From noise: Blurring the boundaries of the soundtrack

Abstract

Greene queries dictionary definitions of noise, sound, sound effect, music and silence and argues that these limited definitions offer false boundaries; instead Greene stresses that these terms have more in common than would appear at first glance. Greene asserts that these definitions have played a role in separating film sound and music scholars, practitioners and students, emphasizing division rather than allowing for integration. Teasing out these definitions with film sound and music theory, Greene blurs the boundaries of the soundtrack while also utilizing as a case study the creative output of Alan Splet, in particular his work on David Lynch’s first four feature films: Eraserhead (1977), The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986).