The Audio Hive

Alvin Lucier - I Am Sitting In A Room - Elephant & Castle's reverberant spaces

2010-02-07T12:01:00.001-08:00

You can listen to the whole track here on Last.fm

I have a real interest in the way that sound is coloured by the space that it is projected in to. Alvin Lucier's piece I Am Sitting In A Room is a beautifully simple and extremely effective example of the way that the resonance of a room can alter the sound of the human voice so that the words spoken, (through re-recording and re-projection) no longer contain the significance of semantics, and instead, transform in to a rich reverberating and smooth texture.

One particular aspect that I have enjoyed when working on sound for film is trying to recreate that dimensions and spatiality of a location depicted on screen, through treating the sounds recorded (within a "dry" environment) with electronic effects like reverb and EQing. I find this process very challenging and learning about how sound reacts to the environment it projects in to is fascinating stuff.

When recording sound for Broken Bottles, I have discovered some really interesting dynamics in the way that buildings, spaces and architecture around Elephant & Castle drastically colour sound through dampening and reverberation. Favourites include:

Entering Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre through the sliding doors, from the outdoor market. The roar of the traffic and the boom of the personal stereos of the market stall vendors suddenly, with the closing of the door to the shopping centre, decrease in volume and brightness, and then what replaces it is this cavernous space, with the clicking of heels and footsteps, along the hard floor creating sharp attack sounds that bounce off of all the hard surfaces of glass and concrete, this creates a soundscape that is both insular and sterile. The sounds exist in this space and present themselves with such clarity because they are protected from the sounds of the vehicles outside, and they are sterile because they are so "clean" of the sounds outside smothering them with their rough and brash shouts and drones. The Muzak that tends to be playing over the tannoy system, is a feeble attempt to fill the cavernous space, and with its hollow and tinny characteristics only serves to further enhance the dimensions of the shopping centre. What is also interesting to listen to is the different stall holders, with their own distinct sound tracks, either through pertable TV sets or stereos, and then the many different shops with their own miniature sound worlds, each attempting to entice would be patrons. At one moment the musics of South America, then Africa, and then the Carribean, and walking at haste, they emerge and recede with such frequency that they echo the hustle and bustle of the traffic outside.
Another prime example of the above, is when entering LCC through the front doors and then stepping in to the main foyer. Immediately, the roar of the traffic gives way to (if there are a lot of people milling around) an immense cacophony of voices that intertwine with each other and collide with the solid surfaces (not unlike the sound heard at a municipal swimming pool). What the voices are saying is difficult to understand due to the echo and reverberation, however, the sonic properties of the sounds are really interesting in their distortions.
Entering any of the underpasses that criss-cross the main roundabout at Elephant & Castle creates an interesting contrast in volume between the traffic and the pedestrians. Their roles in the amplitude of the soundscape reverse, and whereas the traffic at street level rules the dynamic range, in the subterranean tunnel network, the pedestrians are free to sound their journies.
Emerging on to the railway station platforms from underneath the train station creates an amazing expansion of sound as the city suddenly reveals itself to the ear. Underneath the station, the trains passing overhead are dampended rumbles, and as soon as you enter on to the platform, you experience the full power and violence of these huge machines as they thunder along the tracks, the screeches of metal on metal, the blast of wind from the air the train forces out of its way, and of course, the autmated announcement of names of locations that aid the imagination in mapping out the size of the city. From up on the platform, you can also get a panorama of the sounds of the city, as the platform is exposed from each angle, sounds confront you from all sides.

More to follow...

Welcome to Elephant & Castle

2010-02-05T14:17:00.001-08:00

Check the soundscape in this vid. Just sit back, close your eyes, and relax. Merzbow digs this.

Poême électronique - Edgard Varêse & Le Corbusier

2010-02-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

this piece was commissioned for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Sound by Varêse and images by Le Corbusier.

More information can be found here.

What I find especially useful for inspiration in designing the sound for Broken Bottles is the sparseness of the composition. I like the fact that each sound introduced is presented on its own, one after the other, so that each sound has its own moment in time to be digested.

I also love the fact that the sounds are not overt in their intention to match exactly what the images portray. When watching it, it gives me freedom to interpret the sounds and images to start to project my own emotions on to the piece.

I also appreciate the similarities between the idea of this piece being an electronic "poem in a bottle" and Gary McQuiggin's idea of Broken Bottles being a "film poem".

The piece was designed to be heard throughout the Philips Pavillion at the World's Fair, on 350 speakers, mapped over the whole architecture of the building. The strong use of sound and architecture resonate with me, as I'm currently attempting to establish a relationship between the sounds that I am composing with, with the strong images of architecture within Broken Bottles.

DADA DADA DADA DDDAAAAADAAAA DADADADADADADA

2010-02-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

Interesting documentary on the origins, manifestos and practitioners of the Dada movement.

Excellent editing of video and audio in this documentary to create a narrative that wonderfully matches the irrationality of Dada.

U B U W E B :: Sound

2010-02-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

Visit UBU and and get stuffed with loads of sound art.

The website is an extensive resource for avant-garde material from historic practitioners right up to current 'uns. All there in handy .mp3 format.

The website (accessed through the homepage link www.ubu.com), also includes tonnes of streaming videos which include interviews, performances, short films, video art, all sorts. It's as deep as the ocean.

Particularly loving Nam June Paik's video art (saw some of his work at an exhibition in Croatia last Summer). Nutty.

Stalker - Railroad Scene (sound design and music boundaries blur)

2010-01-25T15:20:00.000-08:00

Beautifully crafted sound in the below scene from Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker

Music composer Edward Artemyev gradually weaves electronic sounds and starts to process through delay and reverb, the mechanical sounds of the motions of the train, so that these sounds start to take on a musical rhythmic quality, not too dissimilar from Musique concrète compositions. This treatment of the sound is effective in conveying the passing of time and also of the anticipation and dread of the journey in to The Zone.

This sequence, is a really good example for me to study when creating the soundtrack for some shots in Broken Bottles, as I would like to try and keep the identity of the recordings that I make, but also inflect them with a sensitive amount of electronic processing in order to create an impression of subtle interference and manipulation.

Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound - great book for practical tips on sound for film

2010-01-25T14:40:00.000-08:00

Pratical Art of Motion Picture Sound (3rd Edition) David Lewis Yewdall

David Lewis Yewdall knows his stuff. His sound design and editing credits include The Thing, Evil Dead 2, The Fifth Element and Jackie Brown.

In his book he goes in to great detail, based on his own experiences, of a career involved in working as a "sound man" within the film industry.

His book is compiled so that the chapters follow the process of sound for film, from before pre-production begins to post production.

Of particular interest for me, before I was due to work on location for the Grad. film Sidney was the chapter "The Challenging Battlefield of Production", not knowing how the shooting of Sidney would unfold, it was eye opening to read this chapter as it explained the difficulties that can arise when recording sound on location, reading this chapter, I felt better prepared and with some prior warning as to how the film shoot might go. Thankfully, shooting for Sidney went smoothly, however, I did glean information from this chapter that certainly helped me with ensuring that I documented the sound reports in as much detail as was necessary to convey to the post production sound editor (ha ha, Me) anything to look out for with the different sound takes, whether to be aware of any "off mic" interferences, like aeroplanes overhead, etc. or to note of good sound takes.

