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The Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media pp 91–111Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Towards 3-D Sound: Spatial Presence and the Space Vacuum

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates the evolution of relationships between sound design and music in cinematic representations of the interstellar space vacuum. Mera provides a framework for understanding how audiences believe they are physically present in the represented environment and argues that, in the late 2000s, we move towards three-dimensional (3-D) sound, an aesthetic and technical extension of the superfield and the ultrafield as defined by Chion and Kerins, respectively. 3-D Sound’s primary characteristic is the emancipation of music from a fixed sound-stage spatialization, resulting in greater fluidity between sound design and music. This chapter examines the relationship between two types of spatial presence, articulating both the audience’s suspension of disbelief within a film’s narrative world and the spatial presence of sound and music within a multichannel cinema environment.

Keywords

  • Sound Effect
  • Interstellar Space
  • Sound Channel
  • Space Vacuum
  • Sound Design

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Fig. 7.1
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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. City, University of London, London, UK

    Miguel Mera

Authors
  1. Miguel Mera
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Liz Greene

  2. University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Danijela Kulezic-Wilson

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© 2016 The Author(s)

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Mera, M. (2016). Towards 3-D Sound: Spatial Presence and the Space Vacuum. In: Greene, L., Kulezic-Wilson, D. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51680-0_7

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