Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith is a Professor in Film at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with research expertise in film music/sound, cognitive film theory, and the American film industry. His email is jpsmith8@wisc.edu and office hours are held in Vilas Hall.

His current projects explore cognitive biases in cinematic storytelling and a bottom-up history of 1930s Hollywood film music to challenge the 'masterpiece' approach to composers like Max Steiner. His work employs data from 640+ cue sheets and close analysis of scores.

Key publications include the books Film Criticism, the Cold War, and the Blacklist (2014) and The Sounds of Commerce (1998), which won a runner-up award from the International Association for the Study of Popular Music.

• Honors:
  • The Sounds of Commerce, 1998 (runner-up for Best Book-U.S., IASPM)
• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Film, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1995
  • M.A. in Film, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1989
  • B.M. in Music, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 1985
• Research Interests:
  • Film music and sound
  • Cognitive biases/heuristics in storytelling
  • Hollywood production cycles and political commentary
  • Soundtrack album commercialization
  • Metacritical analysis of film criticism