Sound experiment at home – continue to think about how we loop everyday soundscapes to create a pattern, or transform the meaning of the sound into something that differs from it’s origin. My sound was my fingers running down the blind in my bedroom above my bed. The sound is almost gritty, with echoes of plastic throughout it.

Going around to everyone in the class and listening to the sounds they had looped on their laptop, I tried to picture what it was. I thought the one next to me was a click of a laptop mouse pad, however was actually a light switch being turned on and off. Once it’s looped and repeated over and over again, it begins to have a different sound all together, becoming annoying and irritating, and I start to hear it in a different way. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s as if the timing, tone and time of the sound all at once changes, and it’s hard to hear it the same way I did at the beginning after this experience. It’s like when someone says a name or a word over and over again, it becomes very weird and has a whole different meaning to how you originally perceived it. Interesting!!

I’ve done a bit of sound subjects and over the past few years in media so I’m familiar with the programs such as Audacity and Audition.

Recording sound out in the corridor – mine being the metal lid to my drink bottle hitting the side of a metal handrail. Getting back into the classroom and looping it in the Audacity program. When looped over and over again, it began to sound more like a Ping-Pong ball bouncing on a table rather than the lid of the bottle …

 

The room all of a sudden filled up with all these different noises – and the weird thing was I wasn’t even getting frustrated, it became rather soothing. Almost as if a huge music composition. All these ordinary, boring and plain sounds being looped over and over at the same time became like an orchestra of mundane sounds.

I really loved sharing my mind map to my table group. I didn’t think it was that exciting when I was actually doing the exercise, and I even thought that they might find it boring when I explained it to them, but everyone really enjoyed it! It was really helpful for me to be able to share what I saw and heard because it’s much easier to explain it rather than just write it down on paper – and everyone thought it was really interesting, gave me great positive feedback.

It’s funny because visually, my mind-map indicates my process of thinking. I started in the top right hand corner and eventually made my way clockwise around the poster. However, my time limit was exceeded before I reached the full circuit.

So from these mind-maps, as a group we selected four words that stood out in being an interesting concept. Our four words were:

1. Trace
2. Calm
3. Silence
4. Pattern

We collected visual images that represent these four words, collecting four photos for each word.

Four I collected for the word ‘trace’.

• A used piece of chewing gum and the wrapper
• Collection of dust and hair (gross, but fascinating)
• Used tooth pick
• Single strand of hair left on the head rest of a couch

 

I really love trace as a concept. It’s really interesting. I love the idea of a physical part of someone being somewhere where they are physically not. The person was once in that particular spot, and now they are not, they have physically removed themselves from the space, however a trace of them is till there. It’s weirdly creepy! But super interesting.

What I really loved about this assignment was giving myself the chance, within my own home, to open my mind and further broaden my sonic and visual awareness.

I wanted to challenge myself in what I could gather from this home experiment assignment, so I chose a room for the sound observation that I (originally) thought would be sonically empty, and difficult to notice lots.

The living room in my house doesn’t consist of much excitement. The mundane atmosphere is drawn from the basic elements within it, such as a TV, two couches and a rug on the floor. However, after listening for about 45 minutes, I managed to hear so much more than I thought I would be able to, and it was amazing to fully unpack this.

The most noticeable noises came from the rooms branching off the living room, including the bathroom and the outdoor courtyard. There was about a 10-minute period where the bathroom was being used for a shower while I was observing the space, and my ears automatically became drawn to it as it became the most dominant sound. It was also interesting because as the different sounds of footsteps, tap running and various squeaks and creeks played out, I closed my eyes and pictured the steps as they occurred in my head. The bathroom was located behind me where I sat for the sound observation, so I couldn’t actually see what was producing those sounds therefore had to use my imagination combined with my general, everyday knowledge of the process for taking a shower.

