Sense of Space - Reflection

It was nice that we completed the project early as this meant we had time to reflect on what we had done. I experimented with the sound by playing it back on a whole range of devices including; car radio, mini Hifi, headphones, good quality sound system, laptop, computer, Tv. It’s interesting how much the playback device effects the sounds; on the high quality system the sounds were a lot more destinguished and identifiable, whereas on lower quality systems there seems to be more of a moulding of the sounds, nonetheless, I enjoyed both despite the huge difference. This suggests it’s a successful export. One thing highlighted in the tutorial was that the traffic light beeps were a bit too loud in terms of the levels and started coming in a bit too early on, which after living with it I agree unfortunately the source file was lost on a hard drive which meant that if we were to redit we would have to start again. This was a problem because we really liked how we had composed the piece and there were only a few changes we wanted to make, because of the complexity of the piece we were doubtful that we could recreate the same sound and didn’t want to loose everything that we had done. Therefore, if we were to do this project again we would firstly make sure the source file is saved on several devices and secondly reduce the levels of the trafic lights and create longer intermitence between the repetition that is until the end. We would also experiment with the build up of the crescendo, for example a slow build up into a suddden cocofony. Nevertheles, we are very pleased with the final outcome, I think it emplifies the sense of space feeling that was asked of us, there is a definite feeling of the city, drawing attention to sounds for the listener that they may have not noticed or would normally block out, the crescendo in our piece makes this an impossibility. Therefore, creating a new experience for the viewer which may lead to greater consideration of sound.     

Sense of Space - edit

 At first it seemed quite daunting when it came to the edit; we had a whole host of sounds and had to successfully arrange them on a multi-track sequence. Luckily Paul drew a rough plan for the edit, which we referred to, as we new how we wanted it but needed the visual aid to get us started, because you can't put it all on at once then rearrange. We needed to figure out what we wanted to keep and from that what order they needed to be in.

(image by Paul Manning) 

We started by using a general atmos as a base, then gradually began building up the sounds, duplicating tracks which slowly decreased in spacing between the next repetition until the end when you have the full on sounds and irritation. There is a transition between the real and hyper real. We put on the guitar track just to see what it was like and it worked well, acting as a soft juxtaposition to the irritating sounds, which gets overwhelmed towards the end when we added hyper real irritating sounds like a car starter motor groaning, the constant irritating beep when you leave the lights on in your car and open the door, then finally the scratching of the guitar strings. We had to rework the guitar in so it fitted better, fading in then out seamlessly. We also used pan in a considered way to add movement to the piece, making it so that the taxi would pull up on the left side of the road for example, and making different clips interact with each other.   

We used duplication and cross fades, spacing out some of the sounds which slowly go into a constant. We used the levels to check that we were in a good range of volume and quality. Our aim wasn't to create something overwhelmingly loud but instead an irritating mash of sounds.

Site Gallery Visit - Zoe Beloff 'The infernal Dream of Mutt & Jeff'

Before reading please be aware this is a descriptive review which should allow you to visualise the experience, therefore if you are planning to visit the exhibition you may wish to abstain from reading until you have experienced it for yourself.

 Within this exhibition, hosted by the Site Gallery between 18/11/11 - 21/01/12, we see a deconstruction and revelation into the creation of both film and animation. The first thing you encounter is the hum of a vintage projector which throws light through the spinning spools of film onto a screen. An old hand drawn animation plays before being rewound then starting again at the beginning in a loop. Your attention is distracted however, to the rest of the dimly lit room; a jumble of wooden chairs, a long A frame step ladder, a dated film camera, a desk stacked with paper, a backwards spinning clock and three projected images. To enter into this space you have to cross the path of light between the projector and image which holds you back, perhaps symbolic as she ‘considers herself a medium, an interface between the living and the dead, the real and the imaginary.’ (Site Gallery) Breaking through this divide you are immersed into a surreal world; you see three projected black and white moving images alongside the filmic objects and set design. As your mind tries to construct and make sense as to how they link, you begin to see the objects and backdrops within the film match to the physical existence within the gallery, acquiring a glimpse into the creation of film. The visual aesthetics of the vintage equipment and objects is compounded by the auditory existence of the rattling hum of the projector and a buzz showing a shift in the film, creating a narrative to your gallery experience. Once familiarized you become tempted by a giant door in the corner which states ‘Gallery continues push to enter’, there is something about larger galleries which have formalities and many out of bounds areas, which holds you back from entering.

