1b Response

Playing around with sound in post production for project 1b was a lot of fun. I started out with a basic idea of how I wanted most of it to sound based off of the sentence, "To satisfy me, I need all." The concepts I got from that sentence had to do with contrast between being empty and being full. Going off of that I simply started finding small sound bites from the recordings and playing with them, trying to find out what things sounded good together and which didn't, as well as what things sounded good next to each other and which didn't. I also played with a lot of reversed sounds, slowing things down, speeding them up, and pitch changing. Early on I was a bit overwhelmed, especially with how many sounds we had as a class. Bit by bit though it started to build. I decided I wanted to work on mostly the full sounds, and rolled with that. Channing and I had talked about the concept we were shooting for and decided on working with our own sounds separately, then meeting up again and combining them in a way that worked for our vision. Somehow when we met back up, both of our edits sounded eerie and creepy almost. Hers was more minimalist, which I really liked since it complimented my edit and our concept as a whole. Looking back on it, our project almost sounded like it had some sort of story of story line, but that wasn’t what we were going for at all. The focus was on the contrast between the two ideas that related to the sentence. I thought ours came out sounding pretty good, but after listening to other group’s projects, ours could’ve been a little bit more abstract. Maybe if we had planned it out more, we could’ve had a more experimental project, but it’s really hard to plan out anything experimental in my opinion.

Synesthesia and Cymatics

Synesthesia and cymatics are really interesting topics for me. I had never heard of cymatics before so when it was brought up in class I was really surprised to see all those sounds literally take the form of certain shapes and patterns. Seeing sound brought to life in that way really opened my eyes, and the TED talk was also really informative about the practical uses of cymatics. I’m a little bit more familiar with synesthesia though and I really like the idea of it. I managed to find a short film I saw a few years ago that explores synesthesia and also introduced me to synesthesia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHnnGHgeyC0

It’s worth a watch, as it’s really creative and well done. Seeing or feeling the world in a different way and then sharing it is something that I think I strive for as a filmmaker. This idea of smelling colors or hearing shapes is something to keep in mind and can make it easier for me to share what I’m feeling through the medium of film. Expressing ideas in different ways and through different techniques might reach a viewer on a completely different level than just straight out showing them or telling them the general idea.

Sound Recording

Our group recorded our audio in a closed room upstairs in the library. I thought it would be much more quiet as opposed to other locations, but we still got a hum in the background. I was disappointed when I heard it played back, but I know what to watch out for next time. I liked the way our ambience recordings turned out though. I think our class has some really great variety in the sounds that we recorded. It will be really fun to play with them all in the editing lab and try to fit the quotes we were given.

Sounds

Sound Journal 1

I’m sitting in class. The professor’s voice is the main focus as it is bold and demanding. He rarely utters “Umm” or “hmm” but instead pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts, leaving the class in silence. He is fond of the phrase “At any rate.” I decided to keep a tally on how many times he says it and at the moment he is at 26. The classroom of around 40 is surprisingly quiet. There is an occasional shuffling of the feet or repositioning in the seats. I hear puttering and after a few seconds soft taps on the window across the room. I hear the rain fall at a faster pace and the drops hitting the ground as well as the window become much louder, diverting attention away from the professor’s voice, which isn’t affected by the sudden change in weather.  The class seems to come to life and I can hear more people moving around in their seats as they turn to look out the window. I’m sitting in the front so everything I hear is coming from behind me except for the professor’s still booming voice.

Sound Journal 2

I'm laying in my bed. My fan gets loud and then quiet for a brief moment as it oscillates. Every time it's at its loudest, it is accompanied by a popping sound followed by a second more faint pop. It's almost rhythmic as the fan turns and pops at the same intervals. The tv is on in the other room and I can hear it through the wall. There are a lot of hissing S's and an occasional laugh track. The repair man is in the laundry room fixing the washer, and there is a lot of metallic clanging. There was a louder bang followed by an "Agghhh shit." From his tone he seemed more disappointed with something he did than angry. My roommate got up and walked to the kitchen, each footstep seems to reverberate into my room and shake the ground below him. His steps are staggered and not evenly spaced, like he's really tired.

Response to Balazs

Silence seems to be something even more important than sound itself after reading what Balazs has to say. I’m reminded of one scene in particular that speaks to the effectiveness of silence in film. In Vivre sa vie, Nana watches The Passion of Joan of Arc and is overcome with emotions and begins to weep. The whole scene takes place in absolute silence, making the emotional impact of what is happening more intense. It felt real and like Balazs says, the silence makes us feel the scene’s weight, its menace, its tension. 

I don’t agree with Balazs when he says sound cannot be isolated or blocked out. I watched a short film recently called It’s Not You, It’s Me where certain sounds are isolated for dramatic effect and it plays a huge role in much of the video as these sounds are what makes Gillian Jacobs’ character go on a murderous rampage. The isolation gives the viewer an idea of what is going on inside her head as we hear otherwise mundane sounds from her perspective, and it is pulled off quite nicely.