More Than Just Noises and Crackling. Artists Associated with the Polish Radio Experimental Studio as the Authors of the Sound and Music for Films by the Polish School of Animation - Katarzyna Figat

PANEL 4: MUSIC IN ANIMATION Srijeda, 10. lipnja, 15:10-15:40

More Than Just Noises and Crackling. Artists Associated with the Polish Radio Experimental Studio as the Authors of the Sound and Music for Films by the Polish School of Animation
Katarzyna Figat (The Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz)

The Polish Radio Experimental Studio – a realm of musique concrete, as well as electroacoustic and electronic music. In addition to their work as producers and composers in the field of absolute music, artists associated with the Polish Radio Experimental Studio have authored or co-authored the sound and music for hundreds of films of nearly every type and genre. A particularly interesting aspect of this work is the sound and music for animated films, created by artists representing the Polish School of Animation. The Polish School of Animation is an informal, author-driven movement in the history of Polish animated film, within which, for several decades, films were created that were united by a search for form and means of expression for a metaphorical treatment of themes contemporary to their authors. This search for form also took place in shaping the relationships between sound and image, and thus the search for sound and musical layer that would, on the one hand, support the message, and on the other hand, help shape the overall artistic impact of the work. The Polish Radio Experimental Studio, as a unit statutorily dedicated to experimentation in the field of “creating sound elements for radio plays and spoken-word and musical programs (…) as well as musique concrete” (Brzostek, Walewska 2018: 46), was therefore an ideal partner for many artists in their joint, creative exploration of the audiovisual form of their works. The aim of this presentation is a comprehensive analysis of the techniques, aesthetics and methods employed by composers and sound engineers associated with the PRES in the process of developing the sound and music for films of the Polish School of Animation. Why was working on animated films so appealing to the artists associated with PRES? Why was collaboration with them so interesting to animators?

Katarzyna Figat is a film sound engineer and music consultant, academic lecturer, and in her spare time, a passionate film expert. She lectures on film subjects at the Faculty of Composition, Music Theory and Sound Directing at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, and collaborates with National Film School in Łódź. She is intensively involved in academic work, participating in conferences and research projects, as well as publishing. Her main area of academic interest is the analysis and aesthetics of sound and film music.