Mark Kerins
Associate Professor
After completing bachelor's degrees in chemistry and mathematics, Mark Kerins realized he enjoyed watching, making, and writing about movies more than he liked working in a lab. So he made a major career change and headed to Northwestern, where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Radio/TV/Film. At SMU, he teaches a variety of classes in film production and post-production and is the faculty advisor for the Student Filmmakers Association (SFA).
He has presented papers at Society for Cinema and Media Studies conferences, the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, and other scholarly gatherings. As a filmmaker, he works primarily in editing and sound design but has also directed a number of short films and music videos; his work has played at festivals and on television. His book Beyond Dolby (Stereo): Cinema in the Digital Sound Age was published in November 2010 by Indiana University Press and won a 2010 Godbey Lecture Series Authors Award. His most recent project is the short film How NOT to Quit Your Day Job, a comedy about the lengths a desperate man takes to get out of his dead-end job and start his own company (trailer here); the film is currently on the festival circuit (recently winning "Best Comedy Short" at the Illinois International Film Festival in December 2012), as well as being used as an educational tool in university business courses (distributed by study.net)
Current projects include sound mixing The Dread Factory, a short horror film shot as a collaborative project with a group of SMU Film and Advertising students (trailer here) and completing post-production work on All the Wrong Friends, a feature-length thriller shot as the 2011-13 Summer Film Production.
In fall 2014, Mark and his family will be moving onto SMU's campus as part of the launch of SMU's Residential Commons program - Mark will be one of the inaugural Faculty-in-Residence, serving as FiR for Morrison-McGinnis Hall.
Education
Ph.D. and M.A. in Radio/TV/Film, Northwestern University
B.A. in Mathematics and Humanities and B.S. in Chemistry, Valparaiso University
Research
interests: sound design, surround sound, production/critical studies intersections, and movies, movies, movies!
Professional Experience
SMU 2005-present
Teaching
In addition to serving as the faculty advisor for SMU's Student Filmmakers Association (SFA) and the SMU Summer Film Production, I teach courses including:
FILM 1304 Production
FILM 3304 Production 2
FILM 3308 Editing
FILM 3309 Multi-cam Production
FILM 3316 16mm Production
FILM 3384 Sound 1
FILM 3385 Sound 2
FILM 3391 Topics in Post-Production
FILM 4301 TV Ad Concepting and Production
FILM 5311 Thesis Film 1
MSA 3310 Fundamentals of Audio and Sound
Publications
BOOK
Beyond Dolby: Cinema in the Digital Sound Age, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2010.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
“A Statement on Sound Studies,” Music, Sound and the Moving Image, vol. 2, no. 2 (autumn 2008): 115-119.
“Narration in the Cinema of Digital Sound,” The Velvet Light Trap, no. 58 (fall 2006): 41-54.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
“Multi-channel Gaming and the Aesthetics of Interactive Surround.” In The Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics, eds. Claudia Gorbman, John Richardson, and Carol Vernallis. Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
“Understanding the Impact of Surround Sound in Multimedia.” In Psychology of Music in Multimedia, eds. Siu-Lan Tan, Annabel Cohen, Scott Lipscomb, and Roger Kendall. Oxford University Press, forthcoming.
"Raising Questions by Lowering the Boom" (book review), Jump Cut, no. 51 (Spring 2009).
"Constructing the Diegesis in a Multi-Channel World," Offscreen, vol. 11, no. 8-9 (October 2007).
“Sound Designing: How Should You Think About Sound?” Student Filmmakers, August 2007: 46-9.
“Editing is Re-editing: From Rough Cut to Picture Lock,” Student Filmmakers, July 2007: 24-6.
“Seven Suggestions for Stellar Soundtracks,” Student Filmmakers, December 2006: 32-5.
“Getting Good Performances,” Student Filmmakers, November 2006: 32-5.
SELECTED DIRECTORIAL FILMOGRAPHY
The Dread Factory (2013) (director / producer / co-writer) - horror short, in post-production
How NOT to Quit Your Day Job (2012) (director / producer / writer) - comedy short, official selection: Fargo Film Festival, Green Bay Film Festival, Illinois International Film Festival, Great Lakes Film Festival, Tenerife Film Festival
Drunken Phone Calls (2012) (director / co-writer) - dramatic short, official selection: Columbia Gorge Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Wildwood Film Festival
Happiness Is (director / producer / editor) (2002) – music video for RCA recording artist The Verve Pipe, nominated for Best Visual Effects at HDFest World Tour 2003
Would You Please (director / producer / editor) (2002) – music video for RCA Victor recording artist Rachael Yamagata
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY (other crew positions)
Watershed (2012, dir. Paula Goldberg) (editor) - dramatic short
Hays County Nights (2011, dir. Tommy Dingwall) (editor / re-recording mixer) - music video for The Clay Wilson Band
There Goes the View (2007, dir. Carolyn Macartney) (voice recordist / re-recording mixer) – 16mm experimental short, won “Best Experimental Film” at 2007 University Film and Video Association Conference
The Big Lull (2005, dir. Adam Marshall) (editor) - narrative short (an MFA thesis film)
First and Last (2004, dir. James Joyce) (editor / production mixer / sound editor) - narrative short (an MFA thesis film)
Distinctions
2012 winner, Best Comedy Short award at Illinois International Film Festival for film How NOT to Quit Your Day Job
2012 nominee, Best Director (Short), Best Script, and Best Producer at Tenerife International Film Festival for film How NOT to Quit Your Day Job
2011 Godbey Lecture Series Authors Award for book Beyond Dolby (Stereo)
2008 Sam Taylor Fellowship for work on book project Beyond Dolby
2007 Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award
Links