Alice Partington FE Foundation (Media Production - Stage 2: Developmental)

project 11: energy

BRIEF: Capturing the intangible through sound design, film, and animation. Using modes of testing and creation, respond to the word "Energy". Your response must include a 1 minute soundtrack made from gathered or created sounds. Alongside an animated, or filmed, music visualiser that loops.

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

Initial Thoughts & Ideas

Learning About Sound

Presentation On Sound Energy - My Notes

Experimentation: Learning About Sound Equipment

Experiments: Finding Sounds

Ella, Chilli and I went around the Ravensbourne building to find atmospheric sounds to record. It was very interesting to hear the environment in closer detail. Listening back to the sounds, some made me physically cringe and get goosebumps, while others I found harder to hear. This was an extremely intriguing and eye-opening exercise as to the nuances and complexities of sound.

RESEARCH

Contextual Research

Gü Zillionaire Ice Cream Advert

• visual abstract close-ups to convey texture of product
• creating energy through motion
• rippling textures representing the product demonstrating the smoothness and feel of the product
• using abstract textures of the product combined with precise movement to convey the richness and desirability of the product
• using jazzy music and timing the sound effects with the transitions and movements to immerse the viewer
• combining immersive music with descriptive dialogue with visualised immersion into the ice cream to simulate the emotional and textural quality of eating the product

Video from (Creative Boom, 2023)

The Effects of Circadian Rhythm on Health

• visualisation of the circadian rhythm and its effect on health
• looking at light energy absorbed in comparison to cortisol, melatonin and body temperature levels
• turning energy into a visual graph
• looking at energy in nature and natural cycles
• relation between bodily functions and the environmental world

Ratatouille

• Turning taste into visual sense
• using colour and patterns to communicate texture
• use of music to communicate emotion
• visuals react and flow to the music
• link to synesthesia and the visualisation of the senses

Video from (Gagne, 2015).

Charlie Puth Interview

• using everyday objects to create music
• utilising technology to manipulate unassuming sounds
• "everything has tonality"

(The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 2022)

PROCESS

Development of Message

Recording My Sounds

I started by recording sounds of water from the tap, as that was the easiest to access and I knew would be picked up by the microphone. I turned the tap to different levels to record different water noises and get a variety of sounds that I could use. I then tried to record the ambient electricity noises from the refrigerator and the sounds from pressing the microwave buttons.

Clarification and Specification of Piece Message

After recording my sounds, I decided to use the creaking floorboard sounds to make my piece. The "energy" I will be exploring is the energy in memories and livelihood of my house. It is an old house so the stairs and floorboards creak all the time, and I know where the creakiest spots are as I've grown up here. It is interesting to think about the personal connection with the creaky sounds of worn floors as a comfort built into my memories of home. These floors and stairs have been through so much and have been walked over for decades, and each creak has come from people living there. The energy I am exploring is the energy of livelihood stored in buildings's physical memory - through my sound I am looking at the house's energy that has been shaped both physically and sonically by the lives of the people living there.

Manipulating My Sounds

Process

I loaded my floorboard recording into Audition and started to cut it into sections. I looked for sounds that could sound like a bass or different drum beats, or which have good tonality, and started to try to create music. I used added EQ filters to each track to change the sounds and remove unwanted noises. It took me a while of playing around with it to understand how to use the filters to do what I wanted, and I got better the more I did it. I couldn't work out how to change the pitch of the sounds to become more like musical notes, so the whole piece is just the same notes looping. I kept altering pieces of sound and adding more layers, which I felt was not always helping to improve the overall sound. I found this task really difficult as I struggled to get the ideas that were in my head into the program. I could hear what I wanted to add in my head, but when I tried to implement it using the tools in the program, I couldn't do it. However, I still tried my best to create a piece of sound that stuck to a consistent rhythm and was somewhat musical. While it is not what I imagined, my outcome for this version developed into the final piece, which I think has an interesting contextual direction but did not end up sounding like anything I thought it would be and planned for.

First Version

Final Sound Versions

My final sound versions, with and without the ambient sounds.

Reflection & Second Attempt

At this point, I wasn't sure if I liked my sound, so I started a second version with the water sounds I recorded. I felt this one had better musical potential as I had learnt from making the first one, but it wasn't finished and I feel the floorboard sounds have a better message.

Second Attempt Sound - Water

Presentation Notes

Visualiser

For my visuals I recorded a bunch of clips showing my house's old, creaky staircase. The flooring on the staircase has been removed to be replaced with painting, so the stairs have a dark brown, spattered texture which I think is very visually intriguing. The white balusters match the white painted panelling under each step, which I thought could be used to create an interesting visual parallel. I wanted the visuals to be more abstract than recognisable, so I swerved my camera while keeping it trained on the staircase. I also took videos of the light fixture in the same hallway to experiment with different abstract patterned visuals.

I selected the ones I thought would fit the best and put them together in Premier Pro over the floorboard sounds. I timed the transitions with the music for them to fit together better. Looking back over the videos, it would have been interesting to include video #2 as it shows the staircase from below, and the angle is quite abstract.

WORKSHOP: Lumen Printing

Process

This is my process for creating a Lumen print. I used a damp, ripped notebook page to make the photo on my print, as well as a small piece of film. I wasn't sure how well this would work but it actually ended up working really well. The process was simple and fun, and accessible in terms of materials needed. The outcome was really interesting, as well as it being a photograph without photography - a very intriguing methodology and media which I would like to explore further in the future.