iPods and identity: a film and a book

What's on your mind when you use your iPod? Are you sealing yourself off from an inhospitable environment, or are you creating a soundtrack to add an imaginary gloss to that environment? These are the sorts of questions being posed by a new film project, Between Ears, by two Dutch filmmakers.

The film is in production and you can contribute to the research via a questionnaire. From the press release,

Between Ears will be a cinematic trip around the world, that leads the viewer along to a surprising diversity of people who shut off from reality around them. With the help of an MP3 player they try to move into a place between their ears. The focus of the film is mainly on the intense experiencing of image and sound, in a way which enables the viewer to identify with the people in the film.

Much of the field of sociological study of people listening to personal music has been staked out by Michael Bull at University of Sussex, going back before the iPod to the days of the original Sony Walkman. The Between Ears site has a video interview with Michael, and his new book, Sound Moves: iPod Culture and Urban Experience, was published just a few weeks ago. Here's my review of his last book, Sounding Out the City (2000).