  Crossing back through the stream of light and pushing upon this giant door you find yourself in another room, lacking the auditory stimulus from the previous room, which documents the process of creating the animation, including hand drawn stills on large pieces of parchment. There is documentation of a process where sculptors captured the movement of factory workers by photographing light trails from lights attached to their hands; they would then recreate this shape into a sculpture of wires. The more complex the sculpture, the more complex the task. This is then linked to the creation of the animation, the cartoon utilizes motion path to recreate natural movement. ‘People enjoy cartoons because they see their own lives in them.’

 To me the exhibition seemed a bit disjointed, whether this is the artist’s intention or because of the lack of room within the gallery, is hard to decide. I think it is intentional as you have to cross through barriers to get a glimpse into the creation of film and animation. However, the separate room seems very separate, if it wasn’t for the projected image in the corner of the other room. Whilst there is the link of production process it does seem like two separate exhibitions, therefore, there seems a weakness in this link. Nonetheless, there is a wealth of concept and expression of idea, your perception is challenged and explored.   

http://www.sitegallery.org/archives/3808

http://www.sitegallery.org

Sense of Space - sounds list

This is a list of all the clips recorded, which we renamed when importing them onto computer so that it was easier to identify individual sounds within the edit.

 

Sense of Space - initial sound log

This is the first sound log for the sounds that we recorded together and the ones that I recorded alone, Paul then added more sounds that he had recorded and we recorded some more together later on. Both Paul and I gathered sounds at home so as to get more distinctive sound effects that didn't have the background hum of the city, in particular we noticed the ever present squeaking of bus breaks. I decided to try and create some really irritating sounds like scraping fingernails, irritating guitar sounds, and thumping on a door, which had a headache quality. I also recorded a relaxing guitar tune which could be used to create a juxtaposition with the harsh city sounds which may carry the narrative.

Track number	description	Mic
1	Water fountain	Rifle
2	Atmos fan inside gardens	Rifle
3	Atmos talking hum	Omni
4	Road noise traffic lights walking	Rifle
5	Cars traffic lights take 2	Rifle
6	Electric doors (quiet)	Rifle
7	Electric doors squeaky esculator	Rifle
8	Quiet atmos	Rifle
9	Quiet hum inside footsteps	Rifle
10	Traffic footsteps people	Rifle
11	Inside bus	Rifle
12	Inside bus and convo	Rifle
13	Guitar tune	Rifle
14	Guitar tune 2	Rifle
15	Bouncy guitar track	Rifle
16	Scraping guitar loud	Rifle
17	Scraping guitar strings	Rifle
18	Scraping nails on door	Rifle
19	Hammering on door	Rifle
20	Scraping on door nails 2	Rifle
21	Squeaky door close	Rifle
22	Guitar tune	Rifle
23	Guitar tune take 2	Rifle
24	starbucks	Rifle

Sense of Space - recording sounds

(image Sam Brown)

Recording the sounds was fairly successful some ideas didn’t work and other new ideas came into our heads whilst recording as you are suddenly hyper audio perceptive. We got ground level recs, then experimented going onto the roof of a car park, so as to gather a more general city atmos, recording sounds from above so as to get a better overall feeling of the city. We also experimented withsounds at home so as to destinguish the effects from the general city sound. I gathered irritating guitar sounds by scratching the strings and bouncing with a glass slider, which I thought would compound the effect of the crescendo at the very end, entering in sounds that you wouldn’t neccesarily encounter in the city but you can’t destinguish this within the crescendo but adds to the irritating levels of sound.

sense of space - rec list

We sat down and concocted a list of all the city sounds we could think of and all the sounds we wanted to record. From this we completed a risk assessment incorporating all the ares that would be covered. We then booked out the relevant equipment and mics, set up the right settings in the marrantz required by the brief. We recorded the majority of the clips working together and gathered extra sounds individually, in particular I recorded door knocks and squeaks, guitar; scratches, tunes, irritating sounds, internal buses and traffic. 

