Music and Sound Design for Film, Television and Games with Integrated Foundation Year - BA (Hons)

Royal Holloway, University of London

This module will explore the practices of the 20th Century Modernist Avant Garde within a digital environment. Whilst there may be some pre-digital analogue elements delivered within the module, the curriculum will focus predominantly on the digital creative outcomes produced whilst working within Logic Pro X. The module will examine the role of sound within abstract film, radio broadcast and gallery installation. Having completed this part of the module, you will have gained both a practical and an entry level theoretical understanding of the creative use of sound within predominantly non-visual media. The module will also practically explore the use of designed sound within an industry focussed, post-production context, including the relationship between the picture editor and the sound designer. The module will examine the technical demands of the bespoke DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) in recording, track laying and mixing in stereo and binaural stereo.

This module will: develop your knowledge of a range of fundamental techniques of musical composition with particular focus on structure, harmonic control and the manipulation of rhythmic and melodic material provide an opportunity to practise the art of musical composition and to develop skills in creative work. Developing on areas covered in first-year Composition modules, this module will provide a framework in which you will be introduced to a number of techniques from diverse schools of composition in order to encourage you to explore and develop your own creativity. Key works from the past few decades will be studied and used as models or springboards for your own musical invention. You will create a portfolio of technical exercises and a short composition written in response to a given brief.

This module explores ways that electronic media and technology have brought about change in and opened up new possibilities for musical production, consumption, sounds, practices, experience, contexts and meanings. It considers the role of electronic media and technology in preserving and documenting musical culture as well as in changing it, and it examines how developments in electronic media and technology have affected and continue to affect dynamics of power in musical production and consumption across the world. The module explores the effects of electronic media and technology on popular, traditional and classical musics and introduces concepts and techniques for the study of the interaction of music, media and technology. It also encourages a deeper and more critical understanding of music, music making and musical culture through study in both familiar and unfamiliar cultures and contexts. The module will introduce students to a range of ways in which electronic media and technology have affected and transformed musical cultures across the world through their fundamental ability to: record and store musical sound; create new sounds, new ways of combining sounds and new ways of synching sound with other media; turn musical sound into a commodity; separate musical sound from live performance context; amplify music; mass produce music; mass disseminate music; and greatly alter dynamics of power in the production and consumption of music. The module will cover a range of key phenomena and issues in contemporary musical culture that are inextricably linked to electronic media and technology. Exact topics will vary, but may include: popular and mass-mediated music; recorded music; electronic music; the impact of technology on compositional practices; music industries; piracy; film music, video and multimedia; music and the Internet; globalisation; debates on the value of mass mediated music; and questions of power and representation.

This module will examine, through the employment of practical methodologies, the work of significant avant-garde sound/noise practitioners throughout the 20th century analogue and digital eras. It will examine the relationship between significant artworks and the technology of the era. For example, in the acoustic era of music capture, before the electrification of the signal in 1925 that allowed electro-magnetic microphones and soundboard input mixing, the capture of sound was facilitated through a static condensing horn. In order to create a mix balance, the musicians would physically move closer or further away from the horn. We call this kinetic mixing. One of the first exercises will be to recreate this process and then develop the concept digitally, within an installation paradigm, employing a multichannel sound source and a range of Bluetooth speakers, allowing the different sounds to be physically moved within a defined space ? 21st Century kinetic mixing.

This course will explore critical approaches to and analysis of a wide range of visual media, including (but not limited to) paintings, films and photography. It will highlight and hinge on relevant historical contexts, such as the evolution of the printed press (c19th) and digital media (late c20th) as well as the impact of social/economic history on the consumption and production of visual arts more broadly from the mid c18th ? the present day. After focussing upon key genres, comparative readings and analyses form a key part of the course, you will be introduced to comparative considerations of topics such as the landscape and environment through to portraiture from Classical times to the age of Instagram.

Cultures of Reading' is an exciting re-evaluation of what it means to read critically, and for the purposes of academic study. From Homer to Audre Lorde, William Shakespeare to Maya Angelou, this course explores a diverse selection of source materials from various historical periods in order to challenge our perception of how we read, why we read, and what we read. Can you 'read' a body? How should we read history? How is meaning generated? The course will pay attention to historical and political contexts, introduce philosophical concepts, and explore how meaning changes when texts are employed and re-employed in differing forms and genres.

Digital Cultures explores the intersection between the digital revolution of the past fifty years and the study of humanities in Higher Education, in order to consider the implications of this 'encounter' of the digital with the humanities. With the decline in public and private support for the humanities in full swing, this course questions whether the digital is a necessary ally to ensure that the humanities are continuing to communicate with, and adapt to, the needs of our contemporary, digitalised society. It will frame this 'encounter' by turning to moments in history where similar scientific advancements have reshaped the humanities.; Informed by this historical grounding, this course will challenge students to explore the benefits and limitations of applying digital tools to their own studies. As students of the humanities, can we utilise the digital to further harvest the wisdom of the past, improve our awareness of other cultural and social perspectives in the present, and expand our future horizons? The course will explore different digital media (reconstruction, game, animation) and visual forms and styles from diverse cultures and geographies to develop skills in the close analysis of a wide range of digital media.

Global Perspectives and Academic Practice provides a survey of world history that identifies key events and ideas from the Enlightenment to the present day through an examination of a range of issues related to the broad theme of globalisation. The unit takes a broadly chronological approach to the core issues but considers the overarching theme of globalisation from innovative and interesting angles such as the experience and participation of women, the significance of black, ethnic minority or third world perspectives, contributions and experiences, and the role of science as a driver of global interdependence.

Global Perspectives and Academic Practice provides a survey of world history that identifies key events and ideas from the Enlightenment to the present day through an examination of a range of issues related to the broad theme of globalisation. The unit takes a broadly chronological approach to the core issues but considers the overarching theme of globalisation from innovative and interesting angles such as the experience and participation of women, the significance of black, ethnic minority or third world perspectives, contributions and experiences, and the role of science as a driver of global interdependence.; The seminars and workshops take the core academic themes covered in the lectures as their starting point but centre around the development of academic skills that will enable transition, 'upskilling', confidence building and effective participation in the academic practices associated with humanities disciplines. This is complimented by weekly tutorials provided by your dedicated CeDAS personal tutor, a suite of skills workshops delivered by the Library, and fortnightly personal tutorials within your chosen academic department.

How do we shape our understanding of the world around us through our interaction with material objects? How do we give greater meaning to our lives through performing and repeating particular social practices? This unit takes a close look at these two questions, inviting you to challenge your assumptions about the ordinary. No matter the degree you are going on to study, our deep dive into ideas surrounding material culture and social practices will enhance your capacity to think critically about the world around you. The course will explore the critical uses of 'material culture' and 'ritual' as terms and tools of analysis; examine objects and rituals from different periods, and also how the body, the built environment, and spatial aesthetics, all exemplify social practices. We'll encounter coffee cups, Cuban dancing, and carnival - among other topics - not to mention a few ghosts that haunt the buildings of Royal Holloway itself. Along the way you will develop critical and creative skills that will allow you to deliver effective poster presentations (an increasingly popular form of assessment in many Humanities degree pathways).