The Hyperorchestra, Hyperreality and Inception

I presented on APril 12th at the GSIM conference at CUNY Graduate Center my current research in the Hyperorchestra, which will become the main topic for my Doctoral Dissertation on Contemporary Hollywood Music and its technological implications. In this paper I focused in providing a general approach to the Hyperorchestra as well as to exemplify it with the movie Inception (2010).

Abstract:

The use of digital technologies in film has expanded its representational possibilities immeasurably. Stephen Prince defined Perceptual Realism as the ability to digitally creating objects that, although we know do not exist in reality, we perceive in the context of the film as verisimilar. For film composers, hundreds of new sample-based digital instruments have been created over the past five years, intended to emulate and to expand the sound of real instruments. The simulated ensemble resulting from combining these instruments, along with recording sessions and sound processing, can be called the Hyperorchestra (analogous to Baudrillard’s definition of Hyperreality). In effect, the sound produced by the virtual ensemble is realistic even though it cannot be reproduced through purely physical means. This paper will explore the relationship between the Postmodern Philosophical concepts of Hyperreality and Hyperorchestra by examining the music and the narrative of the movie Inception (2010). Director Christopher Nolan creates a complex multilevel narrative that mixes induced dreams and "reality" to an extent that they are no longer distinguishable. I will argue that Inception’s narrative is a powerful metaphor of Hyperreality, with Hans Zimmer’s score serving as a perfect example of employing the Hyperorchestra. In tandem the question of “what is real” is raised. The perception of reality is challenged at the same time that audiences listen to sounds that appear to be real even though they cannot be produced by only a “physical” orchestra performing in a concert hall.