Sounds of the Human Subconscious

I've noticed that every night at 1:00 a.m. my house comes alive with sound. I'm not sure what it is about this time, but my entire family seems to enter R.E.M. sleep around the same hour. They are all really active sleepers. From my own room - i am greeted with a cacophony of mixed sound. My father's rhythmic snoring, my mom's mutterings and my brother's sleep walking, yelling and talking. When these sounds combine, the noise is so loud is reverberrates around upstairs.

I've decided that for my audio project I will record the plethora of sounds seperately and edit my material into a mixed song of sleep; the sounds of the human subconscious.

Observations..

I finished rehearsal tonight, and as I was waiting to be picked up, I headed towards the Minto Centre to stand out of the cold. As I drew closer, a shrieking noise somewhat like a fire alarm seemed to be being emmitted from inside the building. Once inside, I realised that the wind was blowing through the small crack between the doors and because it was late, and there were no bodies to obstruct it, the sound was loud and undisturbed.

By moving the door in either way by slight increments the pitch changed and would over lap the one before it. Closing my eyes, I realised the sound was exactly that of a humpback whale chorus. Each pitch reverberrated off the other and by moving the door I was in effect, creating my own underwater song. It was fascinating how realistic it sounded - the few people who were nearby kept noticing the unique sounds and looking/coming over to see what was making the melancholic, sea animal like cries.

A Symphony of Silence

Sunday February 3rd: 5:00 p.m.

As I was walking to rehearsal, I noticed how much I enjoy the sound of crunching on fresh new snow and the imprints it leaves behind. The sound is intrinsicly connected to the visual representation left behind. Then I began wondering what I would associate with that crunching noise if i only had auditory capacities to rely on.

Closing my eyes and taking a couple moments to listen, it became clear that 'silence' is really on a facade. The sound world is extremely active. I found that if you focus on one sound, slowly you begin to recognize others. Eventually each distinct sound becomes part of a symphony. The wind whistling through different sizes of trees creates various pitches, the hum of car engines in the distance, the twittering of a bird nearby. Each tone and pitch is relative to its own musical score. A symphony of silence.

Check the side for sound link pages.
Here is a youtube video that I thought accurately shows the relationship between audio and visual experimentation or the imaginative images that sound can create:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL18nS2fs6o

Finally, the filming is complete and I'm onto the editing stage. This is really enjoyable and I'm discovering new nuances and symbolic imagery that we filmed which fits in perfectly with this reflection piece. Though time consuming, editing is very rewarding as you can see the visual/audio results of your 'art manipulation'.

Delays!

Shooting began very smoothly...but then due to a turn of weather events and a massive snowfall, the rest of the shooting could not be completed!

I've altered my shotlist to accomodate the new season and changing temperatures and will need to start re-shooting a.s.a.p.

Shooting Schedule/ Editing Schedule

Shooting Schedule

Friday November 9th 3:00- 5:00p.m: opening sequence with trees/leaf (actor required)
location: backyard on Joseph Circle, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Saturday November 10th: 4:00-5:00p.m.: biking sequence (actor required) location: Johnwoods Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Monday November 12th: 10:00-12:00p.m.: ending sequence

location: Joseph Circle, Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Editing Schedule

Wednesday November 11th: 11:30-2:30 p.m. (scene splicing, deleting)

Thursday November 12th: 10:00-12:00p.m. (ordering, general editing)

Saturday November 14th: 4:00-6:00p.m. (addition of transitions, title cards etc)

Equipment for the shoot:

JVC Digital Video Camera

Tripod

Bicycle

Shotlist

1)Fade in from Black

2)Cut to wide shot of an oak tree at night. Lighting from below.

3)Cut to medium wide shot of girl with camera taking a picture of the tree

4)Cut to close up of tree branches

5)Cut to close up of tree branch with solitary leaf

6)Cut to wide shot of leaf blowing away. Extreme high angle looking down upon a neighbourhood of houses.

7)Cut to close up of leaf on the pavement

8)Zoom in to the pavement

9)Zoom out on a grey splotch on a painting

10)Zoom out further to a wide shot of the painting. A hand is visible in the bottom right of the frame adding finishing touches with a paintbrush

11)Cut to a close up of a drop of water falling out the paintbrush and into the glass bowl of water

13)Cut to a close up puddle and drop of water hitting it. Bicycle arrives from left of frame and splashes through puddle

14)Cut to close up of the bike wheel

15)High angle/ medium shot of the person and bike pedaling away and stopping beside the edge where grass meets pavement.

16)Cut to medium shot of person getting off bike and untying shoes. Then walks out of the frame – dandelion in the grass is in the middle of the frame.

17)Close up of three feet around a dandelion thumping to the time of a heartbeat.

18)Cut to a close up of a foot and pans across to reveal a person lying in the grass listening to music.

19)Cut back to the three feet around the dandelion as they stop thumping.
Fade to white.