Of the 22 chapters in this book, chapters 14 and onwards start to deal with the post production side of sound for film. These, I have started to read as they will prove invaluable when editing the sound for Sidney, especially "Dialogue Editors: Hollywood's Unsung Heroes", as Sidney has a great a fair amount of dialogue that will require editing.

Sidney - Synopsis and development

2010-01-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

I am working on a 3rd year BA Film project called Sidney, as post production sound editor.

Edward Hardwicke as Sidney

This film is directed by Gareth Warland and produced by Noelle Rodrigues.

A brief synopsis of the film is as follows (courtesy of Gareth's and Noelles's website allmyfriendscollection.com):

The film tells the story of a World War II veteran, Sidney, who experienced time in the Far East. Due to deteriorating physical health, he now lives in a care home in the remote English countryside. When Yoshio, a new Japanese carer begins working at the home, Sid finds his arrival difficult to digest. As he attempts to come to terms with Yoshio′s presence days before the celebration of his 90th Birthday, he finds it difficult to form an understanding of his emotions.

The story aims to visualise a number of pre-conceptions and stereotypes of generations, past and present. As the story develops and new understandings are formed, the film becomes a canvas of perception, whereby the characters and the audience question each other's perspective. The result will create a self-reflective piece of work, emphasizing the term 'people are a product of what they experience.

The film will be screened at the British Film Institute in London and entered in to a number of Film Festivals around the world. allmyfriends will use Sidney as a starting point for future productions, already in development.

In conversations with the director Gareth, the idea was for the film to be realistic in its aesthetic. All the dialogue would be recorded on location (no Automatic Dialogue Replacement - ADR), there would be no musical soundtrack beyond any music that was not diegetic. The sound effects would also be recorded on location, as much as was possible to give a naturalistic sound track that matched the location. In traditional Hollywood codes of dramatic realism, the dialogue would have to be recorded as cleanly as possible and given the most prominence within the sound mix. When no dialogue was present, the sound effects recorded would then match the point of view (POV) of the camera. Gareth also wanted the film to also shift its aesthetic during specific scenes so that the film contained a reflexive element, i.e. occasional glimpses at the camera. With this choice, Gareth intended, the audience to become aware of their involvement as voyeurs.

In terms of sound design, there is one particular scene where the point of view of the audience is transported inside the head of Sidney, this takes place when Sidney is alone in his bedroom, Sidney's internalised thoughts impose themselves on the soundscape and in this moment the audience is asked to empathise with Sidney's emotions. This is the only scene where the conventions of the sound in the film change dramatically.

Filming took place on location in Sutton, Surrey, at a disused care home called Bawtree House. The film shoot lasted 6 days from 12th December until the 18th December, 2009.

Even though I principally joined the project to work on the post production side of the film, I was really interested in helping out on location (in what ever capacity I could), as I thought it would give me an insight in to how a film is made and would also help me get a feel for the film and take the experience and knowledge I had gained in to the post sound work I would do.

I was already aware that Gareth had a friend who would be doing the sound recording on location (Jeremy Brown - Jez), however, there was the chance that Jez might not be available for the first two days of the shoot, however, a contingency plan had been put in place should this arise.

Closer to the first day of shooting, Jez was unable to make the first two days of shooting, therefore, I was asked to help with the sound recording on these days. I was. I admit, very nervous about this responsibility as I had never worked as a sound recordist, or boom operator, on a film shoot and from some of the books that I had read, and from the experiences recounted to me by some of my course mates, I was concerned that, in all honesty, I'd be useless. Together with Joel Bennett (who is also the film editor) we were able to capture all the necessary sound recordings, in good quality, from the shots that took place on those two days. We did have to do numerous wild tracks of the shots, however, because the sound of the film being fed through the camera (as it was shot on film rather than digital) was evident in the sound recordings.

Much to their credit, the organisers of the schedule for the shoot ensured that on the first two days of filming, no dialogue recording was required. What Joel and I recorded, (Joel, mainly as boom operator, and myself as sound recordist) were the sound effects and ambiance of Sidney interacting with various furniture in his bedroom and also walking up and down stairwells and through corridors. The recordings in the bedroom were close miked and wildtracked in order to get clean recordings and also to match the intimacy of the camera shots. The recordings in the corridors and stairwells were recorded from the POV of the camera, thus, these were also wildtracked due to the proximity of the microphone to the camera during takes.

From days 3 to 6, Jez was principle boom operator, on location. He was very experienced in working on location and he was a real asset to have, as he understood the difficulties in recording location dialogue and also the codes of on-location politics. Whilst Jez was operating the boom, I was asked to take charge of the recording and mixing of the audio signals to ensure that the dialogue was recorded as cleanly as possible with the correct signal to noise ratio, and also ensuring that there were no peaks in the dynamics so that the signals did not distort.

It was really interesting to discover the many ways in which Jez ensured that dialogue could be recorded as cleanly as possible. Depending on the shot, whether close or far, along with the boom mic practice, plant mics were used, as well as radio mics.

Once all of the scenes had been shot, Joel and I recorded wild tracks of any sound effects that could not be filmed during the shoot, either because of the danger of the sounds effects overlapping with the dialogue or because of the proximity of the camera to the action. These included wild tracks of doors opening and closing, myself acting as Sidney struggling in and out of his chair with the aid of his walking stick, walking with a zimmer frame, and Sidney shaving at his sink.

All dialogue and effects were recorded in mono, this is because principle dialogue is intended to be centre in the mix and sound effects are intended to be positioned within the stereo field.

Once all of the crew had left, at the end of the shoot, I recorded room tones and ambiances, of all the locations used within the shoot, in stereo to add space and dimension to the mix, so that when it came to editing the various sounds, there would be an underlying ambiance to mask any cuts.

Deciding to help out on location was a very good decision. I was very surprised with the amount of work, effort, planning and time it takes to shoot a film. There were nearly 40 crew members involved in the shooting of the film, and it was an absolute pleasure to work with them. The shoot was incredibly well organised, there were very few hiccups and everyone worked professionally and tirelessly. Being involved with the recording of the sound, on location has also been invaluable in my post production duties, as I was able to make notes of any areas where sound might have been an issue once editing got underway. Being on location helped me to plan and then record wildtracks of sounds that would have been difficult to record in Foley sessions.

The film is currently being edited by Joel and Gareth, and once the editing of the footage has been finalised, I will then start the sound post production task of ensuring that the dialogue is mixed and edited so that cuts are as transparent as possible, and also add ambient sounds, edit the effects and also work with Gareth on recording the television programs that Sidney watches, within a few of the scenes.

