Surround sound is often mistaken as a relatively new phenomenon in cinemas, one that emerged in the 1970s with the arrival of Dolby. Making Stereo Fit shows how Hollywood studios have instead been implementing surround-sound techniques for the past century and argues that their endurance owes primarily to the long-standing economic tension between stereophonic and monophonic sound. Throughout the book, Eric Dienstfrey analyzes newly discovered archival materials, as well as a myriad of stereo releases from Hell's Angels (1930) to Get Out (2017), to examine how Hollywood’s dependence on single-channel sound left filmmakers unable to fully realize the aesthetic potential of surround sound. Though studios initially experimented with stereo's unique affordances, Dienstfrey details how film sound designers eventually codified a conservative set of surround-sound conventions that prevail today, despite the arrival of more immersive technologies.
By:
Eric Dienstfrey
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 6
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 36mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780520379558
ISBN 10: 0520379551
Series: California Studies in Music, Sound, and Media
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 26 March 2024
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Stereo Front and Center 1. Widescreens, Headphones, and Concert Halls: Film Stereo’s Identity Crisis 2. Fantasia and Failure on a Theme by Bell Telephone 3. The Cinerama Experience 83 4. The Triple-Track Disruption and the CinemaScope Solution 5. Perspecta, Todd-AO, and the Emergence of Monocentrism 6. Dolby Stereo: The End of an Era Conclusion: Life’s the Same, Movies in Stereo Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index
Eric Dienstfrey is Visiting Assistant Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Ursinus College.
