Tag Archives: thoughts

The Power of Sound

In the spirit of our lecture on sound, I attended a gig that same night by Lord Huron, a band from the USA. Naturally, this got me thinking about the points raised today. The physicality of sound stood out to me. Not only in terms of the vibrations emitted by the speakers – which I was standing to close to, rip my ears – but also in the feeling the sound invited. Also, I especially noticed the power the combination of different sounds had on the crowd and the atmosphere in the room.

I see sound, especially music, as a very powerful, emotional medium. Certain sounds can instantly evoke memories, feelings, and nostalgia. One of my favourite sounds is torrential raining pounding on a roof, especially at night. This sound brings me back to a week my family spent camping in Belgium when I was younger, during which it rained non-stop for the entire time. A sound that I hate is the noise of a vacuum cleaner. It makes me want to make like my cat and hide under the couch; it is too constant, loud and overpowering.

Whilst most sound elicits some sort of reaction from its audience, I adore music especially for its ability to create a strong emotional response.

Listening VS Hearing: The Modes of Listening

The process of hearing is the ability of perceiving sound through the ear. One can’t consciously turn off this process; we are constantly absorbing and filtering the landscape, sorting out which sound is important and which isn’t. Conversely, listening is an active process. It requires effort and attention. If you’ve ever tuned out in a boring lecture you’ll know what I’m talking about. I certainly frequently struggle to listen.

For example, at a party, if several conversations are occurring at the same time, I constantly switch between listen to them. One conversation might be more interesting at some point than the other. Sometimes, both conversations are worth listening to but its impossible to split your attention equally between both. This last point can tie back to the modes of attention discussed earlier in the course. Just like one can’t truly multitask, doing two or more things at the same time, one can’t truly listen to multiple sources.

So how do forms of media get you to listen rather than hear? Certainly, some radio stations don’t intend to get their audience to listen closely. A lot of radio stations think they can get away with playing the same Adele song 6 times an hour – I’m looking at you, Smooth FM. After all, this kind of radio is mostly intended to be heard as background noise to kill silence in a home, office, or car.

However, podcasts for example, are intended for listening. They are often discussions, or a narrative that requires high engagement, which is created through the rich texture of the soundscape. Producers of this kind of media, for example in the Podcast “Welcome to the Nightvale.” Created by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, employ the three stage plan (figure, ground, and field) to create a rich and engaging narrative.

Like most things, these modes of listening have their own uses and pros and cons. It is important to be aware of them, especially as a media practitioner.

Week Four: Sound and Its Importance

This week’s reading, by Theo van Leeuwen and Jan Roberts-Breslin, focused on sound. My interest has always more been with visuals, so the readings raised some interesting points I had not previously considered.

Van Leeuwen’s theory relates to perspective, and how this hierarchizes elements of sound. According to the three stage plan, soundtracks can be hierarchized into figure [the focus of interest], ground [the setting or context], and field [the background.] The listening exercise in today’s lecture definitely highlighted how these three stages work together and can be manipulated to stimulate an audience.

Sound is definitely a powerful tool. Our sense of hearing is constantly working; we are unable to consciously turn it off. As Roberts-Breslin outlines, it is equally important as visuals, if not more important, in film and TV. Without sound, the narrative is difficult to make out, but without visuals and just sound, the audience is inspired to create visuals in their minds, and the narrative is still relayed.

Moreover, sound is also a physical medium. You can feel its vibrations – especially obvious when standing in front of a speaker at a concert (something my poor ears have experienced too many times.) It is also intimate. We speak more softly to those within our personal distance rather than those with whom we have formal and public relationships. The quality of voice or sound can reveal emotion to the listener.

Going forward, I hope that I can learn how to utilise sound effectively in my future media practices. As I expressed in my reflection for Project Brief Two, I was disappointed with the quality of sound I was able to record, and it let down the quality of my film.

Week Four: Project Brief Two and Evaluation

 

 

A Girl from Jasmijn van Houten on Vimeo.

My background is a big part of who I am. I also like foreign films, so I thought that for Project Brief Two I’d blend these two. My intention was to create a video that was a parody of/inspired by foreign, especially ‘art’ films. However, to reflect my nationality, the narration would be in Dutch.

I tried to achieve this effect in several ways. Firstly, I shot the footage in the 4:3 aspect ratio, to create a more vintage look than widescreen.

I wrote a short script for the narration and then asked my father to help me record the voice over, as he is more proficient in Dutch and his voice suited the style of narration I was trying to achieve. I wish I could have used better recording equipment to record this, but I was limited to my phone, so the audio quality wasn’t as good as I would have liked. Similarly, I also wanted a higher quality recording for the forest sounds at the end, as my phone’s microphone wasn’t able to pick up on the subtle sounds.

It was difficult to get some specific shots as I was working by myself. If I were to do it again, I’d plan my production so I’d have time to ask someone to help me.

Whilst initially I imaged the film to be in black and white, I changed it to be in colour because it looked better. Whilst this distances my project from the stereotypical ‘art’ film I was trying to imitate, I think it is still an improvement.

Since my first foray into Premiere Pro with the Haiku exercise, I already felt like I improved a lot. The overall production process of PB2 went quite smoothly. I knew what I wanted to do, I created a storyboard, got the shots I wanted, recorded the voiceover, and was able to edit it all together with relative ease. I’m a lot happier with PB2 rather than PB1, and I think this might be because I put a lot more time into planning before I actually started the exercise.

Ruminating About ‘Making’

According to David Gauntlett, media studies should be about making.

Yet, only 3 weeks into this course, I still feel anxious about my ability to make, and to be creative – most of importantly of all, to share this with others. I stopped making Facebook statuses in year 9 when I realised that everything I’d post would humiliate future me a only a few weeks later. Welcome to the world of the always self conscious. This blog is really a trial by fire in all ways, except there’s no fire. (Insert fire emoji here.)

Ironically, however, I have less qualms about Snapchat or Instagram. Sharing photos of the morning sunlight shining on my maidenhair fern seems to be almost second nature. Perhaps it is the fact that I am always aware that these images are for a public audience, and therefore carefully curated, that makes it more comfortable, as it this an awareness that I, and surely many others, did not possess in year 7.

Anyway, here’s to my next challenge.

Online VS Face to Face Communication

In our blossoming world of social media, one question is often debated. Are online friends less valuable than face to face friends?

For what it’s worth, I think that face to face interaction is always more meaningful than texting or messaging online. It is simply impossible to the catch subtle social and emotional clues than you get from being around someone, through online interactions. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve almost been in an argument over something that was poorly expressed in writing but would’ve made perfect sense if it had been said with the right tone of voice and expression. Emojis can only get you so far.

Online interactions can also be authentic and meaningful, however. I know people who have met their best friends or even partners through online interaction. The superficial nature of social media and the likes might even help to form friends. It is easier to approach people online, as it is easy to turn away if a situation becomes uncomfortable.

Sites such as Facebook have also reunited old classmates, friends from across the world. My mother talks more to her family in Holland through Skype and Facebook than she ever did whilst she still lived in Holland. Despite being on other sides of the world, they have never been closer.

At it’s best, the social media is a supplement to our existing relationships. Whilst it may aid friendships, or even form new ones, I don’t believe that it can completely replace face to face interaction.