I decided to do the visual observation in the back yard. Of course it was going to be filled with all sorts of beautiful images and elements to not only capture but then further explore. As soon as I began observing, I was writing like a maniac, jotting down every single detail of what I saw. The most dominant visual feature of the space for me the entire time was not just the huge and beautiful contrast in colours, but the way the space was arranged. Shapes of squares and rectangles all fit into one another so effortlessly, and were almost pieced together and finalised with the green tall bushed in between them. I was outside for an hour, and after I had noted all the obvious visuals in front of me including the shadows that the outdoor furniture was creating, the colour and direction of the sunlight glaring through the cracks of the trees, and the amount of green, blue and red in colour, I was able to dive deeper and use my eyes to really search for other interesting and meaningful elements. One of the most interesting and intriguing were the spider webs branched across the bushes. The way the sunlight hit them and combined with the slight breeze cause them to come alive, and despite being so small, fine and delicate, they actually developed into one of the most noticeable things in the garden. I was then able to spot them everywhere, and see how differently they were placed and how the light was reaching them differently.

I am definitely looking forward to the rest of semester after completing this first assignment, and to see where my mind and creativity takes me.

• Seeing is to understand. We understand the world based on how we see it
• Nazvabz suggests that shadows are moving rather than still
• How do we see and experience the world in different ways?

Turrell:

• Places with a powerful quality
• Creating the reality in which we live
• Exploring light and colour
• Receivers of light rather than creators
• Value light – realising value in what you see, bring out things you aren’t paying attention to

It wasn’t until starting the visual observation exercise where I noticed myself falling under the selfish habit of not paying attentions to things. I would pay attention to the obvious, and struggle/be too lazy to dive into the finer details of what I was observing.

The visual observation in the State Library was an interesting exercise. I found that everything was virtually symmetrical and very much identical. The diversity within the massive hall also stuck out to me a lot too – difference in people, lighting spots, colour arrangements – yet everything was pretty much identical. Very interesting mix.

Who knew that such an empty space could be filled with so much sound.

I was very hesitant going into this exercise. I had never done anything like it before. Sitting in a space with my fellow classmates, in absolute silence purely listening to what we could hear around us.

Location one: Around the corner from our classroom, in a big open space.

 

Location two: outside, on Bowen St, the open day for sports clubs so VERY busy. Lots happening, lots of people and sounds, but lots of the same sounds.

 

Location three: Alleyway in between RMIT buildings. Aware from the chaos of Bowen St.

Coming into this subject, I honestly wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I thought the outline sounded interesting, and chose it because it was so different from previous studios I have participated in over the past few years. I liked the idea of broadening my creative outlook on the world, and still be able to explore different types of media and forms.

In this studio we will be looking at space, as the title of the subject suggests. As well as:

• Transforming the meaning while exploring new ways of looking at objects and space.
• Exploring different perspectives and throughly dissecting meanings
• Exploring the difference between public and private space.

The first element we discussed all together was soundscape. I’ve never really dived into this concept before to an extent. It’s always been a part of cinema (for example, something more specific) rather than in everyday life. Notes I gathered were:

• Soundscape is a context
• Sound locates us
• It gets carried along the whole body of the sound spectrum
• The human experience of sound

 

Watching Raymond Murray and John Cage. Two influences in exploring sound. Both different views and points. Exploring different meanings and feelings.

Murray suggests that the world is a huge musical composition and we are the composes – what we add is up to us. He spoke about a sound overkill, and being able to reduce the number of sounds in our life. The industrial revolution was also discussed, as the sounds that dominate our everyday life – loud machinery, the church bells are now muffled out. But is this because we choose to ignore them?

Cage explores the power of silence. His performance shows a sonic space being performative, and with the silence the body becomes activated. How do we listen? What is sound? Is sound still sound even if we can’t hear it?

 

Further questions raised and to think about:

• What do we pay attention to?
• What do we ignore?
• How do we control what we audit?

So, what is the role of the critic?

According to the week 2 reading ‘Film Criticism: The Next Generation’ (Cineaste, 2013), the role of the critique is to describe, interpret and evaluate.

