Sound Editing One

The main feature we want to have throughout the piece is that of repetition as we wanted to show the body has a repetitive system that it is constantly going through. With the use of the industry sounds too we are constructing the body to be seen as a machine.  

After our meeting it was decided that Olivier and Paul would record sound while I would stick more to the editing side. Paul took the idea of industry to use appliances round his house to capture the sounds of the body that we wanted for example the sound of the dishwasher. By looping the sound of the dishwasher we were able to create the sound of a heartbeat as the main beat to the piece so that although there’s a lot going on it showed that the body had a set rhythm that it functioned too.

To start our audio piece we wanted to start with the sound of a neuron firing as that is the main message signal that travels around the body. We created this using an engraver pen as this was the closest sound we could get to that of the scientists recording of a neuron. We incorporated this with reverb to show that the signal around the body just carried on going.

Another sound we’ve collected so far is that of water running down the sink. After some editing we are going to try to create this to be similar to that of a rushing sound to simulate the sound of blood constantly running throughout the veins and arteries.

We are going to discuss our own separate ideas on the project when we have another editing session together next week. 

Group Meeting One

For our first group meeting we met at The Old House to discuss any ideas that had each come to mind. The main idea that stood out to us was that of Paul's which was to use the idea of "Sense of Place" to mean the lace inside our bodies. 

We talked about the idea of neurons firing and what sounds they would make. This started us to formulate an idea of what would our bodies sound like if we could hear every function they were doing at the time.To follow this we came up with the idea of creating the sounds of our body through industrial such as factories, trains, engines etc to create the image that we are machines and our bodies are built for functioning.

Meeting spider diagram

The types of aspects of the body we decided we wanted to create was that of things like blood flowing by using underwater microphones to create a large dramatic water rushing noise, for eye lids opening and shutting we would construct a factory door type of noise as a way of exaggerating just how noisy it would be if you could hear every aspect of your body.

From here we decided that we would each take out a Zoom microphone and record over the next few days different industrial sounds that we could piece together to create our sound piece that reflected our ideas on the body as a machine.

Personal Research

To begin to produce ideas for our project as a group we decided to meet up and explain any ideas that we had come up with. Before this I did some of my own personal research that I wanted to discuss as a group.

I personally had been looking up ideas to do with modern experimental music and how it was constructed. My main song I analysed was that of "The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson. The style of music was created by using backwards guitar feedbacks and a lot of repetition of beat and power chords. Also incorporated into the music was some other sounds that can be described as being quite odd; the use of a repeated descending brass note in the background to great an ominous effect along with electronic groans on a synthesizer. Many of the vocals were heavily distorted especially the opening to create another aspect of feeling to the piece.

Marilyn Manson- The Beautiful People

I followed this up by watching the music video, that was directed by Floria Sigismondi, was used to follow up the experimental aspects of the music such as swooping shots, close ups, backwards run clips, quick cuts and the constant movement of the camera moving up and down. The main aspects of this I wanted to bring into our own work was that of footage running backwards as it created a whole new view to the video and added to the distorted feel of the music alongside the guitarists own use of backward guitar distortions. I liked the way the music video was mainly used to portray the feel of music into an image rather than the two not reflecting one another.  

Mind Map of Experimental Music videos

When meeting with the group I wanted to bring across my ideas of running sounds and images backwards and that what sounds we create should reflect the film we later create.

Steel Homes Analysis

When watching Steel Homes I found that the main theme of the piece was memory mainly how it is triggered through objects. However they use the representation of the long corridors, metal doors, harsh white lighting to give the representation of this place being like the human brain- a storage of memories- with each person having their own compartment much like each person having their own thoughts.

The structure piece reflects that of the aims and contexts.  By having different narrators along with some gaps of silence this emphasises the range of memories and people that are situated in these storage compartments. As the narration is short these help compliment the short cuts and frame lengths as a way of showing that these experiences the objects relate to were gone in an instant but it is important to the owners that these things are saved so the experience can live on. It also helps the audience to not lose focus on the piece by cutting to different stories to help keep the flow of the narration and images moving. The use of the silent sequences show how this is a place of silent reflection like a church where people go to be silent and to think about the past, present and future.

The camera angles used are mainly low along with long shots as these give sense of actually being there as it is a similar to the eye line you would have were you actually there. The director has positioned the angles to hardly ever show the faces of the people. This use of creating anonymous characters is to pursue the idea of these people not being an important individual meaning they could be anyone on the street. In a way the angles make the doors to the compartments the characters; these are seen on screen the most and are the ones that the narration revolves around. However we hardly see inside them only small snippets as a way of showing the privacy that these doors contain as if not to reveal too much about them.

Lighting throughout the piece is a harsh white light that is coming from the lights situated in the building.  This light emphasises the amount of metal that the corridors contain; in a way this is giving a metaphor on the modern world. The extent of the metal shows how the world now mainly consists of concrete, metal and man-made buildings and people are becoming displaced not knowing where they came from or knowing how to live in this new modern world. By having their own objects locked away in these metal containers the film gives an idea of escapism from the harsh, bright, metal surroundings that they having to learn to be become accustomed too.

By analysing and enjoying this documentary it has opened my eyes to other ways of structuring my films such as portraying stories through narration. In addition it has shown me how using certain angles can give a different effect to the audience and create an altered feeling throughout the film piece.