Audio-visual Space in the Age of Convergence

Prof. Robynn Stilwell 

Georgetown University

Prof. Stilwell’s research interests primarily center on the meaning of music as cultural work, whether it is the way that “abstract” musical forms articulate identities and narratives, or the iconic workings of artists, pieces, and styles. Her publications have ranged from film and television music, Beethoven and masculinity, rock music and femininity, and Russian/French/American musical and dance culture, to classical ballet, science fiction, romantic comedy, and sport. Current work concentrates on the construction of the audiovisual space in/across media and includes volumes on the musical voice in cinema, and mediality/modality and television.

The quest for "convergence" of multimedia technology is probably, like most mythical quests, doomed to remain incomplete because production, reception, and technology are continually mutating, fragmenting, and renewing. However, this prospective confluence of technology has also made more pertinent the questions about medium specificity: what makes something "cinematic" or "theatrical" or "radio with pictures". These questions seem to revolve around the way the audiovisual space is constructed, in both real and conceptual spaces — and the spaces in between. A methodology for understanding the typical configurations (cinematic, theatrical, radio, concert, recording studio, and music video modes are all possible) also helps structure those moments of transition, alteration, or rupture. A look at three different non-fiction productions (the film An Inconvenient Truth, the BBC television documentary series Climate Wars, and the television news and commentary program Countdown with Keith Olbermann) demonstrate a range of audiovisual modes, and even a kind of musical architecture in their structure.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

4:00 PM

Room 1440, Schoenberg Music Building

This event is sponsored in part by the UCLA Graduate Student Association