Innovation and Interference - Maps and Journeys Installation

Sound Journey Idea

One of my ideas refers back to the first year of Experimental Sound, where we were shown a film (The Double Life of Veronique) in which the protagonist starts listening to audio of someone's journey. We hear distinct noises (such as footsteps, creaking of doors, dialogue, background noise, etc) which create a narrative, distinguishing key moments of the person's journey.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101765/

My idea would be similar to this, featuring a journey through sound. The installation will require the audience to place headphones in and listen to the sounds that are being played back to them, using their imagination to map out a path of their journey. This would place some sort of interactive feature within the installation, which allows each audience member a unique experience and hopefully immersing them into this fictional world.

The inspiration of my work will be solely from Disney Pixar's 'Monsters Inc.', in which I will incorporate a person walking through several different doors featuring different environmental changes/sounds. I will recreate the sounds of these various environments, allowing the audience to differentiate between them and experience what the character is experiencing.

Environments:

Outdoor Grass (Birds tweeting, trees swaying, grass footsteps)

Mountain Climate (Heavy wind, snow footsteps)

Storm (Thunder, Lightning, rainstorm, splashing)

Volcano (Cracking, eruption, audible struggle of the character)

Restaurant setting (Hear background noises of people dining)

Empty room (Echoed footsteps, slight breathing)

Techno room (Odd techno bass sounds, experimenting with techno sounds)


Installation Idea

During the tutorial with Rosie, I discussed the idea and despite interest, I was questioned with how I can present the installation whilst making it interactive to the audience. My original Idea was to present it on a small mp3 player, with headphones attached to it, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the sound environment. However, after sharing this idea with Rosie, I was told that this idea was less immersive and a slow process for an audience member to have to wait for the person using the mp3 player.

After brainstorming ideas, the plan was to incorporate four doors connected to a small booth. The doors will therefore be used as a switch, triggering the sound of an environment once open. Once a certain door is open, a light representing the sound of the climate will shine into the booth.

The environments were narrowed down to the following:

Outdoor Grass (Birds tweeting, trees swaying, grass footsteps)

Mountain Climate (Heavy wind, snow footsteps)

Volcano (Cracking, eruption, audible struggle of the character)

City (Busy streets, crowds, London)

After the presentation to the class, we received feedback on the idea. The biggest criticism with the piece was the fact the the doors seemed to be more of a gimmick, with less of a real meaning behind it. Robert also mentioned the fact that the doors could be used with a sense of curiosity for the audience, which seemed quite interesting to use, as everyone encounters curiosity on their personal journeys.

After a discussion with the group and Rosie, we decided to split up and do our seperate ideas due to time constraints.

Treatment

For the Maps and Journeys installation project, I will incorporate the idea of journeying through an idea, in which it develops in the mind. By presenting it using an illustrated form, I will incorporate sound into the mix in order to allow the audience a more immersive experience.

The concept of this idea will include an illustrated installation piece, much like the works of Hilary White, in which I will layer illustrations over each other to create a 3D piece. In addition, I will specifically place small mp3 players featuring sound, allowing the audience to plug in headphones into sections of the piece in order to hear the part of the journey it will be representing.

The target audience will be aimed at people who generally visit galleries and are interested in interpreting the sound to their own imagination. The basis of the installation will hopefully provide interactivity for the audience in which they will listen to certain points of the journey through headphones. 

Equipment/Software needed will include:

Polystyrene

Printer

Scalpel

Spray Glue

Mp3 Players x3

Headphones

Marantz Recorder

Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop

Pro Tools

Sounds needed will include:

Outdoor fields (representing empty thoughts) - Birds tweeting, Trees swaying, light breeze of wind, grass footsteps

Snowy Mountain (representing conflict with ideas) - Heavy wind, snowy footsteps

Volcano (representing the creation of the idea)  - Cracking, eruption, steaming noises, bubbling lava

It is important when editing that any copy-written material used during production is used with permission of the holder and is also noted down on the blogs. The sound will mostly be recorded using a Marantz recorder, therefore there won’t be any copyright permission needed.

Maps and Journeys - Leah's Project

For Leah's Project, we are required to create a journey and document it, making it personal to ourselves. For my idea, I decided to visit all the local pubs around West Street, Farnham.

