New Brief - Sense of Space - Audio pairs project

On Friday we were given a new project brief which was to create a sense of space with audio only for 3 minute duration. We had to pair up in different pairs to our last project which I liked as it’s good to work with other people, finding out the varying skill sets, and what they have to offer.
   

For this project you will be working in pairs. The brief for your second pair's project is to create a 3-MINUTE, AUDIO, 'SENSE OF SPACE' 

Your space may be an actual physical space or an imagined space. Consider how you might use audio to represent or recreate the physical dimensions or atmosphere of your chosen space.  You might perceive your given space as one of high activity, or of marked quietness. The space might have a predominantly human quality, or be devoid of the evidence of people and instead be marked by the presence of machines or nature. How do these differences manifest themselves?

We were then played several tracks so as to inform and give inspiration for the project idea.

‘The curious ear: Meat factory earworms’ d. Richie Beirne P. Ronan Kelly (2008)

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/the-curious-ear-doconone-meat-factory-ear-worms.html

Notes; Documentary, voice over, knife sounds – factory sounds – quietens with voice over, juxtaposing music played over the top, chainsaw. Earworms – songs that get stuck in head – distracts from brutality of factory work. Music on a car radio “sights sounds smells are all the same” even though the people have changed – reminiscent. He goes back to record the atmos, moments of silence – talks about his childhood.

I think this track gives not only a sense of space but also a sense of time through the use of the voiceover. Revisiting this factory is reminiscent for the creator, whilst the sound is of a modern world, we are taken back to the past via the voiceover, giving us an insight into the perception of his world, adding depth and a sense of feeling to the space. Having not listened to much solely sound pieces before, only listening to music, film and television, I was surprised how documentary based a sound piece can be. Recording music playing through a car radio was an interesting technique that sparks ideas, that where we hear sound itself, can take you to a particular place. I also find it interesting that I’m not focusing on individual elements of the piece or documenting more how the piece works as a whole and the idea’s it provokes.      

‘Child of Ardoyne’ (Between the Ears) (7/5/11 21:00 Radio 3)  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010xw7k

Notes; naming the dead, ira, regional divide, describing their existence, children killed, English reporter, music playing, ticking sound, - time passing. Documenting a sense of time and place, not a story of an individual but of a place, the effect on a wide range of people. Less dynamic range technically compared to previous.

This was an interesting piece that gives a real sense of time and space giving insight into the turmoil of a village’s traumatic experience. It is in my opinion successful in portraying across these hardships giving an insight into a world that you may have been completely ignorant of. It aims to be hard hitting, creating an impact on the audience provoking thought, sympathy and anger. The cold flat voiceover reading out the names dead and their ages adds to this sense of despair. Whilst it isn’t as interesting technically when compared to the previous piece it does work. You also have to consider individual affect, whether the listener is knowing of, or have experienced the turmoil, evoking a stronger sense of reminiscence and pain, or as previously said ignorant to the hardships faced in Ireland during this period.

‘Blue Vales and Golden Sands’ Delia Derbyshire, BBC Radiophonic workshop

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jvh7

This was a curious piece which for me, whilst atmospheric, doesn’t give a sense of space, it needs that complimentary image, working perfectly in a scifi film. The aim was probably to create new and interesting sounds developed through new technology, but more importantly challenging the viewer’s imagination, to create a world from this sound. However, I find it doesn’t give a distinct sense of space; you are trying to decode the information provided and given conflicted visions, which I found quite headachy and didn’t work in its own right. Though at the time I’m sure this was ground breaking stuff, and I fully enjoy the Dr Who theme tune developed by the BBC Radiophonic workshops, this new wave sound compliments foreign image perfectly.      

‘Sound of Sport’ Radio 4 (30/04/11 20:00)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010r7cl

Notes; sports – voiceover – sporty sounds – techno music overlay. Vuvuzelas blocked out sport sound a constant hum. How sound can drum up excitement. Reminisces when he first encountered sound – a history of his life in sounds. Documentary.

