Music and Sound in the Worlds of Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry's directorial work buzzes with playfulness and invention: in a body of work that includes feature films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, to music videos, commercials, television episodes, and documentaries, he has experimented with blending animation and live action, complex narrative structures, and philosophical subject matter. Central to that experimentation is Gondry's use of music and sound, which this book addresses in a new detailed study. Kate McQuiston examines the hybrid nature of Gondry's work, his process of collaboration, how he uses sound and music to create a highly stylized reinforcement of often-elusive subjects such as psychology, dreams, the loss of memory, and the fraught relationship between humans and the environment. This concise volume provides new insight into Gondry's richly creative multimedia productions, and their distinctive use of the soundtrack.

Kate McQuiston is Professor of Music at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa.

1 The Heart and the Brain 2 Superchannels and Other Sound Strategies 3 Dreaming up "The Concert I Always Wanted to Go To": Mosaics in Dave Chappelle's Block Party 4 Music Video and Advertising 5 Muse-en-scène: Jon Brion Hears the Hidden City in Mia Doi Todd's "Open Your Heart" 6 Original Music, Pre-existing Music, and Palettes 7 The Time-Play of Playlists and Original Score in Be Kind, Rewind and Mood Indigo