In Rosie's lecture , we learnt about the many ways that maps can be portrayed through art. One of the topics mentioned was GPS, and how that can be related to something artistic.

GPS tracking allows someone to trace their journey, seeing the start point and end point. Many people have created imagery from GPS on a map by tracking their route and creating an object out of it.

GPS Image of a Jellyfish by Michael Wallace

This is a great way to visualise how this person travelled, as it was a single route (no stopping and then turning on the GPS to create the image), giving us the idea that this person had to backtrack during their journey in order to create this image.

My idea is to visit all the local pubs around Farnham Town Centre. I will picture the inside of the pubs and note down any important sights and also the atmosphere of them using sound clips to add detail.

I planned my route (above picture) and mapped out all the pubs on the road. This would give me an idea on where they were and how many I can tick off the list.

The Jolly Sailors

_________________________________________________________________________________

The Plough

_________________________________________________________________________________

The Wheatsheaf

http://www.gps-art.org/

http://www.themobilecity.nl/2014/02/07/exhibition-review-polakvanbekkums-gps-art-from-a-documentary-to-an-artistic-medium/

Sound Design - Soundscape Project

For the sound project, we are required to create a soundscape based on a 30 second - 1 minute long text/narrative. By recording various sounds and using Pro Tools, this will then reflect on the text by use of different effects such as reverb and delay, which will add a sense of spacing to the audio.

Narrative text:

"A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit, but when the author leads us to one particular door, we know it is the right one because it opens."

(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/narrative.html#rsjzzzlu8zBUwMZ5.99)

Using this quote, I structured a basic outline for what will happen in the narrative. My idea involves the following:

"A narrative is like a room..."

Outdoor footsteps leading into an indoor environment. Indoor footsteps indicating the character is inside a room. (Echoing footsteps on marble or wooden floor)

"...on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted..."

Spray paint/Paint brush sounds. Indicating the painting of the doors.

"...while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit..."

Door knocking, Turning of door knobs/locks. Sounds panning left and right giving us a sense of space. The audience realises that these doors are the fake ones, restricting the character from entering.

"...but when the author leads us to one particular door..."

Door creaking open to indicate the narrative continuing. Droning noise indicates an aura behind the open door, leading the character to the continuation of the "narrative".

"we know it is the right one because it opens."

Footsteps leading away through the door, becoming faint towards the end of the audio.

I was able to book out a Roland in order to start my sound recording for the project. During recording, I managed to record various sounds in order to add them to pro tools to start the editing. For the painting sound, I was restricted as I didn't have the necessary objects in order to gain the right audio (Spray paint can noises and paintbrush noise).

Therefore, I used a deodorant spray can to recreate the noise of a spray paint can. In order to recreate the noise of the ball inside the can when shaking it, I used a tub of Sainsbury's multivitamins and used just one tablet whilst shaking it. This created both an echoed sound plus giving me a close enough interpretation to a spray paint can noise.

For the paint brush sounds, I put the microphone up close to a wall and brushed my hand against it in a sweeping motion. The footsteps I recorded for the beginning of the soundscape were recording on gravel, eventually leading onto concrete and inside a house (being the room for the narrative). I used the sound of someone fiddling with a door knob and the creaking of a door hinge in order to create the sound of the opening of the narrative at the end.

The Roland was very simple to use, as I had taken on my experience of using this in the previous year for Experimental Sound. I used the settings of 48KHz and 16 Bit when recording.

Once I had all my recordings, it was time to import them into Pro Tools during the workshop. 

The first thing I did once importing all the audio was to listen to them individually and renaming them to what sound they were, making it easier to distinguish them once the editing begins on the timeline. One thing I noticed immediately once I imported the audio onto the timeline was the fact that the soundwaves were thin, meaning that the volume was low. I quickly corrected this by using the audio gain in the bottom left corner and dragging up on the meter, allowing the volume to increase.

In order to make the audio fade, I used the shortcut of Command + F, which allowed me to create a length of fade on whichever clip I wanted from either the start or the end. This prevents the soundclip from immediately cutting off, allowing for a smoother listening experience.

