Sound from Start to Finish: Professional Style and Practice in Modern Hollywood Sound Production

This dissertation addresses changes in modem Hollywood sound practices by exploring how the art and craft of sound production are tied to current institutional demands, commercial expectations, stylistic norms, and technological options. It does so by examining how sound editors, mixers, designers, Foley artists, engineers, and recordists in the "sound chain" go about the job of creating sound for film from the earliest stages of pre-production to the final mix in post-production. This project offers a comprehensive investigation of the major roles in the sound chain, each one examining different practitioners and their various working styles, task structures, and aesthetic goals.;By examining the professional and creative constraints and possibilities faced by modem sound professionals, this study foregrounds the social, occupational, and aesthetic factors that continue to shape this facet of the Hollywood production complex. Sound practitioners draw on a range of conventional techniques and innovative strategies to contribute something original and fresh to the well-worn traditions of classical Hollywood storytelling. Crucially, this project adopts an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates theories of symbolic interaction and film poetics in addition to original field and archival research.;In addressing the social organization of the contemporary sound industry, this study considers a triumvirate of interrelated factors that have essentially reshaped the professional task structures of sound practitioners and the aesthetic character of films produced in the last two decades. First, the transition from analog editing and mixing machines to digital platforms such as Pro Tools in the 1990s and 2000s had a profound effect on labor practices, workflow, and the social organization of sound practitioners and the stylistic textures of modem sound tracks. Second, the freelance structure of the sound industry has forced many practitioners to redefine their professional identities to better reflect their status as "artists" and "designers" of sound. Third, this study examines how digital workflow and the social structure of the industry have impacted the aesthetic demands of sound tracks.