Sense of Space - Treatment

The main idea is to create a crescendo of city sounds using a wide variety of city sounds, or things you would associate with the city. Therefore, starting quiet with an atmos track, which is slowly built up with other tracks, sometimes using repetition, into an irritating concoction of horrible city sounds. Drawing attention to a sound that you would normally block out or not even think about whilst travelling through the city. This will incorporate several atmos tracks which will run along throughout the piece.  Recordings will be made in both interior and exterior locations within the city as well as individual recordings made in “silent” spaces so as to distinguish them from the background hum you get from the city.

Sense of Space - Equipment list

Equipment;

• Marantz PMD 660 x2
• Rifle Mic x2
• Guitar
• phone
• clock
• car
• keys

Locations;

• Sheffield city centre
• Sheffield Hallam University
• O2 car park
• John Lewis car park
• Sam house
• Paul house 

Sense of Space - Initial ideas

Leaving the first session we set up a facebook group so as to relay ideas between each other.

My initial idea was to start with an urban wild track that slowly builds with a variety of city noises into a crescendo, maybe have someone screaming towards the end to add some fun, which then cuts out in to a muffle as a door is slammed or lid is shut, giving the idea the city has been shut out, then maybe have some finger scraping sounds and somebody frantically whispering “it’s quiet now, it’s quiet now” maybe or maybe not add the sound of water splashing using that to muffle out the noise. Slowly building tension throughout with a frantic state of mind, maybe some voice overs describing place during the build-up, would add to it. Also you could have someone hammering on a door in the quiet bit.

Paul added to this; I had a couple of ideas about the sound piece, see my notebook scans. I like your idea. It's very creepy!! We were playing with hydrophone underwater microphone today. We could make the muffled bit sound as though it's someone being forced underwater and being held down so it gets really tense and then have them coming up and gasping for air..???

This was then developed into a more succinct idea scaling it back from what had become more drama based effect of place into a cityscape sense of space that started quiet and built into a crescendo.

Sense of Space - research - 12 gates to the city

This is an interesting site that I stumbled upon which brings function and interactivity between the listener and the sounds. In ‘Old town sound walk’ the listener is guided through the old parts of Edinburgh, you are given a route and listen to the sound walk as you travel through. This is interesting as it adds functionality. It also creates a great sense of space which is quite interesting to listen to even if you aren’t doing the walk. They use stereo city sounds that cuts through the voice overs giving direction, if you’re wearing headphones, which is the intension, it feels as if the cars are driving through your head from one side to the other. This will definitely have influence in terms of the sense of space, though we probably won’t adopt the stylistic feature of asking different people directions as we wouldn’t want to replicate ‘12 gates to the city’ as we want to respond to the brief effectively, by being creative and imaginative. What is particularly interesting is the way in which the creators are drawing attention to the sounds which most people would block out without even realizing, creating a new experience for the listener.  


http://12gatestothecity.com/projects/audio-tours-soundwalks/old-town/

Sense of Space - Research - 'Art Cinema: An introduction'

For part of my research I read the chapter on sound in the book; Art cinema: An introduction 2010 9th ed. Whilst this isn't directly related as we are not creating sounds for the cinema but instead a soley sound output, it did however hold some interesting ideas. I find it interesting that people have come to expect great quality hyper-real Dolby surround sound within the cinema and in recent years have invested in home cinema audio kits so that they can bring the cinema experience into their living room. Does this mean that there is a gap in the market for sound only productions, for the growing interest in sound design.

Research Vertigo Technique

Having watched Film 2011 a couple of weeks ago, they highlighted the technique Alfred Hitchcock used in Vertigo 1958 it was also used in Jaws 2 1978, where you start zoomed in on the subject, then track forwards whilst you zoom out with the lens. I then saw the same technique being used in other films including Godzilla 1998. I think its a great effect that shows the overwhelming sense of danger the character is experiencing. So I thought I would have a go at it, just handheld and very shaky as I don't have a track and it didn't really matter because I was just experimenting as to whether I could recreate this technique.