Sounding super: Examining aspects of music and sound design in American superhero media

In this dissertation I examine relationships between music and sound design in American superhero media. I examine how sound and music are used in audiovisual media to both establish and deconstruct generic conventions. I discuss music and sound design in superhero media from several angles, including their relationship to genre, aesthetics, and popular culture. I begin each chapter with broader theories related to the topics I will discuss and then use case studies to show examples of these broader theories. In Chapter 1, I examine superhero media as a “supergenre” that incorporates musical and sound conventions of multiple discrete media genres. In Chapter 2, I examine superhero media as a middlebrow postmodern transmedia genre and examine how these conventions affect the reception and production of superhero media versus other genres. In Chapter 3 I examine fan interactions with superhero media, including production and reception of fan-made media as a form of creative interaction. In Chapter 4, I examine various forms of parody as interaction with the conventions of superhero media.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Musicology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Sharp, Wes T.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Solis, Gabriel
• Silvers, Michael
• Magee, Jeffrey
• Turnock, Julie

• Superhero
• Music
• Sound Design
• Cinema
• Theater
• Videogame
• Comic Book
• Comics
• Graphic Novel

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Wes Sharp

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120083

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F120083