about

Vision Statement

The RMA Sound on Screen Study Group brings together scholars and practitioners to promote research into sound (considered broadly) on screen (also considered broadly). The Study Group champions all forms of research including cross-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and practice-led, and recognises the diverse array of perspectives through which sound on screen may be explored. Members are encouraged to draw on a range of research methodologies including archival, empirical and ethnographic techniques not commonly employed in these areas of research, and to interpret the Study Group’s remit as including, but not limited to areas such as creative practice, industrial process, audiovisual analysis, sonic aesthetics, music psychology, genre and narrative studies. The Study Group also seeks to support postgraduate (and undergraduate) researchers to engage with and participate in the latest research in sound on screen.

The terms ‘sound’ and ‘screen’, notably as distinct from the more traditional and heavily codified ‘music’ and ‘film’, facilitate breadth of research. However, the Study Group nonetheless recognises the Hollywood-centric focus of much of the existing scholarship, and aims to diversify and decolonise the field by encouraging research into global cultures and minoritised creators, as well as supporting researchers from minoritised populations and the global South to develop their research and profile through the Study Group’s activities.

GovernanCe Arrangements

The Leadership Committee will comprise ten regular members, including the Chair, and one designated Research Postgraduate member, though research postgraduates may also occupy the regular committee places (aside from the Chair). 

Membership of the RMA Sound on Screen Study Group Leadership Committee will be open to all study group members, with members usually elected for a term of up to three years. Once the study group is properly established, it is anticipated that each year at the AGM three or four of the ten regular Leadership Committee members will stand down, with new members elected in their place. Members of the Leadership Committee will therefore usually serve a term of three years before their position is up for re-election. Existing Leadership Committee members will be eligible to stand again for a second consecutive term, but would normally only be re-elected for a third (or further) consecutive term if there are no other suitable candidates for the position. Former members of the Leadership Committee may be elected back onto the Committee following a gap of at least one year, through the regular election process. In this way, the Leadership Committee will retain consistency year-on-year (through two-thirds of the regular members being the same across any given two-year period), while also bringing new members and fresh ideas onto the Committee each year, and providing opportunities for all members to gain experience of leading the study group.

The Research Postgraduate Member of the Committee will usually serve a three-year term, though this will be shortened if they complete or otherwise leave their research degree programme before the term is completed. Research postgraduates elected to any of the regular Leadership Committee positions will usually serve a regular term of three years as outlined above; completing their doctoral programme will not automatically trigger an election at the next AGM.

Any member of the Leadership Committee may step down at an AGM, even if their regular term is not completed, having provided at least two months’ notice of their intention to do so. This is to enable the rest of the Leadership Committee to plan for their replacement at the AGM, and to publicise the additional election opportunity to the study group members.

History

This study group has emerged from four complementary endeavours to promote research into sound on screen:

• Film Music Conferences run by the University of Leeds (2006–2009, 2011, 2014–2016). All events co-led and administered by Ian Sapiro.

• The British Audiovisual Research Network (BARN) mailing list (established 2014). This list had over 150 subscribers, and was administered by Ian Sapiro.

• BARN Virtual Colloquium Series (2021–2023). Over 70 presentations were delivered within this series, which was initially devised and led by Toby Huelin while a PhD candidate at the University of Leeds, and then led by Toby and Elsa Marshall.

• Sound on Screen Conferences run by Oxford Brookes University (2021, 2023–2024). All events co-led and administered by Jan Butler, James Cateridge, Matt Lawson and Lindsay Steenberg.

The RMA Sound on Screen Study Group brings these endeavours together into a formal group to support networking and the dissemination of research across sound on screen.