Fantasy has had a modern resurgence in cinema due largely to the success of superhero narratives and the two major fantasy series, the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Often regarded as mere escapism, works of both literature and cinema wishing to be taken seriously by the public, by critics and by academics have tended to shelter under the euphemistic umbrella of Magic Realism and, until very recently, there has been a general lack of serious academic work concerned with fantasy as a genre. This volume explores the way in which music and sound articulate the fantastic in cinema and...

Comedy has been a feature of cinema since its inception. From mickey-moused accompaniments to slapstick scenes, ironic musical statements, clever musical allusions and jokes, well-worn sound effects, and even laugh tracks, sound has been integral to the development of the comedy on screen. This volume covers all aspects of sound (including dialogue) and music as they have been utilised in comedy film. The volume looks at various subsets of the 'comedy film' from the post-War period, including black comedy, romantic comedy, slapstick, dialogue comedy, parody and spoofs. This volume aims to...

Comedy has been a feature of cinema since its inception. From mickey-moused accompaniments to slapstick scenes, ironic musical statements, clever musical allusions and jokes, well-worn sound effects, and even laugh tracks, sound has been integral to the development of the comedy on screen. This volume covers all aspects of sound (including dialogue) and music as they have been utilised in comedy film. The volume looks at various subsets of the 'comedy film' from the post-War period, including black comedy, romantic comedy, slapstick, dialogue comedy, parody and spoofs. This volume aims to...

This volume focuses on the singing voice in contemporary cinema from 1945 to the present day, and rather than being restricted to one particular genre, considers how the singing voice has helped define and/or confuse genre classification. Typically heard in song, the singing voice is arguably the most expressive of all musical instruments. This volume celebrates the ways in which singing features in film. This includes the singing voice as protagonist, as narrator, as communicator, as entertainer, and as comedic interlude. Whether the singing voice in film is personally expressive, reflexive...

The last half-decade has seen the rapid and expansive development of video game music studies. As with any new area of study, this significant sub-discipline is still tackling fundamental questions concerning how video game music should be approached. In this volume, experts in game music provide their responses to these issues. This book suggests a variety of new approaches to the study of game music. In the course of developing ways of conceptualizing and analyzing game music it explicitly considers other critical issues including the distinction between game play and music play, how...

The last half-decade has seen the rapid and expansive development of video game music studies. As with any new area of study, this significant sub-discipline is still tackling fundamental questions concerning how video game music should be approached. In this volume, experts in game music provide their responses to these issues. This book suggests a variety of new approaches to the study of game music. In the course of developing ways of conceptualizing and analyzing game music it explicitly considers other critical issues including the distinction between game play and music play, how...

Over the last 40 years, while the musical film has faded from its historical high-point to a more isolated and quirky phenomenon, the dance film has displayed refulgent growth and surprising resilience. It has spawned profitable global enterprises (Billy Elliot), has fashioned youthful angst as sociological voice (Saturday Night Fever, Footloose, and Dirty Dancing) and acted as a marker of post-modern ironic camp (Strictly Ballroom). This modern genre has influenced cinema as a whole in the ways bodies are made dimensional, in the way rhythm and energy are communicated, and in the filmic...

Over the last 40 years, while the musical film has faded from its historical high-point to a more isolated and quirky phenomenon, the dance film has displayed refulgent growth and surprising resilience. It has spawned profitable global enterprises (Billy Elliot), has fashioned youthful angst as sociological voice (Saturday Night Fever, Footloose, and Dirty Dancing) and acted as a marker of post-modern ironic camp (Strictly Ballroom). This modern genre has influenced cinema as a whole in the ways bodies are made dimensional, in the way rhythm and energy are communicated, and in the filmic...