Clayton George Wickham - final thesis

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clearly onto the perceptual screen a complex series of auditory
trajectories or verbal phonemes. (134-5)
Although this discussion relates directly to a singular largely indecipherable image
accompanied by a complex sound design that can be seen, for instance, in many of
the boxing sequences in Raging Bull (1980; dir. Scorsese), I would argue that this
same theory can be applied to a sequence where fast, disorienting editing is
accompanied by a series of clearly designed or distinguished sounds. I will also
attribute this argument to a scene where precisely designed sound parameters
accompany a clear image, but with the significant event (in this case, the death blow)
occurring off screen, while the image and sound acutely evoke this unseen
singularity. This connection will be revealed early in my analysis. John Belton
explains another dimension of this argument saying, “Though off-screen diegetic
sound – whether dialogue of sound effects – will, with few exceptions, ultimately be
tied to the seen (or unseen) sources and thus be “explained” or “identified,” we
experience that sound through what we see on the screen.” (1985; 65) [emphasis in
the original] Although Belton, contrary to Chion, argues that image is the
foundational element which the sound design is entirely reliant upon, his statement
can be indicative of a situation where an image of implication juxtaposed with a
sound clearly reflecting an occurrence creates a precise understanding of the unseen
event.
The analysis of the audio design of these sequences is based on obtaining
answers to a series of questions, and developing an understating of the response
cross-section. The foundational question of my analysis is: What do we hear? The
answer of this question then leads to a series of other questions: Is the sound of the