Thoughts on sound for Broken Bottles

2010-01-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

taking the sounds home, another location. structure, man made, playing with the space, internal external, use the sounds recorded as guide? to inflect my own subjective take. Reflexivity, my own fumblings?

EQ the sounds to start to clarify?

Elephant & Castle Sound Collage

2010-01-24T14:24:00.000-08:00

I decided to create a 5 minute collage of all the sounds I recorded around Elephant & Castle on my first day "out in the field". Have a listen.

Elephant & Castle Collage by AudioHive

What is interesting is because the sound track immediately establishes itself as an urban soundscape, one expects a bustling and chaotic sound environment, all of the sounds do seem to knit together and sound like all the same recording. This soundscape is in fact 20 seperate segments, this only becomes apparent when sounds suddenly drop out or appear suddenly, this I commented on at the bottom of my previous post Cut & Paste. All of these sounds were also recorded in mono, so I panned the multiple tracks in different directions to give the illusion of space.

The sounds recorded are fom various locations in the area; the roundabout, the underpasses, the market, inside the shopping centre, the train station, the underground station, the foyer and atrium of LCC and the LCC tower block.

Cut & Paste - Editing the City's Voice

2010-01-24T13:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a short experiment in which I have taken a number of the recordings i have made at Elephant & Castle and cut out all of the segments where instances of sounds with sharp attacks occur. These I have clumped together, and the sound files they are taken from are left with the gaps exposed.

Cut & Paste by AudioHive

These sonic punctuations and accents are for me, the real rhythm of the city sound scape, these are the sounds that break through the hum and get themselves heard. They remind me of watching wildlife documentaries where the explorers visit jungles, and all the animals that live there are screaming and shouting to communicate their presence, all with their own distinct calls.
By cutting and pasting these elements so that they all occur within a very short space of time, it's interesting that it becomes very difficult to establish the causal nature of these sounds, and in a tip to Pierre Schaeffer's desire for reduced listening, what I hear in these short bursts, now cut out of context with the narrative they naturally occurred in, are their sonic characteristics rather than their visual accompaniment. However, I do confess that I already know what was the cause of these sounds and as Michel Chion points out in his book Audio-Vision:

At the same time, Schaeffer thought the acousmatic situation could encourage reduced listening, in that it provokes one to separate oneself from causes or effects in favor of consciously attending to sonic textures, masses, and velocities. But, on the contrary, the opposite often occurs, at least at first, since the acousmatic situation intensifies causal listening in taking away the aid of sight. Confronted with a sound from a loudspeaker that is presenting itself without a visual calling card, the listener is led all the more intently to ask, "What's that?" (i.e., "What is causing this sound?") and to be attuned to the minutest clues (often interpreted wrong anyway) that might help to identify the cause.

Also, considering the sounds I produce will be to compliment the visuals in a film, this avenue of exploration is probably not beneficial becasue the audience will automatically create their own relationships and synch points between image and sound, even with the sound being asynchronous.

However, I do think that by editing the sounds in such a fashion, I can draw greater attention to their presence. Another interesting thing is that these sounds, when removed from the sound recordings, are not conspicuous by their absence, what is noticed is a pause, but you couldn't guess what was missing. That's an interesting thought about this experiment, I can remove and substitute sounds, and if delicately done, could construct a soundtrack, completely artificially. Hold on...more thought there, traditional movies do this all the time, their soundtracks are completely fabricated.

Field Recordings - Mono Vs Stereo Vs Binaural

2010-01-24T11:55:00.001-08:00

For my initial sound recording sessions around Elephant & Castle I've been using the Sennheiser K6/ME66 super-cardiod microphone unit to capture monaural recordings.

I wanted to use this microphone with the conscious knowledge that this "short gun" style of microphone was quite adept at reducing off axis sound. With this microphone I intended to try and focus in on my subject and try and erase any unwanted background sound.

This method, I hoped, would help alleviate the problems that I would tend to face when just using the built in omni-directional XY stereo pairing on my Zoom H4 Handy portable recorder.

Firstly, the Zoom H4, whilst a fairly competitively priced little machine that has served me quite well over the last two years on numerous Uni projects, is compact, discrete and portable, using the built in XY stereo microphones outdoors, in even the slightest breeze is a fucking disaster! What on earth were the designers of this poor little alopecia sufferer thinking of when they made the useless afro-cum-"Red Nose Day" foam wig to reduce wind buffering? It's absolutely useless, and renders the device's built in mics redundant for recording sound out in the field.

I've resorted to various methods to try and reduce this, including putting two pairs of socks over the end and also my beanie. The beanie was actually pretty successful at reducing wind buffering, however, by doing this, the depth of the recording is constricted and the resultant sound does indeed sound like it is recorded through material. I have yet been able to find a suitable, professionally made alternative.

Also, recording in an urban environment, with a heavy stream of traffic passing through, the omni-directionality of the built in microphones means that its pretty cosmopolitan in the sounds that it'll accept, i.e. its a right slag.

Hence the flirtation with the beautifully engineered and snobby German ME66. (along with a shock cradle and Rycote Softie. Now, I'd taken on board, when researching and subsequently filming on location with the film Sidney the fact that mono mics are used within the industry for recording dialogue and sound effects, so that they can be positioned within the audio mix. Therefore, when out investigating sounds for Broken Bottles with a view of recording only interesting sounds, I was treating this practice in the same way, mono recording, in nice and close, and trying my best to cancel out any unwanted sound. The truth is, for Broken Bottles this idea was not very effective. The sounds I was recording were not giving me the characteristics of depth and space that I had been accustomed to when recording in stereo, I persevered in the hope that I could isolate interesting sounds, and then through the editing process, position these sounds within the audio mix to give the soundtrack to Broken Bottles a sense of space. What I found, however, was that it was not individual sounds, isolated from the rest of the sounds in the environment around Elephant & Castle that were producing interesting results, but rather the interplay different, fleeting sounds that would suddenly emerge from all around me. Capturing these sounds in mono produced results that lost the excitement of the original event; all sounds recorded being mixed into one channel, with a lot of the identity of the sounds lost in the process due to the subsequent lack of depth to the recording, where all similar frequencies would be bunched together, therefore "muddying" the recording.

Mono, for out door (or on location) recording, unless recording something as specific as dialogue, or a specific sound effect that is required to be flexible to be positioned within an audio mix, is an ineffective choice. I was still pleased with the off axis cancellation and so enquired as to the possibility of a "short gun" microphone with stereo capabilities. They don't exist, I am naive.

I decided, therefore, to get a pair of binaural microphones out from the Sound stores office. I'd used them before and was extremely impressed with the reproduction of three dimensional space when listened back to on headphones. I went for a sound walk around Elephant & Castle with them and Oh my! I'd honestly forgotten just how fantastic these bad boys are. Oh yes, as much as I have been harping on about how Elephant & Castle doesn't have any interesting sounds, and what not, suddenly, I was absolutely in aural bliss, and this was even before I listened back to the recordings. There's something psychological about putting microphones in to your ears. I swear, I was listening so much more intently to the sonic environment than I was when I was holding the ME66 in my hand. Perhaps, it was the physical connection of the microphones to my ears, I was fully conscious of their presence, and so I was constantly reminded that this was my purpose whilst walking around; TO RECORD SOUND. Wearing the binaural microphones, I also felt a greater urge to investigate different spacial differences with sound, so I found myself going inside and outside buildings, just because I knew that spatially, this would get great results, as the acoustics and reverberations dampened and expanded.

