Corso di laurea in DAMS
Discipline delle Arti, della Musica e dello Spettacolo

Offering students the tools required to recognise and analyse the dramaturgical functions of film music; providing a general introduction to the relations between music, sound and images in contemporary audiovisual languages, thus allowing students to recognise repertories and styles, reflect on various aesthetic approaches and accumulate in-depth knowledge of past and present production processes.

1) Knowledge and comprehension: gaining detailed knowledge of the working cycle involved in soundtracks, the history of sound and music recording techniques, the composer's work on a film and the dramaturgical functions of music and sound in cinema, with particular emphasis on contemporary North American and Italian practices;

2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding and autonomously formulate judgements: skills in making autonomous artistic and dramaturgically oriented choices in the field of sound editing and evaluating the relations between music and images.

3) Communicational skills: the ability to interact with the sound and music area of film post-production; the ability to cooperate with Foleys and musicians in the process of spotting and soundtrack post-production; knowledge of the more complex and difficult aspects of the post-production process in order to effectively interact with the artistic figures involved.

Written exam (multiple choice, consisting of 30 questions) + oral exam.

The exam will be differentiated according to the program followed, which must be stated prior to the exam and includes 4 options:

1) program for students attending the lectures (text by R. Calabretto, Lo schermo sonoro);

2) program for students attending the lectures (testo di I. Meandri, La fabbrica dei sogni);

3) program for students attending the workshop (topics discussed in the workshop + text by I. Meandri, La fabbrica dei sogni, chapters 3 and 4);

4) program for students not attending the lectures (texts by R.Calabretto and I. Meandri).

Those who receive a mark of at least 18/30 for the written exam will be able to proceed to the oral exam, which is generally held in the afternoon, after the written exams have been graded, but may in exceptional cases be postponed to one of the following days.

The final mark is the average of the marks on the written and oral exams: even in case of a positive result in the written exam, an insufficient outcome of the oral exam may therefore lead to an insufficient overall result.

Workshop: introduction to music editing and sound editing using Pro Tools v. 12 software.

REQUISITES FOR ADMISSION

The workshop is open to 15 students at the most. Passing the exam of Digital technologies for sound and images is considered a prerequisite for attending the workshop (students will be asked to provide a copy of the mark obtained at the exam). Those students who have not included this exam in their curriculum (and in any case all students, in the event that more than 15 candidates have passed this exam) are required to complete a written admission test, to be prepared by studying the following volume: V. Lombardo, A. Valle, Audio e multimedia, IV edizione, Apogeo Education, Maggioli Editore, Milan, 2014 (Chapters 1, 3, 6). The admission test will be held during the second week of the course, on 30 November 2018 at 5:00 p.m. (in a classroom to be defined) and consists in a multiple choice exam (30 questions), at the end of which a ranking will be prepared and used to fill the available positions. The minimum mark required to be included in the ranking is 18/30.

PROCEDURE FOR THE WORKSHOP

The workshop will be held alongside the ordinary course at the STUDIUMLAB classroom (Palazzo Nuovo) and will last three days, consecutive and full-time (from 10:00 to 19:00, with breaks). The dates in which the workshop will take place are: MONDAY 3, TUESDAY 4, WEDNESDAY 5 December 2018, 10:00-19:00. At the end of the workshop the students will be divided into groups and assigned an exercise which will act as the exam portfolio, to be completed within 11 January 2019, with a simulation of the audit of the work by the filmmakers and a later phase of correction and modification of the work. The simulation will take place on 11 January 2019, and any modifications of the assigned work will have to be presented at the exam and will be evaluated.

No grounds will be accepted for only partially attending the workshop, not even the timetables of other courses. Attendance is mandatory, as is completing the exercise in order to bring the workshop to a positive conclusion and gain access to the reduced exam program for those attending the workshop. All students attending will be required to record their presence at the beginning and the end of each day during which the workshop will be held.

The course is intended for musicologists, scriptwriters and directors during their training period, and offers a detailed introduction to the functions of sound and music in film and to the composer's work in a film, using an ethnomusicological approach to study the entire cycle of sound post-production. Special emphasis will be given to analysing the relations between composers and filmmakers (directors and producers) and between composers and music editors, composers and orchestrators, Foleys, sound designers and sound mixers. The dramaturgical functions of music and sound in cinema will be analysed from the point of view of the professional figures involved in creating a soundtrack, with a comparison between sound post-production practices in Italy and North America.

WORKSHOP (following an admission test, maximum 15 students)

Introduction to music editing and sound editing with Pro Tools v. 12 software (build 2018.4); see supplementary activities.

For those who attend the ordinary course(lectures): a selection of chapters from one of the following texts will be agreed upon with the teacher, in addition to the notes from the lectures.

- Ilario Meandri, La fabbrica dei sogni. Un'introduzione etnomusicologica al mainstream musicale hollywoodiano, Turin, Kaplan, 2012.

or:

- Roberto Calabretto, Lo schermo sonoro. La musica per film, Venice, Marsilio, 2010.

For those who attend the ordinary course (lectures) + the workshop the program is as follows:

- Notes from the course and slides from the workshop;

- Portfolio;

- From the text: Ilario Meandri, La fabbrica dei sogni. Un'introduzione etnomusicologica al mainstream musicale hollywoodiano, Turin, Kaplan, 2012, only chapters 3 and 4.

PROGRAM FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT ATTEND THE LECTURES

The written and oral exam for those who do not attend the lectures will be based on two texts:

• Roberto Calabretto, Lo schermo sonoro. La musica per film, Marsilio, Venice, 2010 (until p. 242). 
• Ilario Meandri, La fabbrica dei sogni, Kaplan, Turin 2013, capp. 1, 2, 3, 4 e 6.