In this documentary Dennis Baxter gives an insight into the world of sound recording for sport, possibly sparked by the constant hum of the vuvuzelas in Africa which blocked out the sound of sport leading to a consideration of the importance of sound in sport and how it can build up tension and excitement. This gives a distinct sense of someone’s life’s work and life, through the use of sound. I think it worked as a whole, holding interest and insight, whilst not personally interested in many sports, it was interesting to listen, therefore successful in engaging with the listener. This differs to the previous formats, in terms of it’s not trying to create a sense space rather multiple times and places, but instead describes how he captures this sense of place in sound creating thrill and excitement for TV sport viewers and the detrimental effect of not being able to capture this.   

‘Tunnel visions’ Pejk Malinovski (2001)

Notes; Tube system, voiceover, sensory, invasive, intrusive, talk about desires.

This piece didn’t particularly interest me and failed to engage my attention. The world it was painting wasn’t a particularly great perception of life. However, it did hold some interesting form, diving into the thoughts of people on the tube giving a sense of existence in an extremely voyeuristic way; your thoughts are no longer private. Nevertheless it picked on the grotty example of human thought depiction, which created a negative listening experience, despite its interesting form. Though it is arguable that with art if you come away with an experience pleasant or otherwise it is successful, just look at Bruce Nauman; a hugely influential artist across many mediums who explored with unpleasant experience. Despite this the sound piece failed to engage me the listener which shows its ultimate weakness in my own opinion.

‘A walk through the city and transformations’ Hildegard Westerkamp

This was a bewildering piece which evoked images different to what the title dictates, what came through for me was low flying aircraft. Nevertheless, I did find interest in its form; building sounds up into crescendos that then dissipate away, having great rise and fall, which gives interesting ideas and may inform upon the direction of the project.

Unfortunately I left the session early due to ill feeling which distracted from the task at hand with an inability to concentrate. Despite this I have been given a wide range of material that use different approaches in representing a sense of space. I find this gave a new insight into the world of sound, especially in terms of the use of documentary style in sound productions. This has therefore been of great use in terms of giving direction for the project giving insight into something I may not have explored or thought about without.

Portrait of place post 10 - editing

We renamed all our shots in final cut pro so that it was easier later on in the edit, and created a rough cut in time for a tutorial with the module tutor. (See screen grabs). We found that whilst we had safety shots earlier on in the filming, we hadn’t got great coverage of the final tree scene, which were all quite long takes. We also found that the walking shots were a bit slow so we speeded them up by cross dissolving, this brings focus onto the idea that all though the character is walking through the place, he is in no way permanent like the place itself. This empowers the idea of the importance of the place. However, we found when exporting the quick way of QuickTime movie that all the transitions went wrong. Whilst it worked when doing a high quality export part of the submission criteria necessitated for the quick time movie. When we met for our tutorial we were told we needed to trans code the footage first because it was from a Dslr. This wouldn’t be necessary if the latest version of adobe or final cut pro were being used as they have been made to handle this footage natively, but there are problems with the latest final cut pro, stopping industry uptake. We were also given useful crits including; cutting down the film a lot shorter, remove unnecessary shots, sort out the pacing, and don’t return to the same shot and check camera positions. Which were all really useful, I kind of already new something wasn’t working as a whole, so it was good to get outside input.  

(renaming each clip and editing into a timeline)

We had no idea what pro res was but searched it on google and watched a tutorial video which showed us how to do it. This is a great learning experience, gaining a set back and learning how to over ride it. What it essentially does is trans codes the raw files into a new format which works particularly well in FCP. We tried to delete unnecessary footage before putting it through pro res to minimise processing time, which took a couple of hours. After doing that we imported the newly formatted footage into the project and lined it up on top of the raw footage timeline, whilst altering it following our personal choices and our tutors suggestions. Having cut it down to below 3minites we really saw how right the tutors comments were; the pacing is much improved and it worked allot better as a whole.

 

(trans coding the footage to Pro Res)

We then added the required title card exported the footage via quicktime conversion, we then played it through to check it worked. We then burnt  the file to disk, ejected and put it back in to check it worked. We then burnt a dvd through dvd studio pro checking all the settings following a guide, and burnt the disk. We then ejected, put it back in, played it through to check it worked, then checked it worked on other devices.