Wunderbar!

I'll upload examples of what I'm rambling about, soon.

The Dilemma of Sound in Broken Bottles

2010-01-24T11:54:00.000-08:00

As I have already mentioned in a previous post, I am at the point where I do not believe that the recordings I have, at present, work within the context of Broken Bottles. I am at the stage of considering using effects processing and audio manipulation of the sound recordings in order to produce results that will better suit the aesthetic choices of the film.

Gary has stated that he wants the film to have a "dream-like" quality and be "unsettling" in parts. I do still want to be sensitive to the original material that I have recorded and I am concerned that if I process the sounds, they will lose their identities and then I would ask myself the question, is it even necessary to include recorded sounds of the area at all? If they are going to be so coloured by technological manipulation. And what of introducing sounds that are not field recordings? or recordings that I have made?

I set out to find what sounds are interesting, to me, what are unexpected, and in having found very little of real interest in my recordings, nothing which really speaks of the area, nothing with a real identity, I am now trying to reconcile the use of effects processing in order to create something unique sounding.

I have already started using contact microphones and a telephone pick up coil in order to increase the variety and palette of my recordings, these I feel are justifiable because they are still recording what is already present.

I have also changed my stance, when recording sounds, from an observer, to actively interacting with the environment. By striking and knocking against objects and surfaces I am actively creating sound so as to capture it. This change I decided upon is because I felt the need to explore the area not just by listening to it, but by participating with it. This area is an urban area, built by man, its an area where people interact with it every day, all of the sounds I recorded were man made, I could hear none of the natural world, save for the scraping of dead leaves on the ground. So why not manipulate it? Why not make my own man made sounds?

So now thinking of technology; Elephant & Castle is a fabrication, a construction built with human technology, full of concrete, steel and glass. So why not take the raw elements that I have and create a construction that whilst using natural ingredients, is in the end a manufactured product?

And what of introducing sounds that are not recordings I have made of the area? What about artificial sounds? electronic sounds that I create at home? How do I justify doing this? What if a sound that I have, that is completely unrelated to Elephant & Castle, fits the idea, the impression of what the film is about, much more effectively than a sound I have recorded in the area? Is this cheating? They do this in films all the time. Some sounds sound better than the real sound does, in evoking the emotional response the film maker wants. My previous post about Gary Rydstrom's work on Saving Private Ryan, is an example of creatively "cheating" with the sound of the bullets underwater, in order to get the desired effect. This is a film, that for its battle sequences has been commended by war veterans for its realism.

An example of the emotional response that a sound track can evoke is with the below recording.

First Composition for BB by AudioHive

This recording is pretty much devoid of any effects processing or manipulation, save for a little bit of delay effect, however, Gary (the director) on Broken Bottles responded that it sounded "doomy". This segment is made up of contact microphone recordings, with me knocking on surfaces, and by simply presenting this as a piece for the soundtrack to the film, this sound track is already inflected with the emotional response of the audience. That contact microphone recordings are very susceptible to low frequency vibrations, and through cultural influence and quite probable primal nature, one can't help but get the impression that there is an ominous identity to this piece. So even through choice, or not, assumptions as to the intent of the film-maker will always be drawn, by the audience.

I will try processing and manipulating the sound for Broken Bottles but I will have to be very careful with my choices. As I begin, I will document my decisions.

Chris Marker - La Jetée & Sans Soleil

2010-01-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

Gary (the director of Broken Bottles) gave me Chris Marker's film Sans Soleil to watch for inspiration with regards to how the soundtrack is constructed. The sounds in this film are amazing, a blend of electronic sounds, musique concrete, documentary sound and analogue manipulation. See the below clip:

The sounds in this film add a very "dream like" quality to the visual footage, and with the addition on the soundtrack of the narrator reading out correspondence from letters received, this gives the film, in my mind, the impression of a friend recounting a story of being on holiday, and you only have the words of your friend to guide you as to the description of a location, and with the words, you start to imagine the location and it's not quite tactile and fleshed out but it's an impression of a place.

It's quite a coincidence that I had only recently watched Chris Marker's other celebrated work La Jetée. Whilst reading William Whittington's excellent book Sound Design & Science Fiction Whittington devotes a section of the book within the chapter "Sound Montage" to La Jetée and talks about how the codes in this film go against the traditional naturalised codes of cinema, at that time. This film is almost entirely comprised of still shots (you could say photographs) accompanied by voice overs, sparse sound effects and music. I couldn't find a good quality example with english subtitles on Youtube. However, you can certainly appreciate the construction of the film and how different it is to conventional movies, even without understanding the dialogue. It's a great film, try and find youself a copy.

A lot of the shots in Broken Bottles remind me of La Jetée. Mainly because the shots in Broken Bottles, whilst not photographs, are static and are in some instances framing subjects that exhibit very subtle movements, if any. This also gives the opportunity for the audience to study and investigate a shot in much greater detail and really explore the content on screen.

Broken Bottles - Update on development, and musings

2010-01-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some stills from Broken Bottles. These were kindly given to me to upload on this blog by Gary McQuiggin the film's director. In turn, I have scratched his back by including a link to his website: Blackoutinertia.co.uk. A fair trade.

Metro Central Heights (originally Alexander Flemming House) Designed by Hungarian architect Erno Goldfinger

The Strata Tower, new Futurist style construction right in the centre of Elephant & Castle. Designed to be eco-efficient, thanks to the three wind turbines that will be placed at the very top of the tower. More information can be found in this link.

Heygate Estate. Built in the 1970s as a social housing development. This estate is to be completely demolished and new, affordable housing built in its place. Originally designed as a Utopian development for the post war housing solution, this estate had since declined in to a crime ridden area and is now in its final stages of planning for redevelopment. This link has lots of information on the redevelopment project by Southwark council. This re-generation process has taken a long time to get underway, and is long over due the planned start of the redevelopment. There has been a fair amount of criticism levelled at Southwark Council, especially by the residents of the Heygate Estate, both current and former residents, especially about the lack of alternative housing offered to the residents who are relocating. A very interesting blog by a former resident that has been keeping a record of all the developments regarding this project can be found here.

Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre (with Hannibal House a-top). A 1960s development, with the aspiration as the model for all future retail centres, and the first of its kind in Europe. Judging by this Time-Out article, it hasn't been the most enthusiastically received. This centre is also due for demolition and re-development as part of Southwark council's plans.

After a recent meeting with Gary last Tuesday, he has also kindly allowed me to post some of his ideas for this film:

Buried Dead, Broken Bottles

‘My knowledge of the world exists effectively only at the moment when I act to transform the world’ - Raoul Vaneigem

"tourists make films about places they do not know, film-makers make places into films about what they know."

