Exhibiting ‘Ecologies of Attention’ into an audio piece was the task description for Project Brief 4 (PB4). In making this piece, I collaborated with Darcey Taylor-Morrison and Rebekah Edwardes, creating an extremely layered and textured audio piece about youth with mental health issues and their attention towards social media. This is what we call ‘DING!‘
Originally when we met up for the first time outside of class, we had decided to do our segment on ‘Autism and Attention’. Evidently, we did not realise that our topic had no collation to media, thus we changed our topic of discussion. Once we got our bearings, this change was very much welcomed as we found a way to creatively and interestingly exhibit our topic in an audio piece. We chose to portray this piece through a Facebook post comment thread between three friends, which intends to display the way social media has opened discussion around mental health issues, particularly for adolescence.
This was such a positive experience working collaboratively. My group worked so well together, as we all contributed in ways to creatively execute the topic. The ‘dispute resolution procedure’ from the collaborative contract was never to be looked at again once writing it, as everyone in the group agreed on almost everything.
We decided to start and end our audio piece with overwhelmingly layered archival audio. The beginning opened with negative ideas around social media being bad for youth and mental health issues. This juxtaposes what we discuss throughout piece, as we argue that social media has opened discussion around mental health. The beginning works to emphasise our point, as it creates an overwhelming effect of what is being said about mental health and social media. This has all been layered with notification sounds from social media to further emphasise the feeling of being overwhelmed, and also reinforce the idea of social media and its part in this audio segment.
The end, similarly, is overwhelming – though it has been dulled down in audio so it’s not in-your-face like the introduction. We have overlapped archival footage of YouTubers talking about their depression and opening up discussion around this topic. The last thing that is said in this piece is by Zoella, saying:
” It’s totally worth it, and I’m 100% happy that I’ve managed to help “
We ended on this line to reinforce the idea that a discussion has been opened about mental health issues through social media, and it is not at all like news reporters portray it to be. Also, that this discussion has helped people – both the person sharing it and the people consuming it. It is a thought provoking and strong line to end with after what has been discussed throughout the piece. This last segment intends to contradict the ideas exhibited in the beginning, and does this through creating a sense of clarity and emphasis on what has been discussed throughout.
The execution of a Facebook post comment thread in this audio piece has worked to create extreme in-depth imagery of a conversation through social media. This is evident through the use of depth-of-field and perception. The use of different voices, such as the computer voice naming the article, or the young boy reading out the Facebook post, has also worked to create more depth and imagery, rather than just using the voices of three girls.
Sound effects and layering were used to emphasise points and create a ‘Facebook’ effect. Notification sounds, and undertones of “(insert name) liked this” or “(insert name) commented on this” were incorporated to keep the tone and imagery of social media throughout the piece. When the teenage boy speaks about the #itsokaytotalk post, a camera shutter was used to emphasise that he was posting a photo of himself and then sharing well-known Facebook post among males.
Another way imagery of technology and social media was created was through overlapping the articles – which are read aloud by the computer voice – to create the feeling of skimming through it. This is very effective in the way that it continues to keep the same pace, while not having to read the whole article in one monotone voice, adding depth and movement to the centre of the audio piece.
We struggled to keep the middle of the piece as interesting and attention-grabbing as the introduction. Though we managed to make it work through the constant use of notification sounds and layering, the pace was consistent, yet engaging.
Overall, I am utterly proud of how this piece has turned out – it was exactly how we imagined it to be. The layering, textures and depth of audio created a really interesting piece on youth’s attention to social media regarding mental health. The topic has been emphasised by notification sounds, articles and archival footage, and works as a thought-provoking and engaging piece.
