Aisha Stevens Yaman

“Using sounds to tell true stories artfully”

For this project brief, it did take me some time to fully conceive an idea that represented the brief of using sounds to tell true stories artfully. But after much consideration, I decided to focus on a fictional representation of a real issue, in this case, domestic abuse. It is an issue that I consider myself passionate about, and I believe that the range of sounds used can thoroughly reflect the emotions that are found in this type of atmosphere. I decided to do a fictional representation of this issue for personal reasons, but I feel it still resonates strongly with the topic on hand. This project relied on both recorded sounds by a Zoom H4N and sounds that were found under the Creative Commons, Attribution and Non-Commercial Attribution act from freesound.org. The 3.5 minute piece was edited on a WaveLab program.

I believe that I have met the brief by relying on both the spoken word and a range of different sounds to reflect tension and anxiety. My format ran through two different timelines, that of diary entries and of the atmosphere that the narrator is discussing. I have storyboarded this by different chapters, which are divided by diary entries and two different sections that artfully reflects the experience of the narrator. By using a diary entry, I feel that I provide the listener with explanations of the events and the more complex emotions that is experienced. I also feel that by the narrator whispering, it also artfully represents the atmosphere, by implying that the narrator is too frightened to speak loudly; thus showing a vulnerable speaker. I feel this also allows an audience to feel a connection with the narrator, as the speaker is sharing very personal events with complete honesty.

In the editing of this piece, I made sure to feature a wide range of sounds to make sure to provide a range of textured sounds. This includes a conversation recording between the narrator and her friend. This discussion is used as a background to a single diary entry, and is intended to further reflect the vulnerability on the part of the narrator. I did this with a stark difference in my tone of voice between talking in natural conversation with my friend and the near-whispering monologue of the diary entry. This type of texture was also used to reflect the range of emotions that the narrator is experiencing.

Throughout the piece, the background sounds such as the nervous tension track and the heartbeat recordings that appears throughout the audio is intended to reflect the uneasiness behind in this type of circumstance. It implies that the narrator is uncertain about how her predicament will proceed. I feel that the two separate tracks of the heart beat is intended to reflect a speaker who is so entirely frightened that she can feel, and faintly hear, her own heart beating, something that I am sure many people have experienced also. Another example is the second chapter with no words, used before the final spoken diary entry; these selected sounds were used to imply how every sound is scrutinised by the storyteller to display how the individual is increasingly fearful with the environment increasingly tense.

For this project brief, I was inspired by Virginia Madsen’s Your Ears are a Portal to Another World. One point in particular inspired me for this project- and it was her quotation of Olive Shapley: “Shapely could even imagine she was creating radio as it should be created, letting people ‘speak for themselves’” (pg. 128) I was inspired by this reading because of this idea, because it allows a quieter individual (such as the narrator) to share their emotions and fear in such an environment. This is an issue that affects many people around the world, and many are afraid to speak up. Madsen and Shapely’s idea of “letting people ‘speak for themselves’” inspired me to create a narrator, clearly reluctant to speak, but allows herself to reveal her daily atmosphere. I also feel that this is an important point to what we have been learning throughout the semester: creating a medium where people can express themselves and share their story to the world.

I was also inspired by the piece of Witold Zodrawski: Death of an Elephant.  Since it is entirely spoken in Polish, an english speaking listener would have to rely on the sounds and tones of the narrator’s voice throughout the piece. He does this by speaking on a hushed tone. This hushed tone is relied on heavily throughout the piece, and implies that his tone of voice is crucial for his safety in the jungle environment. The background of animals and an animal clearly in pain reflects the atmosphere. I was inspired by this by creating the tone of voice throughout my own narration in the piece. I feel that I have succeeded in attempting to further imply and create the atmosphere of the piece, through a hushed and careful tone of voice throughout the recording. This implies that the narrator is quiet for her own safety, and does this out of both fear and necessity. The focus on texture and tone of voice was immensely powerful to Zodrawski’s radio feature, as it reflected atmosphere and the emotions of the piece; this was crucial to such as feature, as a non-speaker of Polish could easily understand the context and the reaction. Zodrawski’s work on this particular piece highlights the idea of using sounds to tell stories artfully, by effectively sharing a true event despite the barrier of language. I found this very inspiring throughout project brief 4.

