Music Research Seminar: Carlo Cenciarelli

Carlo Cenciarelli (Cardiff University) will join us to present on ‘Spectacular Silence and the Ends of Moviegoing: The Cinema as A Quiet Place (ca. 2021)’

Location: Lecture Theatre 2, School of Music

This event is part of the 2024/25 Music Research Seminar Series

Carlo Cenciarelli is a Lecturer at the School of Music, Cardiff University. His research focuses on music and the screen and, in particular, on the ways cinema functions as a cultural interface for musical repertoires and audio technologies. His essays on the cinematic representation and remediation of listening have been published in edited collections and in journals including Music and Letters, New Formations, Radical Musicology, Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Cambridge Opera Journal, and Twentieth-Century Music. He is the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Cinematic Listening (OUP, 2021).

Abstract:

The theatrical release of A Quiet Place Part II (AQPII) in May 2021, following months of cinema closures due to COVID-19, was dubbed a ‘referendum on the future of moviegoing’ (Paramount). The film imagines a post-apocalyptic future where humans must remain silent to survive, and the filmmakers were adamant that the much-delayed sequel, just like the first instalment, would have to be experienced in cinemas. Whereas the ‘permanent campaign for moviegoing’ (Acland) historically has tapped into the loudness of cinematic sound, the marketing campaign for AQPII showcased ‘spectacular silence’ instead of ‘spectacular sound’ (Grainge) as its unique selling point. In this talk, I argue that the franchise’s reversed sonic economy is part of a broader shift in the meanings and values of the cinema as a place for listening. By zooming into a specific musical gesture pivotal to the film and its promotion, and examining film trailers, pre-show announcements, and audience surveys, I suggest that the Quiet Place franchise is indicative both of the increasing importance of silence in indexing the specificity of the cinematic experience and of a growing tension between traditional cinemagoing and ideals of sonic control and privatisation that are endemic to the technological interfaces of late capitalism.

This will be a hybrid event. The guest speaker will be present with us in the School of Music, and colleagues and other guests are encouraged to join us there. But if you are unable to do so then please consider joining us via Zoom.

No booking is required. Those wishing to attend online should contact series convenor Dr Ellis Jones (e.n.jones@leeds.ac.uk).