DANIEL DESHAYS - TERRITOIRES DU SONORE

From a dramaturgical point of view the sound tape often remains one of the most suppositious aspects of the audiovisual production. In this three-day seminar Daniel Deshays will take a closer look at the specific nature of the sonorous scene, the co-habitation of sound with the moving images, and the several narrative economies that become possible in this respect. The course will be well illustrated by fragments from about forty films. As an original starting point for this seminar Deshays chose to topple the traditional primacy of the picture over sound by analysing films of which the reading of the picture was made by their makers to depend on the sound. The first day of this three day course will be dedicated to the characterisations of sound perception, and how silences, independent consonances, background and surrounding sounds, direct and indirect sounds form constitutive elements. Voice-use (in and off) and music are discussed during the second day. By means of film fragments of, among others, Johan Van Der Keuken, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Tati, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Jean- Daniel Pollet, a number of particular sound partitions will be more closely discussed on the last day.

As a sound engineer Daniel Deshays (1950) has an atypical profile. He is operative in theatre, music and museography. As a lecturer he is attached to the Ecole Nationale des Arts et Techniques du Théâtre in Lyon and L’Institut Supérieur des Techniques du Spectacle d’Avignon. He collaborated on films by, among others, Richard Copans, Chantal Akerman, Robert Kramer and Philippe Garrel. He is operative in theatre, music and museo-graphy. His latest publication, 50 Questions Pour une Ecriture Sonore, a review of his thoughts on the aesthetic of sound, appeared in 2006 with Klincksieck.

Language: FR

PROGRAM

The first day of the seminar will explore the characteristics of our perception of sound, as well as of its consecutive elements: silence, isolated sounds, background noise, ambient sounds, sound effects and direct sound. The use of music and voice (both in and off) will be discussed on the second day. The third and last day, outstanding music scores will be analysed and commented upon.

Friday 16th March

10h-13h : Listening to Reality
What does it mean to record sound? How to make the right choices? How different is what the recording renders from what one actually heard? How to get rid of the excesses the microphone so generously offers? These are some of the questions that will be raised on the course of the first session.
Listening to simple, naked, image-free sound recordings allows us to understand the power of sounds alone, their ability to communicate their own “images”. The seminar will then focus on the dismantling of the cinematographical construction, isolating and emphasizing on each of its components: sound, voice and music.

14h – 18h: Dismantling : sounds
Silence, background noises, ambient sounds, sound effects, isolated sounds, direct sound…
Commented screening of various film excerpts: The Silence (Ingmar Bergman), Landscape (Sergey Loznitsa), Mulholland Drive (David Lynch), M (Fritz Lang), Un Animal des animaux (Nicolas Philibert)…

Saturday 17th March

10h – 13h: Dismantling : voice in and off
Commented screening of various film excerpts: Moi un Noir (Jean Rouch), Le Camion (Marguerite Duras), Le Fond de l’air est Rouge (Chris Marker), Passion (Jean-Luc Godard)…

14h – 18h : Dismantling : music
Commented screening of various film excerpts: Dr. Mabuses Testament (Fritz Lang), Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot and Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati), Elephant (Gus Van Sant), Conversation (Claude Mourieras), Route One USA (Robert Kramer)…

Sunday 18th March

10h – 13h and 14h – 18h : Constructions, uniquenesses
Commented screenings : L’Immortelle (Alain Robe-Grillet), L’Ordre (J.D. Pollet), Lucebert, tijd en afscheid and Time/Work (Johan van der Keuken), Une Histoire du Cinéma (Jean-Luc Godard), Playtime (Jacques Tati), Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky), Le Territoire des Autres (François Bel, Gérard Vienne and Michel Fano).

You can register by means of a bank transfer before the 3th of March on the account 433-1137109-03. Indicate your name, address and telephone number, and with the communication of “Territoires du Sonore” + dates of participation. Your registration will only be confirmed after payment. If you decide to take part in the seminar after this date you may contact An Adams or +32 (0)2 229 00 03.

CO-PRODUCTION WITH ISELP (www.iselp.be)