The button on the bottom right of the numeric keypad (enter button) is used for setting markers within the timeline. This gives me the opportunity to know exactly where important points of the timeline are (such as important cuts or when a certain moment of the scenario happens within the timeline) without having to keep playing and listening to the audio. I am also able to rename the marker (which appears above the timeline) which allows me to easily distinguish which point of the soundscape is which.

After the first session of editing, I managed to create a rough structure of what I wanted for my final outcome. using various different methods of technique such as panning and reverb to add some space in this fictional audio universe. I managed to use the pencil tool in order to draw exactly where I wanted the audio to pan, allowing me to alter it to exactly where I wanted it to pan. In addition, Harry helped show me how to add a droning noise to the timeline, which fit into the end of the soundscape while the door creaks open. Once I had a general outline of the structure of my sound edit, I realised that I needed to recreate some of the audio in order to make it clearer to the audience on what was happening (such as the footsteps and door noises). The first session was basically an experiment for my final project, as I was playing with the different effects I can use whilst finding out on my flaws and what I can improve.

For the second session of recording, I took out a Marantz recorder and recorded a voice over for the soundscape. I ensured that I recorded many different pronunciations of the quote in order to give me more variety when selecting the right audio. I made sure that during recording I wasn't recording too loud for the microphone to pick up by turning the dial down between 6 and 7 and paying close attention to the lights below it (making sure it didn't reach the red section). I did have some difficulties with battery power (charging it over night but it kept turning off after 30 seconds from low battery), however I managed to get the recordings I needed for the edit.

Once completed, I layered the voice over on top of the sound audio, therefore allowing me to map out where and when the correct sounds would come in. I made use of the marker to easily distinguish when a certain part of the audio will start, allowing for a less tedious edit.

Adding the voice over allowed me to have a visual understanding of what audio I needed to space out, as during the first session I realised that all my sound files were too close together and sounded like a mash-up of audio rather than a timed, spaced out soundscape.

During the opening part of the soundscape, I noted that the footsteps were outside, however I wanted it to transition into an indoor environment as the 'walls' were mentioned. Using the crossfade tool, I was able to put together a smooth transition from outdoors to indoors which gave the sound a room tone.

Once I was happy with the overall edit, I needed to ensure that the audio did not exceed -10db. This was completed by adding a Master track, allowing me to see exactly at which point the audio passed the limit. I noticed that only two recordings (the turning of the lock and the door creak) became too loud at certain points, therefore I used a compresser in order for the sound to automatically reduce if it managed to surpass -10db.

After I was happy with everything, I exported the audio, making sure of the right format (16 bit and 48kHz).

In conclusion, I am happy with the outcome as I felt the recordings were clear and edited to give the audience an understanding of the quote. Ways I would like to improve the recording would be to maybe add some extra aesthetics (such as birds tweeting once the door opens, signifying an outdoor area to the audience), however I am pleased with the way it turned out and enjoyed the experience of sound foley and recreating sounds (spraypaint can, paintbrush).

Sound Design

For the first day of Sound Design, we were revised on the basics which we covered with Joe last year in Experimental Sound. By looking at various examples of sound work in different forms of media, I was able to acknowledge how sound is used as a means to create an environment, often being a seamless part of the scene.

We were shown a scene from the 2003 film Elephant, in which the camera is following a boy through a school. The scene contains long shot with the camera following behind him, whilst the music playing in the background is Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven. We acknowledged the fact that the music was dominant, however whenever the character looks away to focus on something, the sounds from whatever he was looking at would play, almost as if this was showing us what was going on in the boy's mind.

The soundwaves that are displayed on an audio track determine how loud or quiet it will be. In addition, it shows the pitch of the audio track, with it being either deep or high. Waves that appear short will ultimately sound lower than waves that appear high, whereas longer waves will have a deeper pitch (giving us more of a bass sound) than waves that are squashed together (giving us a high pitched sound).

Soundwaves are processed by the tiny hairs in our ears which pick up frequencies of sound (vibrations). 

Similarly to film storyboarding, sound design requires careful planning in order to create a sense of immersion within the scene. 

