Episode 27: Part One: The Possibilities for Sound: Intro to Sonology and the Acousmatic Spectator (Interview with Sara Pinheiro)

In the first part of this two part episode, Dr. Vanessa Theme Ament, author of The Foley Grail and Foley Artist on such films as Die Hard, Platoon, and Predator, talks with Sara Pinheiro. You can learn more about Sara at her website: sarapinheiro.com. As you will learn upon listening to this podcast, Sara straddles the world of sound designer, sound experimenter, and an academic exploring the role of sound in media. In terms of film and video-art, Sara does sound recording, editing, foley and mixing. In her solo practice, Sara also makes acousmatic pieces, usually for multichannel performances, radio broadcasts or installations. Her work crosses practices of sound design for film with concrete and acousmatic music. It blends natural and artificial soundscapes via field recordings, foley practices and signal processing. Sara is currently pursuing a PhD in music and media, and her research-based practice can be found under the name "Acousmatic Foley." In the first part of this two-part podcast, Vanessa and Sara delve into the importance of the concept of sonology, which can be defined as the study of sound in multiple disciplines, and investigating the idea of the acousmatic spectator, a formulation which priveleges the role of sound design, active listening, and careful hearing in visual media. In their exchanges, Vanessa and Sara expand beyond the idea of sound as an additive or complementary process in media-making and focus instead on how expressive sound creations can transform the very act of spectatorship and deepen our appreciation of the omnipresent soundscapes that exist all around us. Join us for a unique and penetrating journey into the World of Performative Film Sound!