The Dolby Era Film Sound in Contemporary Hollywood

Since the 1970s Hollywood cinema has been the site of remarkable developments in film sound. New revolutionary sound technologies have been developed, a new generation of filmmakers have learned to use them as powerful storytelling tools, and audiences have enjoyed a different way of experiencing films, both theatrically and at home. For the first time, through historical analysis and interviews with key players, such as Ray Dolby (founder and creator of Dolby Laboratories), Ioan Allen (the initiator of the Dolby Stereo program), sound designer Gary Rydstrom (Titanic, Terminator 2, Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan, Finding Nemo), and supervising sound editor Bruce Stambler (The Fugitive, Batman Forever, Clear and Present Danger, The Fast and the Furious, XXX) this book aims at providing a substantial account of sound in contemporary Hollywood cinema since the early 1970s.

Gianluca Sergi is Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Nottingham.

Part 1: Film sound in the Dolby era * Introduction: Sound matters * The Dolby phenomenon * Interview with the creators of Dolby: Ray Dolby * Critical receptions of sound
* Interview with the creators of Dolby: Ioan Allen * Part 2: Listening to movies * Introduction: Bridging the gap * Interviews with the makers of sound: Bruce Stambler * Tackling sound: Suggestions for sound analysis * Interviews with the makers of sound: Gary Rydstrom * The politics of sound * Appendix * The look of Dolby * Academy-curve and X-curve comparison * Bibliography * Index