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.