In search of a history and theory of documentary film sound

• Grant number: 18/26819-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 24, 2019
• Effective date (End): December 23, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Cinema
• Principal Investigator: Claudiney Rodrigues Carrasco
• Grantee: Renan Paiva Chaves
• Supervisor: Joshua Seth Malitsky
• Host Institution: Instituto de Artes (IA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Indiana University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/09111-8 - Documentary film and soundtrack: the sounds of the self, BP.DR

Abstract

This research proposal, to be developed during my visiting period at Indiana University (IU), is related to my PhD investigation in the Department of Film Studies at the Institute of Arts at University of Campinas (UNICAMP), entitled 'Documentary Film and Soundtrack: The Sounds of The Self'. It is part of a study on sound and music in documentary film that I have been conducting since my undergraduate and master's degree under the financial support from São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). The current research efforts are related to a search of a history and theory of documentary film sound, which is mainly based on analyses of both audiovisual and textual primary sources. Great part of these sources can be found in archives and libraries in the United States. IU, based in Bloomington, has one of America's largest and most comprehensive collection of the film studies area. Furthermore, IU is the house of a multidisciplinary unit dedicated to the nonfiction media field, directed by the supervisor aboard Joshua Seth Malitsky, the Center for Documentary Research and Practice, which held the last Visible Evidence conference. Through the access to films, writings and documents that we do not have in Brazil as well as with the contact with professors and researchers interested in film sound and documentary film, I hope to deepen, expand and share theoretical and historiographical perspectives which may enrich and help to bring together the field of documentary film studies and film sound studies.