• Describe

In the very first class we had of the studio, we created a brainstorm with what critical reviews should achieve. One of the most important points off the brainstorm was description, as the way the text is described puts it through your eyes to the audience. Ever since this class, I’ve been cautious in thinking about how I describe things such as specific parts in a film, characters and editing techniques etc.

• Interpret and evaluate

This refers to your specific point of view; the way in which you interpret the text. Here also comes opinion, whether you liked it or not, and arguing the reasons WHY to the audience. Why has been such a huge part of this semester. Every time I write a review, I print it out (I’m weirdly obsessed with hard copy) and go through it with a red pen. After every opinion/statement I make, I write a huge ‘WHY’ next to it. Then during editing I can add in the reasoning and thus deliver a stronger argument and overall review to my audience.

 

Film critique Adrian Martin has been a reoccurring person we have looked at this semester. He has very strong views and opinions, and is very passionate about the work he does. In week 2 we watched Critical Failure: Film, and Martin was one of the critiques on the discussion panel. In the video he argues that film reviews these days are smaller, with often just a summary of the plot which merely gives things away rather than incorporating opinionated discussion. He says that film criticism is about backing up what you’re saying, and refining the argument.

In week 3, the reading we studied consisted of various reviews on the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands. One of which belonged to Martin, which had a very distinct style, particularly including the points he mentioned in the Critical Failure: Film video. The points I picked up in his review were:

• The first paragraph refers prior knowledge of the text and causes the audience to think. It also requires extra knowledge of other films and texts as he references many in order to support his argument.
• He really briefly outlines the plot and the main character, only for the purpose of putting his argument in context.
• He discusses the directing style with the numerous twists pointed out —- here is where we see his main argument.

I really enjoyed looking at Adrian Martin and his work, however his style is very out of my comfort zone. He is very much an academic rather than a relatable writer, which is what I am. Even still, I was able to incorporate his advice into my work, for example diving deeper and going past just summarizing the plot.

 

Alex Heller Nicholas has been an influential figure throughout the course, particularly in the last few weeks. Her pointers allowed me to fully engage with the text and my audience – an aspect which I was previously missing. In week 8 we used her 6 tips (taste, gender, audience, scale & detail, history and context) to write a mini review on the short I’m You Dickhead. We only had 30 minutes to complete the review, which was a good exercise to see how I could push myself, and it required me to note take during the film to have material to refer to.

In the week 2 reading, one of the pointers was to ‘articulate thoughts and record them before memory fades’. This really stuck with me, especially during the I’m You Dickhead exercise as it’s so much easier to write a review after having notes on it. Without notes, it’s easy to stare at a blank page for ages as all the information is too much to grasp purely in your head.

 

An important skill I have developed is the tense in which the review is written in. Past and present tense has always been something I struggle with – not because I don’t know the difference, but when I write it doesn’t come naturally. I rarely realize I’ve mixed the two up, usually including both past and present, making the piece inconsistent. However, after week 7’s grammar lesson in class, the consciousness of it finally clicked. Whenever you watch a film, listen to a song or read a book, it’s as if you’re doing it for the first time as it’s never going to change. So, when writing a review, you need to write as if you’re currently watching it. This means present tense is always the answer, as past tense suggests you’ve watched it and it can never be watched again.

Another skill I’ve learnt this semester is how to describe music. In the 2017 film Baby Driver, music is such an important element within it as it essentially drives the whole piece. Baby Driver was the first film I wrote a review on, and I was quick to discuss the music because of it’s huge purpose. However, I just mentioned it without going into it. By going into it I mean describing the sound to the audience, giving them a sound in their head they can imagine while reading it.  During editing I was able to discuss the songs in depth, enough to give the audience the full experience. After this I became so interested in describing things, especially songs. With all this new profound knowledge and skills of describing songs, I thought why not review a whole music album to submit for the final portfolio? So I chose an album that has been one of my personal favourites this year (Meg Mac: Low Blows) and wrote a descriptive review on it.

 

Overall this semester I’ve learnt to trust my judgment and be strong in my opinions, always backing them up with reasoning and/or research.

