Sounding super: Examining aspects of music and sound design in American superhero media

Sharp, Wes T

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120083 Copy

Description

Title

Sounding super: Examining aspects of music and sound design in American superhero media

Author(s)

Sharp, Wes T

Issue Date

2023-04-27

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Solis, Gabriel

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Silvers, Michael

Committee Member(s)

• Magee, Jeffrey
• Turnock, Julie

Department of Study

Music

Discipline

Musicology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• superhero
• music
• sound design
• cinema
• theater
• videogame
• comic book
• comics
• graphic novel

Abstract

In this dissertation I examine relationships between music and sound design in American superhero media. I examine how sound and music are used in audiovisual media to both establish and deconstruct generic conventions. I discuss music and sound design in superhero media from several angles, including their relationship to genre, aesthetics, and popular culture. I begin each chapter with broader theories related to the topics I will discuss and then use case studies to show examples of these broader theories. In Chapter 1, I examine superhero media as a “supergenre” that incorporates musical and sound conventions of multiple discrete media genres. In Chapter 2, I examine superhero media as a middlebrow postmodern transmedia genre and examine how these conventions affect the reception and production of superhero media versus other genres. In Chapter 3 I examine fan interactions with superhero media, including production and reception of fan-made media as a form of creative interaction. In Chapter 4, I examine various forms of parody as interaction with the conventions of superhero media.

Graduation Semester

2023-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Wes Sharp

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