The reading of Hugh Chignell and Key Concepts in Radio Studies: Documentaries and Features also inspired me in creating this project brief. Chignell provides the example of Charles Parker and his production of Radio Ballads, due to his combination of “the speech of working-class people with song and actuality” (Chigell, 2009, pg. 4). Chigell continues, with Parker’s focus on celebrating “the speech of ordinary people, veracular English as opposed to ‘BBC English’” (Chignell, 2009, pg. 4). Chignell’s example of Parker inspired me to record a spontaneous and non-formal conversation. By recording this, I told the actor only the context of the discussion, and let natural conversation flow in the afterward. Although it only made up a smaller piece of the feature than I had originally intended, I felt that it was still important to provide this in this feature; as it allows a wider of variety of sounds included in the unscripted conversation to supply artfully to story. By providing natural conversation in the background of a scripted story-telling, it displays a more of a realistic side of storytelling; as well as providing the audience with more insight to the story.

I feel that I have succeeded in the brief of “using sounds to tell stories artfully”. Perhaps I could of improved on using more vivid range of sounds, but I feel that what I have recorded and selected was important for the piece. I could of improved on the more technical side of the editing, such as perhaps using a distortion effect for a few of the diary entries; however, I thought that this would have affected negatively on the emotions that I was intending to portray in the piece. I felt that I have gained a lot of knowledge throughout the semester relating to “Radio’s New Wave”, and although I have become more confident in using the Wavelab editing system, I feel that it something I can continue to work and improve on. However, I am proud of what I have completed for the project brief 4.

Finally, the photograph I have used was taken myself. The broken plate is used to represent an item found in almost every home, and it being smashed reflects a broken home. The broken pieces positioned in an attempt to regain the plate as it once was, is used to represent the narrator; and her attempt to keep calm in such an environment.

Readings/audio used:

Virginia Madsen, Your Ears are a Portal to Another World: The New Radio Documentary Imagination and the Digital Domain.

Witold Zadrowski, Death of an Elephant

Hugh Chignell and Key Concepts in Radio Studies: Documentaries and Features

Credit list:http://aishastevens.weebly.com/credits.html

Throughout the semester, I feel that Radio’s New Wave has allowed me to gain more confidence in the basics of the software of Wavelab. However, I still feel clueless in regards to creating a more ’sophisticated’ edited piece. I am under the impression that Wavelab is one of the best audio editing systems, but I find it complex and not user friendly to new-commers such as myself.. Every project, as well as detailed explanations from Kyla, have really helped me gain a firm grasp on the basics of the system. I hope to use it more successfully in the next project, but am happy with my progress so far. 

My biggest concern in using the wave lab is how to successfully change voices and sounds by using the sound effects feature on Wavelab. Although I do know the basics of this feature, it seems very detailed. When using it, I am typically quite concerned about using too much of it, and making it sound robotic and artificial when it wasn’t my intention towards the piece. There are many little details in each effect, and I am a little confused about how to use each one correctly. I am also concerned about the listener’s experience, and what may sound artistic at the time may not translate well at a later time.
I have become more comfortable with the zoom recorder throughout the semester, and am reluctant to steer away from it in the final project. I find them smaller and therefore more convenient.

This is something that I think I should carefully work on in the final project. I feel that this has been my downfall in my project briefs, and is something that I hope to improve on in the project. When in the midst of creating the project, the amount of information created can be overwhelming, and the positioning of the story-telling is a frustrating process for me. I typically go for the easiest solution for me and select the topics as they were discussed in the interview, or in the order I had recorded the original sounds.

The pieces that we have listened to throughout the semester have ranged from scripted, unscripted field recording, or a combination of the two. I feel that they are powerful in there own way, due to the sheer effort and thought that this type of production creates. Even in some particular stories that I would usually not find interesting, I have been immersed by the story-telling of the piece.
Throughout the semester, I have mostly relied on an unscripted format, and a rough plan. For the final project, I will work hard to change this and created a scripted format and a very strictly story-boarded production.
The examples that we have heard in class is something that I have tried to emulate throughout the semester. Beginning with an acknowledgement of the location and then an exploration of the story needed to be told. I will focus on creating a more effective piece that helps the listener to have their own visual of the story.

At this stage, I have finally completed about two minutes and five seconds of the piece. Although I am happy with the sounds that I recorded myself, I am still questioning about my choices on sounds that I found under the creative commons act. I might need to do more research and find sounds that suit more, but my main issue is the quality of sounds that I found online. It is difficult to find an appropriate one. For example: I found one of a drunk man yelling in German, which I thought was very appropriate for this sort of piece, but the quality of the sound means that you cannot hear the yelling properly, and mostly just hear the environment. Upon research, I found a more appropriate one. Although it is in english, it is still not understandable and quite ambiguous in context of what the man yelling is saying. However, I feel that it reflects the intended emotion of anger and the theme of madness, and will work quite well within the piece.

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