I intend to make a film about a place, to weave a film using fragments of documented reality, lyrical narrative and fleeting visual impressions. I want to reject the institutions of narrative and documentary films and make something in the interzone between. Like Alexandre Astruc’s notion of the camera-pen, or Charles Madges notion of the ‘poet-reporter’ it will be an informal essay on the interconnectedness of everything in a poeticist-expository style.

The film will be set in T.S. Eliott’s wasteland, contemporary London seen through the eyes of one of Baudelaire’s ‘flaneurs’. This character will serve to supply the subjectivity needed to interpret the snippets of London’s history that I will include in the film. Iain Sinclair once said that London “buries its dead, and forgets where they lie.” This reminds me of a line from Chris Marker’s film Sunless: “History throws its empty bottles out the window.” I want to make a film about the buried dead and broken bottles, like Walter Benjamin, I think that the discarded and forgotten fragments of a society can tell you more about it than tourist information boards and blue plaques.

The film is an attempt to subjectively transform space to show how beautiful it could be, if only... It is a film made out of topography, a fictional mapping of a real place and an attempt to turn the city’s everyday trappings into urban poetry. In a way I want to take Astruc’s notion of the camera pen (or indeed the magic marker out of Chris Marker’s name) and use it like a vandal uses spray paint to poeticize the urban landscape. To be more specific, I will use the inherent surrealism of montage to draw lines between seemingly separate aspects of the landscape to reveal the hidden narrative.

Though some of the themes that arise will be political and philosophical, these will not be overt, the politics of every day life.

With the above statement, as to Gary's initial intent with the film, I am starting to realise the difficulties that arise with trying to "capture" the urban soundscape. As I have mentioned in previous posts, the sound of the environment around Elephant & Castle is very much...um [fuck it, I think it is] polluted by the "noise" (and I'll use that in the sense of undesirable sound), of traffic and aeroplanes overhead. Gary's quote about a fictional mapping of a real place and an attempt to turn the city’s everyday trappings into urban poetry is a really commendable idea, and so my initial plan was to document the urban soundscape by recording sounds of the environment and through the sensitive composition of these sounds, attempt to lift the sounds from every day mediocrity into a poetic and beautiful artistic statement; to reveal the hidden delights of the city. However, the recordings that I have made are not revelatory, and comprising a ten minute sound track, to accompany the images, from these sounds will, I fear, soon become quite dull. It seems that the urban sound environment around Elephant & Castle is monopolised by one music taste, and that's the combustion engine.

The thing is, I really want to share Gary's idea that if you really become aware of your surroundings, stop and look, and really listen, and take note, you can appreciate a place (even one as devoid of elegance as Elephant & Castle).

Elephant & Castle is being redeveloped, not because it is a destination, but because of its proximity to London's attractions. Unfortunately, I have to admit, that this is how I feel about the area, it's the location that matters. Why I travel there is for Uni, it's a staging area, or a through road to somewhere else more exotic and wonderful.

But then I think of artists who have successfully turned the banal into beauty. Artists like Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, and Jeff Koonz. I think that maybe it is possible to do this. But then sound is a very different animal than sight. With the camera, you can block out what you don't want and frame what you do, sound has no discrimination. Case in point, I went to the Haygate Estate in an attempt to document its desolation and emptiness. What I recorded instead, was not the lack of sound, or emptiness, but the very pronounced fullness of sound; of planes, trains and automobiles (great film, btw). These sounds are so conspicuous because they are forever present, like liquid they flow and shape to the container so that any gaps are filled.

An option might be to go and record sound in the area, very late at night or early in the morning when traffic is at its minimum, however, I am a little concerned of walking around on my own, with expensive gear. Then again aren't artists supposed to get punched in the face and robbed, for their art?

Sound Cloud - Upload your work and comment .

2010-01-24T07:38:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't allow you to upload audio files, the work around that I found was to create a video file with Windows Movie Maker, using a .jpeg picture and then importing an audio track and bouncing both into a video file, not ideal, so I did a bit of searching around to see if I could find a website where I could upload audio to and then embed the link into my blog, low and behold, success...

Really great website called Soundcloud.com. It's like a social networking site for music producers, artists, sound sculptors, Prophets, messiahs, you name it.

Click the image for higher resolution picture.

You can upload your audio tracks and the file will be represented by a timeline and visual wave file of your track. The great thing is, on this visual representation, you can add comments on specific parts of the work, comment on others' work and get constructive feedback from like minded people who appreciate the difficulties in creating music tracks, but also have tips to help improve. There are some well established producers using this website to upload their works in progress and there seems to be a really good community vibe.

You can upload, with a free membership, up to 2 hours of audio, it accepts both .wav and .mp3 file extensions.

Although, primarily, I have found that there is a lot of "dance" music production on here, there are no restrictions on audio content and styles that you can upload, so I'm putting my own sound work for my projects on here and the same principle arises with commenting on specific parts of the track.

Bergman's Persona - Opening Sequence

2010-01-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

An excellent example of the additive power of sound is Ingmar Bergman's film Persona.

The opening 5 minutes of Persona is analysed in Michel Chion's book Audio - Vision. I highly recommend this book as it has helped me appreciate all the different relationships that can be constructed between sound and image in film. In this sequence Chion makes a particularly strong case for sound's strength in creating an unsettling and disturbing mood, when accompanying the images. The fact that most of the sound through this sequence is asynchronous to the image is a perfect example of enticing audience participation in building the relationships between sight and sound, and in my view, this gives a real emotional depth to the piece through active listening and viewing.

This sequence is deffinately a good example for me to study for Broken Bottles as all of the sound in Broken Bottles is asynchronous, so creating relationships between the images and the sound is a key component to the strength of this film. The shots in Broken Bottles are beautifully composed, so I have to be really sensitive with the choice of sounds and to the wishes of Gary the director.

Btw, Chion, in his book, didn't mention that dong that pops up, but then again, blink and you'll miss it. Reminds me of David Fincher's Fight Club.

Contact Mic Recordings

2010-01-23T07:18:00.001-08:00

Made this little composition below with contact microphone recordings that were taken at the top of the London College of Communication tower block, the elevator ride to the bottom; and then the train journey home (where I had cookies and milk waiting for me, so Mum wasn't too cross.)

Contact Mic Recordings by AudioHive

I really love the texture of the recordings produced by the contact microphone. You can hear the thick band of low frequencies creating this muffled bath of sound that sounds not too dissimilar to what you hear with your head underwater. I knocked on a few surfaces during this recording as the contact mics pick up the vibrations and you get this really nice "natural" reverb from the surface vibrations.

The underlying low frequency hums that you can hear are caused by the traffic at street level (bear in mind that I was on the 14th floor of a tower block) and also, when I pressed the microphones on to a stairwell, the mechanics and motion of the elevator across the hall can be heard.

