263
JCC 7 (3) pp. 263–276 Intellect Limited 2013
Journal of Chinese Cinemas
Volume 7 Number 3
© 2013 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jcc.7.3.263_1
Keywords
Dolby
film sound
film exhibition
transnational cinema
Let the Bullets Fly
Tron: Legacy
MarK GallaGher and Julian strinGer
University of Nottingham
reshaping contemporary
Chinese film sound: dolby
laboratories and changing
industrial practices
abstraCt
The recent growth of mainland China’s commercial film industry has been accom-
panied by the transformation of its production cultures, exhibition arrangements
and audience experiences. This article provides an analysis of the complex role
Chinese film sound has played in these developments. Taking as its focus the work
of Dolby Laboratories in China, the article investigates how and why complex
international dynamics underpin both high-end commercial Chinese sound designs
and the audio tracks of foreign films released in the country. By considering audio
post-production personnel’s mediating role and their professional contributions to a
range of industrial developments as well as specific films, the article demonstrates
how different stakeholders manage the changing needs (at the level of film sound) of
producer and consumer alike. It therefore develops a critical perspective of workflows
in Chinese screen industries where local and global investments merge.
A key challenge facing scholars of Chinese cinema is to map the shifting
significance of contemporary transnational film-making in empirical terms.
In particular, investigating how and why workers from the fast-growing