Month: September 2015

Radio’s New Wave, so far this semester, has been an interesting insight to the world of non-fiction radio. To be honest, I was unaware that this type of radio production existed and was under the impression that its existence was essentially in the twentieth century, and slowly eased out in the later years of the same century. But I have found the radio content of the twenty-first century to be inspiring and a fascinating form of media. A story that is still with me is the story of The Real Tom Banks by Jesse Cox. The editing techniques, as well as the powerful voices used, created a dramatic piece in such a taboo and serious topic. This has been an inspiration for me in the past few weeks, and will continue to inspire me in the upcoming final project. But overall,  The Real Tom Banks has become a prime example to me of how such radio productions can be a very powerful and emotive way to share something with the world. It seems strange to me that such an art form isn’t as well known as others. With an increasingly busy world, we are, in theory, becoming more exposed to radio as we spend more time in vehicles. Yet we are not hearing as detailed pieces as we have been exposed to in Radio’s New Wave. I have to be honest in admitting that I have not had much experience in this field. In non-fiction radio, I am used to the concept of journalism and being in the field for a hard news story. This is mostly featured on ABC radio, and is an idea that I am trying to steer away, as I feel that I have been inspired by this format unintentionally. Creating a little known story and creating a major production in this media format has been a little intimidating, and is something that I hope to improve on in the final radio project.

For the field focused recording, I decided to place attention on the sounds around my home, with the intention of putting emphasis on the environment where I was raised with the influence of two very distinct cultures. The initial thought was to focus on the field sounds of breakfast being made to represent the significance of childhood familiarity. Having a traditionally Turkish breakfast is something that always comes to mind when I think of time spent with my grandparents in my early years.

In this piece, I discuss different stories of my childhood to create the effect of ‘stream of consciousness’. This technique was used with the intention to display a thorough engagement with culture, as I discuss Turkish customs that I consider to be normal. However, in the next project, I believe that I should be paying more attention to discussing only one subject, instead of relying on the idea of stream of consciousness. I also consider that this is an attempt to create a more ‘experimental’ piece, as I am not confident in editing music and singular sounds into my piece.  I also think that I rely too much on the spoken word, and am under the impression that this has greatly affect my field recording. Therefore, it is something that I hope to improve on in the next project brief.  

In the next project, I also aspire to progress my skills in the creating the general structure of the piece, as I suspect that this has been my downfall in this and previous projects. I will attempt to do this by creating a more detailed plan of the piece, and following this arrangement strictly.

I was inspired by the words of Lee Gutkind in this field recording. In “The 5 Rs of Creative Nonfiction”, Gutkind quotes the words of Jeanne Marie Laskas in the discussion of Writing in Scenes. She quotes: “I only have one rule from start to finish. I write in scenes. It doesn’t matter to me in which order the scenes are written. I write whichever scene inspires me at any given time, and I worry about the plot or frame or narrative later. The scene- a scene- any scene- is always first” (pg.3). Due to personal reasons, I had to change my idea quite quickly this week. I decided to remain inspired by my initial idea and still keep the idea of cultural heritage, so I verbally explained my identity and childhood with reference to the Turkish culture. I was inspired by the idea of being focused on completing the scene, which lead to me talking into the microphone with the idea in mind, with the intention of using what is said in the recording and editing it to improve the general quality of the piece.

My initial plan for this project was to interview a family member and explain the idea of culture and the experience of living in a completely different culture. Unfortunately, due to illness on the part of the interviewee and personal circumstances this week, I was unable to do so. Due these personal matters (which I am happy to explain if necessary), I had to improvise, and decided to create pieces relating to my personal musings on my culture. However, I wanted to keep my initial of the idea of the opposites of ’home and away.’ I had hoped recently to travel to Turkey, later on this year. It was initially planned that I would visit and explore a nation that is a huge part of my life. Unfortunately, this is not possible due to the poor circumstances of the nation. This recent decision has lead to myself being more aware of my culture. Although I grew up in Australia, I grew up largely influenced by my Turkish heritage. With the one-hundredth anniversary of the Gallipoli landings being recognised this year, I am reminded of my family’s experience. A family member was subjected to racism on this day, with one older man suggesting that she ‘ought to be ashamed of herself’ on such an occasion. I was also taught by my family about the Turkish perspective of the Gallipoli landings, something that was not discussed in the years of my education.

As I explain an incident that remains in my family member’s thoughts, I distort the voices from my own to explore a situation and a musing that did not directly occur to me. I hope that this displays myself showing more knowledge of the editing software, including its effects. My main aim to display a darker sense of the effect of racism, as I explain an event that deeply affected a family member.  

Despite the fact that the humming is off tune throughout the piece, I feel that it is a necessary element to the piece. I hum the tune to the Turkish national anthem. Since I do not speak the language, I cannot sing it, but I am very familiar with the anthem. I feel that this also brings a more personal element to the piece, as well as a childlike sense of the piece, as I am explaining thoughts and stories from my point of view on the matter whilst growing up.

For this studio focused piece, I was inspired by the radio production of  ’The Real Tom Banks’ by Jesse Cox. Its use of two different voices to explain one man’s story was a powerful way to tell the story, and create a thought-provoking piece.. The two clearly distinct voices strengthened the overall meaning, and provided insight to a taboo subject of individuals with disabilities and sexual relationships. Although I did not use another voice in my piece and relied solely on my own voice, I had the idea of distorting the voice with this piece in mind.

As I am new in this media field, I still hope to improve my techniques in editing, and become more confident in the area. I will accomplish this by completing drafts before the due date of the final product in the next project. I hope that this would help improve my general structure of story as well as creating more confidence in the technology itself.

Many weeks ago, the sounds of the chicken being cut within the context of Frankenstein has been an illustration of texture throughout the semester. The sounds that can be discovered in such an everyday situation has the power to become a haunting element of the piece, as well as an example of more creative story-telling.  However, for a new-comer, this is an intimidating feature of radio’s new wave due to the sheer creativity, and the idea of creating a different context to sounds. I have been a little stumped on how to emulate such a powerful concept into my pieces. I am a little embarrassed to say that I don’t believe I have been creative this semester.
I feel that this form of sound design would be very effective for effective story. Depending on the idea, I will try to create something similar to this effect in the final piece.
I would also like to focus on the rhythm of words next semester, and created something that sounds similar to spoken poetry. This would require very strict story-boarding, and would be require actors, as well as general rehearsal of sound. I do not feel that I have been capable of this in recent projects, and hope that with