The Technological Shift: The Role of Digital Sound Technology in Film Production

Since the introduction of Dolby Stereo in the mid 1970s, we have had a rapid succession of innovations in theatrical sound reproduction, culminating in the six-track digital soundtracks that are now (at the time of writing in 1996) used as selling points for films by the exhibitors. Along the way we have developed a sound-sophisticated audience in ways that few filmmakers and fewer film theoreticians have yet to credit.