Portrait of place post 9 - shoot day

We arrived at the station early with all our kit got the tickets and boarded the train, talked to interested passengers who took interest in our kit and ventures, then arrived in Edale. We had pre planned to walk past the first part of the place we were going to film, thinking that 80 film students may get in the way of each other. The day was fairly successful we took some safety shots in case something didn’t look quite right in the edit. It was a beautiful location with a wide variety of potential shots, the day was grey and flat so we slightly under exposed some of the shots to add some contrast/colour/saturation to make it more visually appealing. We did get one glimmer of sunshine which added some warmth.  I found it strange that we encountered quite a few students who were moaning about being there and the weather, you would have thought being film students that this was the kind of thing that would really interest them, though I do get that some maybe more interested in post-production. I found it funny when people were complaining that their feet were soaked, as if it were the weathers fault, not that they turned up in plimsolls. Some people went home early without telling Debbie, which I thought was really irresponsible as she wouldn’t have any idea if someone was stuck out in the mountains. We on the other hand worked well as a team sharing an equal amount of input, and were one of the last groups to return to base, making sure that we had all the shots needed, it was a long and tiring day but enjoyable nonetheless.     

Portrait of place post 8 - location photography

One of the river shots

 Autumnal Leaves 

 some shu students filming in the middle of a very steep field

 suprised to find a thistle still open this time of year

 Gives an idea of the weather

 

I found my tree it was perfect. This shot for some reason really reminds me of 'Four lions' (2010) when they blow up the crow on the wall. This photograph has great composition, the tree silhouetted on the sky. It needs cropping top and bottom, which would give it a more cinematic quality and to line up the person with the rule of thirds.

Portrait of place post 7 - pre shoot weather check

I kept an eye on the weather forecast so that I could effectively plan for the day, this changed during the night to more heavy rain later on in the day and slightly lighter during the morning. The temperature seems reasonable it could have been a lot colder. In response to this forecast I packed extra waterproof clothes and plastic bags to cover the equipment, I was planning on wearing heavy duty walking boots anyway. We also co-created a risk assessment for the day on 'parashoot' taking into account the wet weather and the problems that could arise from that. I also remembered that there was a local mountain rescue to Edale and added this to the form.

Portrait of a place post 6 - Influence/research

The tree scenes in 'Shawshank redemption' (1994 D. Frank Darabont) formed inspiration for the character approaching the single tree in our silent short. This location may have been a place the protagonist used to escape from the world. He used this experience to give his friend hope to set him free from his own institutionalised mind, stopping him from succumbing to the fate of those come before him, by planting a toolkit for freedom. This place symbolises freedom with no constraints, way out in the middle of nowhere. There are also obvious aesthetic values to the composition of a single tree running along a wall in the middle of a field, moreover, the wall could be viewed as the guiding figure for the strugling character.

There are many creative outputs that have been inspired or informed by a particular place. For example Tolkein is said to have found some inspiration for 'Lord of the Rings' (c.1954) from Mosley Bog near Birmingham, close to his family home. Having written it during the second world war you could imagine how the boggy woods may have come to life through the treacherous bombings on the industrial city of Birmingham. Another example is ‘Harry Potter’ by J. K. Rowling, if you see the private school she went to as a child, it pretty much is Hogwarts, you can see where the inspiration was from. Though personally not something that I’ve been inspired by. What I am trying to say is that a location is quite usually the catalyst for the most inspired creative outputs the world has seen. It affects us all as creative practitioners; artists, musicians and writers alike. It is this poeticism that I want to draw upon in the making of the short.




(http://flavorwire.com/199845/10-real-life-places-that-inspired-literary-classics/3 last viewed 05/11/11)

Portrait of a place post 5 - Schedule / equipment list

Schedule;

Whilst we had been given scheduling by the university, we had worked out that we were given 6 hours and 45 minutes to film. Our plan is to skip the first part of Edale and walk further on so as to film the later shots in the film. This was decided as we considered whether 60-80 students descending on Edale may get in the way of each other. We had planned to return to get the first village part of the filming last.   

