study. There's no argument that Kubrick's film was pivotal in redefining the science fiction genre, and Whittington connects contemporaneous changes in American cinema and audio culture with the exploration of the...