I really enjoy the fact that these microphones strip away the higher frequencies, like a natural EQing and help you to record frequencies that would otherwise be overshadowed by the sensation of touch. There's a real physicality to these recordings, perhaps because these mics are directly attached to their surroundings and don't rely on air pressure changes to record sound.

The microphones I used are simply piezo discs soldered on to a "phono to mini jack" cable. Both these piezo discs and the cable are available at Maplin electrical shop. the discs cost about 50p and the cable, depending on length, is around £5.

Give 'em a go, and maybe one day, you too will appreciate the sensation of sticking your ear to the wall and listening to your neighbours go at it.

MTV Top 40 Countdown...and at number 15 this week, climbing four places...

2010-01-23T06:25:00.000-08:00

...Bernie Parmegiani's Big Band with the hit single Une Mission Ephemere.

This one's got some funk.

"Let off some steam, Bennett" - Browser games

2010-01-22T14:58:00.001-08:00

Got to take a break now and then, innit.

check these web browser games.

Canabalt

Mountain Maniac

Mountain Maniac is an personal favourite of mine thanks to its nostalgia for 8 bit Nintendo games, but with a not so subtle re-working of morally acceptable activities. If this game was around when I was a kid, I'd well have asked my Gran to buy it for me.

Your Favourite London Sounds - Website

2010-01-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Peter Cusack's very own web project Your Favourite London Sound is an excellent idea and also, a great resource for me to stay motivated with my field recording sessions for Broken Bottles. I'm finding it quite difficult to find sounds around Elephant & Castle that I think will complement the visuals of the film.

To know that there are sounds in London, that are unique enough to resonate in Londoners' hearts is a good comfort (sob).

Fluid Radio - Website

2010-01-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

Stumbled across an really interesting website called Fluid Radio.

On the website there are some really great short films. One, particularly that interest me with the making of Broken Bottles is Spree Park by Tom White and Richard Anthony. There are some beautiful textures of sound work in this piece, and I specifically like the use of field recordings, digital processing and musical instruments. These are some of the elements I'm trying to explore and reconcile in my work for Broken Bottles. It's really great to find visuals and sound complement each others as well as they do in Spree Park.

British Library Online - Sound Achives

2010-01-22T13:15:00.000-08:00

Fascinating resource for sound, found online from the British Library website.

There's a great deal of content on here, from wildlife recordings, to regional dialects, to soundscapes (both urban and countryside).

The recording dates vary from present day to way back when, and all the links are found on a Google style map of the world where you can click on little balloons to bring up content. It's a bit of a lottery as to what you might discover, but that's a good part of its charm. Want to hear what a Gambian soundscape sounds like? Bingo.

I've been researching specifically for urban recordings to see if there's much variety to be found, as currently when recording in and around Elephant & Castle, the hum of traffic does a good job of masking anything that might be interesting, so looking for specific sound signatures that have been recorded and uploaded on here, might help me to look in the right places for sounds that can still thought of as unique to a specific area. Found a recording on the British Library website of Smithfield Market Atmosphere, from 1993, which I'm sure had a very distinct sound fingerprints. Note of caution, after a couple of listen to clips, you'll need your Uni Username & Password lo listen to more.

London Sound Survey - Sound Map Website

2010-01-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

Looking for inspiration for Broken Bottles and found a website called SoundSurvey.org.uk . This site is excellent; it's got tonnes of recordings of sounds all over London, even set out in a handy grid pattern (click me). I thought I'd check out Brockley, as its where I'm moving to very soon, and lo and behold, Matthias Kispert, the man from D-Fuse (took my class for a module in my first year at uni, don't you know) has put a recording on there of the Greenwich foot tunnel, which sounds amazing, tonnes of reverb, and the guy in the recording doing the spooky ghost vocals is a real hoot.

Also, the "Historical" section of the website has some really interesting descriptions and references to sounds that have been documented in literature dating back from the 1st Century B.C. up until the 20th Century.

There are different descriptions all categorised in to sections based on such criteria as "Ambient", "Economic" and "Political".

One of the descriptions that I found really interesting was this:

Period referred to: 1940s
Sound category: Ambient > Plague, war and disaster
Title of work: Tribune
Type of publication: Newspaper
Author: George Orwell
Year of publication: 1944
Page/volume number: 'As I Please', 7 July 1944

A V-1 rocket flies overhead in a sketch by George Orwell

Life in the civilized world.
(The family are at tea.)
Zoom-zoom-zoom!
‘Is there an alert on?’
‘No, it’s all clear.’
‘I thought there was an alert on.’
Zoom-zoom-zoom!
‘There’s another of those things coming!’
‘It’s all right, it’s miles away.’
Zoom-zoom-ZOOM!
‘Look out, here it comes! Under the table, quick!’
Zoom-zoom-zoom!
‘It’s all right, it’s getting fainter.’
Zoom-zoom-ZOOM!
‘It’s coming back!’
‘They seem to kind of circle round and come back again. They’ve got something on their tails that makes them do it. Like a torpedo.’
ZOOM-ZOOM-ZOOM!
‘Christ! It’s right overhead!’
Dead silence.
‘Now get right underneath. Keep your head well down. What a mercy baby isn’t here!’
‘Look at the cat! He’s frightened too.’
‘Of course animals know. They can feel the vibrations.’
BOOM!
‘It’s all right, I told you it was miles away.’
(Tea continues.)

Brill'.

Broken Bottles Grad Film - Synopsis and development

2010-01-18T12:08:00.000-08:00

Broken Bottles is one of the 3rd Year grad films I am working on as part of my final project.

The film will be roughly ten minutes long and will not follow a typical dramatic narrative. It's more of a contemplative study of the urban environment and the film is an exploration of how the city landscape has been exploited by both humans and nature.

I will be recording, editing and composing the sound to go with the visuals.

The visuals are static shots of various locations around London. (By static, I mean no camera movement). These shots are like portraits; the subjects being comprised primarily of buildings and spaces around where I study at University; the London College of Communication at Elephant & Castle.

Included in the film are shots of the Heygate Estate, the Elephant & Castle shopping centre, the Strata Tower, Metro Central Heights (originally known as Alexander Fleming House) along with the Blackheath climate camp that took place from late August to early September 2009.

I have been in conversation with two of the film makers about the project, Gary McQuiggin (director) and Leonie Bleasdale (producer). Gary's website is Blackoutinertia.co.uk.

In our initial meeting I was shown footage that had been shot but had yet to be edited together. What struck me, initially was the aesthetic beauty of the shots. In these shots was an area of London that I considered myself quite familiar (I'd been studying here for 2 years, already) however, I never really studied the environment in anywhere near the same detail as was shown in the footage. I actually felt guilty, watching it. I realised that I come to Uni in Elephant & Castle, but as soon as possible, I leave the area. For me, this area held no real interest, it just happened to be a location that my campus was based in. Impressions of the area (and I'm being completely subjective) are that it's deprived, noisy and unsightly.

