In 1929 – in the transitional period from silent to sound film – the filmmaker V.N. Pudovkin published an article (“Asynchronism as a Principle of Sound Film”) that considers the way sound might be utilized as a new expressive element in cinema.
What are some of the more intriguing claims he makes in regards to how filmmakers should engage with image-sound relations, and what might be some examples – from the sound films (listed below) – of the creative deployment of sound?
Your analysis can focus primarily on one type of sound (dialogue, ambient sound, music) or on their combination, but it should not lose sight of the way audio is being combined/integrated with image. The more precise you are in your description of how sound is being deployed, and the effectiveness of this deployment, the better.
For this reason you should limit the number of films
you consider here to two or three at most. If you like you can also bring into play some of the observations in the course textbook about the way sound influences/transforms cinema aesthetics.
Films to consult:
M (1931)
Toni (1935)
Strike (1925)
Triumph of the Will (1935)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