Equipment

550dslr and bag

Film tripod

All weather clothing

Mini first aid kit

Survival foil blanket

Survival Whistle

Camera rain hood

Food/snacks/water

2 batteries

2 X 16Gb sd memory cards

Mobile phone

backpack

Portrait of a place post 4 - Shot list

Edale shoot; Portrait of a Place shot list

Scene 1

Shot No	Description
1	Train station walking slow pan gate
2	Under railway static long tunnel
3	Mid-long walk out onto main village road static tri
4	Walk past graveyard pan mid-long
5	Inside phone box walk past
6	Establishing of rough country road
7	Hand held POV of scenery
8	Tracking shot walking
9	Macro on grass/flowers walk past
10	Mid-CU static walk past focus shift tree
11	Focus drag on wall walk past mid
12	Tri tree sky pan along branch
13	Look over wall hand held walk
14	Walk up to gate LS
15	CU gate mechanism, open/close

Scene 2

Shot No	Description
1	Pan across landscape LS
2	Walk up high, low angle, Character looking down cliff
3	Macro focus pull grass to walker
4	CU feet across water

Scene 3

Shot No	Description
1	Focus wild flower, pan following character field
2	Macro grass CU feet walk past
3	Walking up past camera Isolated tree
4	Walk to tree sit down notebook out MS
5	Large pan landscape both directions
6	Over shoulder CU writing
7	Sat folded paper CU follow movement note in tree
8	CU Note in tree

Portrait of a place post 3 - storyboard Sam's Version

The lone tree is probably the most important element of the film, being very symbollic of this idea. It would be good if it showed some autumn colours, but it's location is more key. Hopefully it should have a wall running alongside it to give the idea of escapism and a safe haven, blocking out the world. 

Portrait of a place post 2 - planning

In our second meeting/planning we decided that our original idea would be too long for 3mins and the return journey wouldn’t have added anything to the film. Instead we decided to use a loose narrative, considering whether the main focus should be on the place and the character as secondary device used to connect the variety of pretty shots. This was decided so as to be more in keeping with the brief of creating a portrait of place. The new narrative is more of a poetic idea drawing influence from films such as ‘Miss Potter’ (2006), and other literary books which draw upon the beauty of a place causing inspiration for masterful creative outputs; be it poetry, literary, sculpture, video, photography, etc. Whilst the focus is still on the central theme of escapism from an urban world, this will be dealt with in a more poetic way. We will use a motif of a letter folded up and placed in the crevice of a tree, denoting that the location inspired the character to write his inner most feelings, relieving him of the anxiety and stress of modern day urban living.

Having visited Edale before, I had a rough idea of what would be there, which informed upon the process of story boarding, and shot lists for the film. We also decided upon our individual roles within this project. We decided because it was just the two of us, and despite having alternate interests, post-production/production, that we should play an equal part in all aspects of the project, especially at this early stage of the course.  