In early discussions, we talked about the motivations behind making this film and the subject matter chosen. We were in agreement that this film is an exploration of the environment. There are reflexive moments in the film where shots of the camera crew are present, and Gary pointed out that these shots were to show that he and the crew were not intending for this film to be propaganda for a specific ideological message, but were intended to show that they (the film makers) were also discovering the local area and exploring its landscape. This idea interested me because it gave me the chance to build my relationship with the area and explore its sounds; maybe I could discover interesting sounds in a location that previously, I had little interest in.

Although I make no assumptions that this film is completely without motivations, Gary has asserted that he intends the film to maintain a level of ambiguity as to its purpose; he does not want the film to be overtly critical of the dereliction of the area, or bleak and dystopian with its message. He has given me a good deal of freedom to interpret his footage and also, to interpret my own relationship with the area, and the choices that I make with the composition of the sound.

My initial idea for the sound, was to be documentary in the recording and playback of the material. I intended to go and explore and discover these beautiful and unheard sounds that were just waiting to be discovered and immortalised on film. On my first recording session I decided to visit the Heygate Estate and document the sounds of a largely abandoned social housing community. When recording there, what I believed I had recorded were only the sounds of aeroplanes overhead, and the steady rumble and screech of traffic from the nearby A3 thoroughfare and roundabouts. I then decided to travel through the Elephant & Castle shopping centre, via the overground train station, through the market, and then in to the various pedestrian underpasses. I admit, when I was out recording the sounds, I was quite disheartened by the experience. All I could hear, thanks to the "cocktail party effect" was the throng of the traffic. What immediately came to mind was R. Murray Schafer's disdain for the encroachment of urban "noise" on the soundscape that he wrote about in his book The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of The World .

However, when I returned home and had the opportunity to review the recordings in comfort, I was struck by the details in the recordings, the short sonic entities that burst in to life fleetingly amongst the overall traffic noise that, when recording, I had not been aware of. These short fragments; snatches of conversation, the rustling of a newspaper, the echo of footfalls in the underpasses, the straining of shopping bags, the projections of music by portable stereos, and so on, are the sounds that are beautiful in their duration of existence before they are swallowed again by the overwhelming cacophony of traffic.

In my first meeting with Aquiles (my final project tutor), we discussed the initial ideas that I had for the sound for this film. Aquiles suggested that I study the history of the area, so that it might inform my own understanding of Elephant & Castle, and that this knowledge would help inform my decisions when composing the sounds. Aquiles first mentioned Michael Faraday and explained his significance, and that the huge cubed building in the middle of the roundabout just outside the London College of Communication was in fact a memorial to him. Immediately, this gave me fresh ideas of how I could approach the sound, and to not be so concerned about being so restrictive in my initial approach (as to only document sound). He advised me that, by simply choosing this route, I was already making decisions about what to record and what not to record, and by doing so, I was already editing and composing the sound to an ideal that was not purely a document, but was also a fabrication.

With this in mind, I have been going through all of the sound that I have recorded so far, and I have cut and pasted all the elements that I have found interesting in expressing the hidden and the overlooked sounds that are present within the urban environment. Finding a structure with which these sounds will be composed as to fit the images provided, is another task that I am starting to tackle.

The Sound of The Michael Faraday Memorial

2010-01-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

I visited the Michael Faraday Memorial (which is also a London Underground electrical substation for the Northern Line) to see whether I could record any electromagnetic currents that might be emanating from it.

A shot of the memorial features in Broken Bottles so I was keen to find out whether the Pioneer of electromagnetism's memorial, in fitting tribute, resonates in his memory.

Success! I used a cheap telephone pick-up coil; (available at Maplin.co.uk) which I had been shown the wonders of back in my first year of my BA Sound Art course. This coil, whilst primarily designed to record telephone conversations, is also sensitive to electromagnetic currents, these currents are inaudible to the human ear, however, this little gadget allows you hear them. The sounds are very abrasive and pure electronic, which are fitting sounds for a Brutalist memorial to Faraday.

Below is a very quick composition of the sounds I recorded at the memorial, just to give an idea of the sounds this beast pumps out. None of the sounds have been modified, except for a bit of pitch shifting.

Influential Sound Practices

2010-01-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

In researching for Broken Bottles I am investigating different sound art practices so that when I come to compose and edit the various sound recordings I have taken around Elephant & Castle, I can draw on these historical aesthetics to help inform my own direction.

Musique concrète is incredibly influential in my approach to sound and music composition. The freedom afforded by Music concrète in the inclusion of traditionally non musical sounds in musical composition.

Acoustic Ecology

Acousmatic

Electroacoustic

Phonography website with interesting links

2010-01-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

Over at Phonoraphy.org, there are some worthwhile websites in the "Links" section, if you want to find out good gear to use when field recording; and there are also some interesting links to VLF (Very Low Frequency)& ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) sound recordings, both on the NASA website and Stephen Mcgreevy's Natural VLF Radio website.

The recordings found on the above websites are of particular interest for me with creating the sound for Broken Bottles. The relationship between man made urban space and the natural world that Broken Bottles explores are beautifully realised in the VLF recordings where radio transmissions are coloured by the Earth's own electromagnetic field and phenomena such as lightning storms.

Below is VLF recording at Loch Ness, Scotland, uploaded to Youtube by Jpaube. The sounds heard complement the scenes of the landscape, beautifully; the sounds could almost be birdsong and light drizzle.

CRiSAP - Vermillion Sounds: Baku Musicscapes

2010-01-16T05:58:00.000-08:00

I've been going to Elephant & Castle shopping centre to record location sound for Broken Bottles. A striking section of the shopping centre, for sound recording, is the bustle of the outdoor market. When walking through the market, the fragments of conversation and the music playing out of the portable stereos of the stall holders creates a very interesting sound mix.

Peter Cusack's Vermillion Sounds: Baku Musicscape on the CRiSAP website is fine example of the various different genres of music found playing throughout various venues and locations in the Azerbaijan capital city of Baku.

Useful Books on Sound in Film

2010-01-14T13:20:00.000-08:00

Chion, M. (1994) [1990] Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen. New York NY, Chichester, UK, Columbia University Press

An excellent resource from Michel Chion (click his name for a book review from filmsound.org); a theoretician who has helped broaden the vocabulary for discussing the role of sound within film-making.

Of particular interest for me is the chapter The Real & The Rendered. In this chapter Michel Chion argues that sound, mediated through technology, has an indelible influence on our perceptions of sound in "real life". Also included in this book is a fascinating forward by Walter Murch who distinguishes the film practices and theories of North American and European cinema, post World War 2.

Sonnenschein, D. (2001) Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice, and Sound Effects in Cinema. Studio City CA, Michael Wiese Productions

Interesting book by David Sonnenschein with a lot of practical tips for the sound design practitioner, including step by step work flows, what to pay attention to when scoring sounds for moving pictures, the importance of rhythm, pitch, tonality, etc. in musical scoring for film. Also included are excerpts from interviews with Hollywood sound designers like Gary Rydstrom (Terminator) and Dane Davis (The Matrix).

