Institutional email: abilaweaver@gmail.com

This interdisciplinary research project driven by my own filmmaking practice explores the role of vocal expression in documentary film. Working within the framework of practice-led-research this project draws on 6 years of experience in Film and TV production and builds on my previous research on vocal expression in documentary, philosophy and performance.The project will explore the sonorous, phonetic and non-linguistic elements of vocal expression during the documentary filmed interview. My research will offer an original contribution and intervention into existing thinking on philosophy of the voice and documentary framed around the question: what can a study of vocal expression in documentary interviews tell us about interlocution more broadly? In recent years, documentary film has become an increasingly important tool to interpret our world. From the daily news to reality TV, ground breaking documentaries through to citizen journalism, everyday we engage with the product of filmed interviews on TV, in films and online. The technique of documentary interview marks the age we live in, but what is this encounter between director and interviewee during the filmed interview?  What role does the voice play in this interaction on film?    The research combines performance and documentary practices to produce a series of experimental interview films investigating how the voice affects and is affected by the relation between director and interviewee. The practice will be guided by research into Jacques Derrida and Emmanuel Levinas’ work on the voice. These two theoretical elements will help bridge the gap between the specificity of vocal expression in documentary film and the broader question of interlocution.