Sonic Media Practice (828W3A)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Autumn teaching

Music has accompanied the moving image since the inception of cinema. This course examines the aesthetics of screen music, moving through practices in the early years of cinema, to music in auteurist cinema (Hitchcock, Kubrick, Godard, etc) and present-day video work by both individual artists and mainstream practitioners.

You will consider musical issues such as developing compositional ideas, small and large ensemble writing, working with computers and electronics, and the significance of the voice in composition for screen media.

In addition, you'll consider historical and technological developments and relate them to current practices in composition for interactive media.

Your assessed submission will comprise:

  • a direct creative project (composition) in a medium agreed in advance with your tutor, for example a film score or music for a gallery, website or game
  • a critical commentary.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Project)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 278 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.