LoBrutto, V. (1994) Sound-On-Film: Interviews with the Creators of Film Sound. Westport CT, Praeger Publishers

Heygate Estate Information

2010-01-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

Picture by Dan Tassell

BBC documentary about the Heygate estate. Interviews with residents who were still living there, hoping for a better alternative.

Live From The Heygate. Detailed blog by a former resident; archiving information about the Heygate estate and the regeneration project by Southwark council for the area.

Electromagnetic Sound - Michael Faraday

2010-01-12T14:28:00.000-08:00

The Michael Faraday Memorial at the main roundabout in Elephant & Castle gave me the idea of incorporating electromagnetic recordings into the sound recordings I am making of the area.

Michael Faraday being one of the pioneers in the investigation of electromagnetic currents would surely approve.

On Youtube I found a video of a performance by Disinformation vs Strange Attractor.

It seems fitting that this is also a collective that uses electricity, in its purest form, to create soundscapes.

Saving Private Ryan - Gary Rydstrom (Commentary on DVD article)

2010-01-12T14:17:00.001-08:00

Interesting infromation on this USC blog post

Of particular interest is:

The Omaha Beach scene contains moments in the water where the camera bobs above and under water. Rydstrom took the opportunity to create contrasting perspectives above and underwater. Above water the battle rages and Rydstrom describes it as ' chaos and cacophony.' Underwater the cacophony goes away and the water becomes safe, like a cocoon. By placing these two perspectives in contrast, Rydstrom is able to unsettle the viewer when bullets pierce into the cocoon and kill the soldiers. For the sound of bullets piercing underwater, Rydstrom demonstrates using an un-horrific sound for horrific effect. He used the sound of a fly-fishing line being ripped out of the water, which he had saved from A River Runs Through It.

Even when creating a "realistic" scene within a film, the sounds used are still taken from another source, entirely removed from the source given in the film.

Watchmen Cartoon

2010-01-10T15:04:00.001-08:00

I'm sure I remember seeing this one as a kid.

Trippy Shit

2010-01-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

Obscenely excellent animated short.

Oscar-tip for Schwarzenegger

2010-01-10T14:54:00.000-08:00

Casino - Sesame Street

2010-01-10T14:47:00.001-08:00

When two worlds collide.

Dissertation: Internet Resources

2010-01-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

Filmsound.org
Under the "Sections" header, there are lots of useful articles.

Hyper-real Breakfast Time

2010-01-10T10:57:00.000-08:00

Brilliant pastiche of Michael Bay's films and his music composer collaborator Hans Zimmer.

Michael Faraday: The Brutal, Big, Box and the Bang

2010-01-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

I always wondered what that big metal box in the middle of the roundabout at Elephant & Castle, was all about. Turns out it's a Michael Faraday Memorial. Who? Indeed; I had no idea either. But check those links I've conveniently embedded in the selected words. Like a really shit easter egg hunt.

Apparently, it's a Brutalist design, I do like that word, and I can appreciate some of the idealisms Brutalism had, but I do wonder if the architects ever thought about the people who would have to live and work in these buildings. Looking at the Heygate Estate ,the brutalist architectural style seems to have caught on in the post World War II depression but it's not exactly a welcoming sight on a bleak winter night after a day at the office.

In fact, the Heygate estate reminds me of pictures I've seen of Prypiat. Chernobyl: The Reunion.

Broken Bottles Research

2010-01-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

As we all do, these days. First stop in finding information about anything in the world: WIKIPEDIA!!!

Interesting information I found within the Wikipedia article:

"Elephant and Castle" has largely replaced the original name of the area — Newington.

In the middle of the northern roundabout is the Michael Faraday Memorial, a large stainless steel box built in honour of Michael Faraday, who was born nearby. His name does not appear on the structure, but there is an inscription in the ground nearby.

Famous former residents include Charlie Chaplin and Michael Caine, who were born and grew up locally. Electronic musician Aphex Twin lives in a converted bank in the area.

Known previously as Newington (Newington Butts and Newington Causeway are two of the principal roads of the area), it was in the mediaeval period simply a part of rural Surrey, of the manor of Walworth. This is listed in the Domesday Book as belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury; the income from its rents and tithes supplied the monks at Christ Church Canterbury with their clothing; a 'church' is also mentioned. However, the parish was called 'St Mary, Newington'. That church occupied the site of the current leisure centre, next to the Tabernacle, being first recorded by name in 1222.

In May 1557, William Morant, Stephen Gratwick, and a man named King (known as the Southwark Martyrs), were burnt at the stake in St. George's Field on the site of the present Tabernacle during the Marian Persecutions.[1]

Further about regeneration of the area:

The area is now subject to a masterplanned redevelopment budgeted at £1.5 billion. A Development Framework was approved by Southwark Council in 2004. It covers an area of 170 acres (688,000 m²) and envisages restoring the Elephant and Castle to the role of major urban hub for inner South London which it occupied before World War II. Planned features include:

800,000 square feet (75,000 m²) of retail space (far larger than the existing shopping centre)
5,300 new and replacement homes
five new open spaces
an integrated public transport hub
a new Academy
a new library.
Elephant and Castle was to have been served by the Cross-River Tram scheme, which under Boris Johnson has now been cancelled.

There will be major changes to the road intersection designed to make the area more pedestrian-friendly. Walworth Road is to be expanded to the north through the site of the present shopping centre, which will be demolished. This will create a pedestrianised boulevard to what is now the northern roundabout. Two skyscrapers will flank the boulevard and the roundabout will be turned into a public square. A substantial amount of post-World War II social housing which is deemed to have failed will be demolished, including the Heygate Estate. This will be replaced with new housing developments consisting of a mix of social and private-sector housing. There have also been moves to protect the last of the architecturally important tenement blocks nearby through the creation of a conservation area covering the Pullens buildings.

The timetable originally announced was as follows, but is already behind schedule:

The shopping centre, scheduled for demolition in 20122005 Selection of commercial development partner (this finally happened in 2007).
2006 First residential projects commence
2006 Removal of roundabouts and subways (now postponed indefinitely).
2005–2010 Development of the southernmost section of the regeneration area including the Walworth Road extension, the Heygate Boulevard and St Mary's Churchyard.
2006–2011 Phased demolition of the Heygate Estate and relocation of tenants to new social housing in and around Elephant & Castle (now postponed to 2012).
2010 Demolition of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre (now postponed to 2012).
2010–2014 Construction of the Civic Square and start of development on the Heygate footprint.
2014 Completion.
At an international climate change summit in South Korea in May 2009, the Elephant and Castle regeneration scheme was named among 16 worldwide projects which will release less carbon dioxide than they use. At the summit former US President Bill Clinton praised the scheme as a global example for sustainable growth.[4]

Broken Bottles

2010-01-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

Here is my research for the Grad. film "Broken Bottles".

Sound Design for Peter Jackson's King Kong

2010-01-07T13:34:00.001-08:00

Really fascinating insight into the work and detail invloved in fabricating all of the sound required in a "Blockbuster" motion picture. There are 7 videos available on Youtube.

Welcome

2010-01-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Hive.