MUS2001 – Sound on Screen
Course description
Course content
This course explores the multifaceted relationship between music, sound, and the moving image. We will discuss the role of sound and music across screen history, from silent film and classic Hollywood film scoring to more recent approaches within film, tv-series, and video games, that differently inform, challenge, or even contradict our narrative perception. By investigating the historical, technological, and philosophical discourses surrounding sound on screen, this course invites students to explore how sound supplements and enriches visuals, and to uncover sound’s sometimes surprising influence on viewers' affective experience. Students will leave the course appreciating the extent to which unspoken rules of soundtracks and screen scoring make the combination of sound and image so powerful.
Learning outcome
By the end of the course, the student will:
- be familiar with the language and experience of sound on screen.
- be familiar with the elements of soundtrack production and its relationship to the moving image.
- have developed awareness of historical, commercial, and social factors in the entertainment industry.
- have developed understanding of philosophical accounts of affective engagement with sound on screen.
- be able to perform a sound-image analysis as a basis for discussion of roles that the soundtrack plays in screen-based media (film/tv-series/video games).
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for?in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with MUS4001 – Film music (discontinued).
Teaching
10 double sessions (involving lectures and seminar activities)
Obligatory activities
- Compulsory attendance to 7 of 10 lectures/seminars.
Qualification assessment: Submission of an essay draft which must include: an abstract; a detailed plan outlining the main arguments and materials used in each section; an annotated bibliography.
Information about the assignments and the deadlines will be given during the teaching and in Canvas. You have to hand in the assignments within the deadlines, and you are responsible for familiarising yourself with the requirements for the compulsory activities.
The compulsory activity is only valid within the current semester. All compulsory activities must be approved in order for you to sit the exam. You are responsible for keeping track of any absences, and for checking that you have everything approved.
This is how you apply for a valid absence from compulsory activities.
Examination
- Term paper (10 pages, each containing approx. 2,300 characters, spaces not included).
You have to fulfill the requirements of the compulsory activities to sit the exam.
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.