Music Concréte is a technique created by (Pierre Schaeffer), in which a musical Composition is created through use of recorded sounds. These sounds are then edited (reverb, cutting, pitch shift, reverse and distortion). (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399309/musique-concrete)

Symphonie pour un homme seul(1950; Symphony for One Man Only) This is one of Pierre Schaeffer's musical compositions which uses the technique of music concrete. The concept of this Is to use various Noises in order to create a new type of musical symphony. The example shown below contains one of the movements (erotica), in which several different bits of audio of orgasms/laughter of a female are rearanged in order to create an almost melodic/soothing tone. 

Innovation and Interference - Maps and Journeys - Concept Ideas

For the project brief, we are required to create a metaphorical journey as part of an installation. This can be created in any way, using sound, video, photography, text or a combination.

Bucket List Idea

This idea was inspired by last year's Time Art project, in which I researched the installation of Victor Sonna's Twisted Bikes. These bikes were created to show the twisted events that are reflected through people's lives, also detailing their unique movement both physically and mentally.

Taking this idea of a life journey, I want to reflect mine through people's experiences (or plans for the future, literally mapping out their life). A Bucket list is a list of experiences/places that people write down, like a checklist, in order for them to complete in their life. This idea focuses on a bucket list, with it portraying a life journey of a person, giving the audience an insight into the mystery person's personality and objectives in which they want to live through.

The installation will contain a real bucket (silver/metal) containing maps, pictures, leaflets etc. This will give the audience a sense of interactivity, allowing them to piece together who this person is and what they are interested in. It will also place the audience in the person's shoes, giving them experience through a memory or different forms of media.

I would like to utilise various aspects of media, such as illustrations (leaflets, business cards) and photography (pictures of buildings, places, events) and possibly sound recordings played through an mp3 player. This would give the illusion that this person has experienced various different opportunities and allows the audience to imagine how and what is happening.

Candy Chang created a public display of a bucket list called 'Before I Die' on the side of an abandoned house, allowing people "to reflect what is important and meaningful to them". Passers by were able to pick up a piece of chalk and write whatever goals they felt they wanted to achieve, either personal or as a community. 

"By the next day, all 80 prompts were filled and responses spilled into the margins: Before I die I want to… sing for millions, plant a tree, hold her one more time,straddle the International Date Line, see my daughter graduate, eat more everything, abandon all insecurities, be completely myself…"

This gave the public a sense of interactivity, whilst also allowing them to express themselves and understanding other people's opinions on their own goals. It has since been imitated by other artists in different countries.

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/hDrwvOXKPeb/Public+Chalkboard+Art+Installation+Encourages/IBH77bCdfHZ/Adam+Kampe

http://candychang.com/before-i-die-in-nola/

There are various websites that offer suggestions for bucket lists, ranging from spontaneous goals to achievable, everyday goals. This will be handy for me to pick and create a character from these suggestions. In addition, I could make it specific to a location (Farnham for instance), by tailoring the goals to it e.g. Visit all the restaurants in Farnham. (http://www.bucketlist.net/lists/all_lists/)

Sound Journey Idea

One of my ideas refers back to the first year of Experimental Sound, where we were shown a film (The Double Life of Veronique) in which the protagonist starts listening to audio of someone's journey. We hear distinct noises (such as footsteps, creaking of doors, dialogue, background noise, etc) which create a narrative, distinguishing key moments of the person's journey.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101765/

My idea would be similar to this, featuring a journey through sound. The installation will require the audience to place headphones in and listen to the sounds that are being played back to them, using their imagination to map out a path of their journey. This would place some sort of interactive feature within the installation, which allows each audience member a unique experience and hopefully immersing them into this fictional world.

The inspiration of my work will be solely from Disney Pixar's 'Monsters Inc.', in which I will incorporate a person walking through several different doors featuring different environmental changes/sounds. I will recreate the sounds of these various environments, allowing the audience to differentiate between them and experience what the character is experiencing.

Environments:

Outdoor Grass (Birds tweeting, trees swaying, grass footsteps)

Mountain Climate (Heavy wind, snow footsteps)

Storm (Thunder, Lightning, rainstorm, splashing)

Volcano (Cracking, eruption, audible struggle of the character)

Restaurant setting (Hear background noises of people dining)

Empty room (Echoed footsteps, slight breathing)

Techno room (Odd techno bass sounds, experimenting with techno sounds)