Alex Heller-Nicholas is an established Melbourne-based film critic, and we were lucky enough to have to into class and run a special workshop.

 

This week, her workshop involved discussing important aspects of film criticism, and applying them to an in-class review we would do later in the session.

 

She proposed the question ‘what makes a good film critic’ and there were 6 main points she discussed in detail. They were:

1. Taste
2. Gender/privileges
3. Audience
4. Scale/detail
5. History
6. Context

 

I found the first point—taste – to be particularly interesting. We’ve done lots of writing this semester and have talked a lot about our persona and particular style of writing, however putting taste into the picture gave a whole new perspective when it comes to my writing. Taste is about establishing your view and setting yourself up before you critique.

 

We watched the 2014 short film directed by Lucas Testro called ‘I’m You Dickhead’, and this was such a fun and interesting exercise. We watched it twice. The first time we watched it, Alex encouraged us to throw ‘word vomit’ onto the screens, just messy, fast notes on whatever comes to mind to refer to later on when writing. However, the first time I watched it, I found it so hard to write notes as I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. I thought to myself ‘how can I possibly write on this stupid little film that has no purpose and is so random I don’t even know where to start, plus I need to concentrate I can’t be writing notes while watching!’ So I had nothing writing down. Luckily we watched it a second time. I loved it the second time, and without even realizing, I was jotting down notes faster than I could think. I gathered heaps of little points and elements of the film.

 

After this, we had 30 minutes to write up a review, keeping in mind the important points Alex discussed at the beginning of class; so make sure to twine in your taste, the attention to detail considering the time limit, and the context of the film.

 

I was surprisingly happy with the result of mine, considering the short time frame we had to complete it. It was such a great exercise because it forced me to be punctual and fast with decision making, and I am so happy I wrote down all those notes to refer to because without them I wouldn’t be able to start! Such a good lesson in note taking.

 

We had to swap with the person next to us, so I swapped with Joss. It was so great because we both have such different styles of writing so we were able to apply each other’s knowledge and feedback into our own work. Joss has a very academic style in writing and is very articulate with her words, but I suggested she include more of her personal taste and persona. I described the detail of the film and what I liked/disliked, however she suggested I tap into reasons WHY I did or didn’t etc. to make it even more clear.

 

I always forget how important grammar is, not only in every day life but definitely considering we are in a writing course that predominately requires it! There are so many things that I always get grammatically incorrect, however when I write I never realize what they are, it’s not until I get it edited by a peer or Alexia that I realize them.

 

This class was super important, helpful and refreshing to go over some basic and confusing grammar elements.

 

 

The first one we dived into was the difference between a column and semi column. This one always gets me. I always find myself overusing semi columns, even when I’m not 100% sure they fit.

Semi columns are used to break up a sentence, and are stronger than a comma yet not as strong as a full stop.

Columns are used when it’s a factor relating to the previous sentence (e.g. a list) rather than an opinion.

 

The next one was the difference between a hyphen, en dash and em dash. I honestly had no idea they had different names. I knew what a hyphen was and used for, but had no idea what en or em dashes were.

So the hyphen is used for compound words.

En dash is the less used, is used in bibliographies.

Em dash is used to fill in information into a sentence.

 

This was interesting as usually I thought brackets did this job of inserting added information, a side note, into a sentence that was still important but not as important. Brackets tend to ‘whisper’ the content out, as if it doesn’t really matter but is just thrown in there. Instead, em dashes are for similar purpose however keep the same importance the whole way through.

For example: When the car finally arrived¾three months after it was ordered¾she no longer needed it.

In this sentence the ‘three months ordered’ part is a valid piece of information in order for the readers to understand more of the story, however if it was in brackets it would have the potential to be read as a whisper therefore not as important or valid.

 

I surprisingly loved this grammar session. It was really interesting and gave me a much better understanding of when to use particular symbols.

 

I’m excited to apply my new knowledge into next reviews and pieces of writing I do over the rest of the semester; not only in this class but other classes too!