My project examines instances in film and video in which sound structures the visual track. My study is motivated by the on-going dominant methodology in audiovisual media studies that privileges the visual over the acoustic. Although sound plays a key role, it remains marginalized and occupies a peripheral status practically, conceptually, and institutionally. However, there are key instances in film and video where sound, musical compositions, and even noise, function to propel the production. Many experimental filmmakers and video artists are keenly tuned into the surrounding audioscape and employ sound compositions to structure their audio-visual work. My focus will be on the strategic ways in which media artists mobilize the acoustic to move reception beyond the centrality of the visual frame both temporally and spatially.