Site Gallery visit - New Contemporaries

Today I visited the site gallery which was hosting the exhibition ‘New Contemporaries 2011’. The first thing that drew my eye upon entry was a box television on the floor; an experimental video was playing by Hyun Woo Lee called; ’17 times of I hate this job’ (2011) (video 48 sec (looped)). The artist directs the viewer; making him/her interact with the piece by placing the TV on the floor, encouraging you to crouch down. You see a sprinkler with text underneath stating “I, hate, this, job” flashing up in time with the rhythmic slap of the sprinkler on the jet. I enjoyed the piece, it has left me with a lasting experience, it offers satirical personification of a mechanical repetitive object, giving a certain sense of humour as you are crouched on the ground watching it go round. This may create individual affect on a viewer if they have similar feelings towards their job. Sparking interaction and thought; relating the sprinkler to their own mundane working life. The rhythmic thud follows you throughout the small exhibition space, a possible unintended effect as this includes the work of other artists. Nevertheless, it complements the other pieces, seeming to create links between them. You then walk round a table with one metal leg twisting up into the air, evocative of post-modernist design, although its lack of function draws it back into the art world. In the corner there is a deconstructed chair frame with coloured gloss paint on the wall (‘I don’t come prepared’ 2010 by Poppy Walker) which for me was reminiscent of Piet Mondrian’s ‘Composition with red, yellow and blue’ (1921), except a 3D version, following the principles of Holland’s ‘De Stijl’ style movement; creating new forms with Primary colours with an interest in the technology of production. Again we are faced with a sense of satire; the name evokes the trials and tribulations of flat pack furniture.
 Passing four silk oil paintings on the wall my gaze was attracted to another box television with an experimental film playing by Samuel Williams; ‘We are the robots’ 2010 video 6min 15sec. You are faced by imagery of different tools being operated by two sticks trying to complete different tasks, the recurrent theme strikes again, considering us as the operator of tools we have created with a sense of pointlessness in the impossible task, the sticks adding clumsiness. Moving round you come across some sketches by Sarah Brown, which in themselves are just pencil sketches, but the list of sketch names next to the series makes you try and match them up to the related sketch, therefore engaging the viewer. Moving round the corner another television appears playing an odd silent film by Sarah Jessica Rinland; ‘Nulepsy attack’ (2010) see link below. It is of a man spontaneously stripping outside in a dreamlike state, if you follow the link below you get a related Q&A about the film. The film records a psychological condition in which its sufferer goes unconscious and strips, shot on 16mm with one long continuous take, evoking a sense of realism.
 Moving back through the gallery space you see a separate dark room which is projecting 3 films, I paused before entering, enjoying the way in which the film worked within the gallery space; the clean cut lines of white wall and empty space framing the projected image, cutting parts out of view. The three films by Hyewon Kwon, Ian Marshall and Dagmar Schurrer are played in a loop with no pause, cutting straight to the next film in sequence. What I enjoy about films in a gallery is how you arrive in the middle creating ambiguity and a questioning of what’s going on, creating an alternate experience, breaking the mechanical predictive time keeping way of life; e.g. turn up at the cinema at this time to see this film, or turn up at the bus stop at this time to catch a bus. The films are all quite contrasting in style; one an experimental form of documentary exploring the life of a room ‘Untitled #1 (from the series eight men lived in a room)’ (H.K. 2010), one creating abstract blooms of explosions on a black background ‘Berkeley Blooms’ (I.M. 2011), and the other following a girl walking down stairs with text describing the narrative which is then reversed, employing abstract composition, ‘Rewind’ (D.S. 2010). However they are connected through the use of repetition which is complimented by the viewing structure of the three films. Throughout you still here the rhythmic thud of the sprinkler playing from the TV in the next room.
 The other thing I enjoyed in the gallery was ‘Jesus Christ’ (2011 Encaustic on board) by Rafal Zawistowski, which is a 3d waxy painting in the shape of a face with no discernible features. This can be viewed in several ways; exploring religion of faceless being, or in a more humorous way; Jesus Christ what happened to your face. Nevertheless, it is an interesting medium used by the artist which sparks interesting ideas and imagination. Upon exiting the gallery, back into the wet, grey, blustery world that is Sheffield in November, you are left with a host of new experiences that lead to new ideas. Lasting impressions created by the variety of artists on display.                 

 http://www.jessicarinland.com/nulepsy.html (Jessica Sarah Rinland ‘Nulepsy Attack’ 2010)

http://www.alternate.com.s86833.gridserver.com/s/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/NewContemporaries2011.pdf (exhibition details)

http://www.sitegallery.org/ (Site gallery)

Portrait of a place post 1

As soon as we were given the brief we got into pairs and decided to start with a quick brainstorm (see image). From this we concepted our idea which was to focus on the main theme of escapism from the urban world. We also considered whether the central character should consider suicide at the end of his journey, then leave it open on the return journey as to whether he did or not, using techniques such as fading the character out of shot. Moreover, considering the plays of light and dark/ time of day and the style in which we should film. However, at this early stage we decided to keep our concept quite open to later develop our prefered idea.