Collaboration and Integration: A Method of Advancing Film Sound Based on The Coen Brothers' Use of Sound and Their Mode of Production. Volume 1.

Abstract

For the majority of cinema history, the film industry has treated sound as a less integral ingredient in the filmmaking process. This has translated into working practices that have marginalised sound's contribution and have divided personnel. Joel and Ethan Coen's mode of production stands in contrast to a majority of those currently working in the film industry. They foreground sound's contribution by priming their scripts for sound, involvingtheir sound personnel sooner and by encouraging close collaboration between those responsible for the soundtrack. The Coens' model serves as a way of highlighting sound's importance and as way of generating more integrated soundtracks. As such, filmmakers should build upon their mode of production; a notion supported by other professionals and educational institutions. By advocating this alternative way of working, future filmmakers can be encouraged to reassess sound's role in film construction.