Welcome to my first entry for Listening, Sound Alone! Before I get started with my learnings within Week One, I want to talk a little bit about the reasoning behind creating these written notes and how I wish to present them. Since this is a reflective journal, I want to inflict my personality into my writing as much as possible, so that you, as a reader, are given the information in a way that feels relaxing and comparable to speaking to me. All my journal entries will be given on a weekly basis, detailing my learnings each week, and generally, just a little catch up with what I’ve been up to. Presenting my journal in this way should hopefully describe my thought process with certain tasks a little bit more accurately whilst also giving you an idea of my personality. 

Our first class of listening sound alone introduced us to the various concepts of field recording and acoustic ecology. Taught by Jessica Argo, we learned a lot about the history of field recordings and soundscapes, whilst also looking at the key influential figures of that time. This included people of the likes of Ludwig Koch’s, and his first wildlife recording in 1889, to R. Murray Shafer and his analysis of soundscapes. We were also introduced to the concept of ‘Attentive Listening’, with Michel Chion, and the concept of the three listening modes (casual, semantic, and reduced). 

With all this newfound knowledge planted in our heads, it was time for us to record our very own soundscapes! For this, our lecturer Jessica took us on a journey. Starting at The Glasgow School of Art’s Reid building, we ventured through the streets of Glasgow, stopping at spots such as the Kelvingrove bridge to analyse and capture the distinctive sounds of each area. With a Zoom recorder in hand, I managed to record a variety of sounds including the ambiences heard within Glasgow’s Streetlife and nature parks. In the coming weeks, I wish to analyse my recorded materials and hopefully put some use to them within my soundscape. 

This week’s ‘Listening Sound, alone’ classes included a re-introduction into AVID’s Pro Tools. 

Although the software isn’t exactly new to me, I was glad to have these first two lessons taught by my lecturer Paul, who is regarded as a key professional within the sound industry. 

My first lesson commenced with a brief overview or what Pro Tools is, what kind of processes the software includes, and why it’s regarded as the industry standard for audio engineers across the globe. This was then followed by a brief discussion of the history surrounding the ‘Pro Tools’ name, and how it’s continuous development has had a monumental impact throughout its lifetime on the sound industry.

Continuing with this new knowledge in mind, our second lesson honed into learning the software itself. Since Pro Tools includes a lot of complex systems, we needed to learn everything in a step-by-step process, especially for any newcomers in the class who have never used the software before. For this, Paul began to run through a couple of his previous sessions, introducing us to what we can expect to create within the industry. 

One thing is for sure, I cannot wait to get stuck into using Pro Tools again and begin creating!

With the autumn weeks now progressing quite fast and with more Pro Tools knowledge being gained, it was time to start thinking about my soundscape assignment. With this said, I feel like it’s also time to create a bit of a structure for these journal entries. Along with speaking about the creation of my soundscape, it’s still important to talk a little bit about what I’ve been learning in class, and if certain teachings have had an impact. Because of this, I wish to start creating two separate entries for each week. As always, both of course listed below: 

Class Learnings - Week three continues where we left off, with the introduction of more elements within the Pro Tools software. Like last week, we are again introduced to more of Paul’s previous work, however this time with more of an emphasis on analysing the overall structure of a Pro Tools session. Again, these classes were aimed more towards the beginner audience of the class, meaning that I didn’t learn as much as I hoped I would. However, one thing that I did learn was the importance of following the ‘Industry Standard’. A required form of guidelines when creating/producing any form of media within the industry. To help us, Paul guided us through creating a blank Pro Tools session, showing exactly how to route, name and layout our tracks. I have used Pro Tools extensively for over two years now, and within those two years have been shown a variety of ways to organise/produce my sessions. Paul’s layout is the best I’ve seen so far and is something of which I will now adopt into my future sessions. 

Soundscape Project – With the sound walk recordings now accessible through OneDrive, I downloaded my files and began to place them within a newly created Pro Tools session. Following Paul’s template that he provided, I created multiple ATMOS tracks for later ease whilst also creating a separate folder system within my session. This was done for the purpose of having everything included in one session, rather than multiple sessions that would then need to be combined later. Within this system two folders were created, one labelled ‘Source’ which includes present and future field recordings (allowing me to sort through the recordings more easily), and one labelled ‘Mastering’, which includes all the necessary tools I need to master my soundscape to any platform.

Class Learnings – Our first class of the week continued with the notion of ‘Sound Only Media’. Presented by our lecturer Adam Scott, we focused on the history of Experimental Radio, and its impact on the human voice. Within this class, we discussed a range of topics, including humans' first contact with the microphone and the loudspeaker, whilst also talking about its development within America. These developments resulted in a variety of new social relationships, whilst also promoting a sense of trust / de-trust throughout America.

Our second class of the week focused more on the production of voice recordings and sound effects. In this session, Paul gave us a variety of examples of poorly recorded material, whilst also teaching us the most optimal ways to record. This included using the right microphones and techniques, dealing with performers, and how the environment that you are in can deeply affect the quality of your recordings. The use of scripts within a voice recording session is also deeply encouraged.

Soundscape Project – The weeks are now flying by so fast, and with the soundscape assignment hand-in due in only three weeks, it was time to start cracking on with it. The only trouble is that I was finding it incredibly hard to think of an overall concept for my soundscape. Of course, this had to happen with the first project I do at university, which was making it play on my mind even more. The space that I’m currently in within my home isn’t the best for inspiring creativity. My bedroom is my workspace. And because of this, I struggle to have a disconnect between home comfort and a work mindset, especially when I’m in the space for hours on end. To help combat this, I ended up emailing my lecturer Paul, asking if he had any tips for inspiration and if any ideas came to his mind in terms of creating a concept for my soundscape. He offered me great advice, saying that I should have more confidence in my ideas (however simple), giving examples of concepts, whilst also going over some questions I had about the project. His second idea interested me and brought me back to one of the portfolio items I created when applying for this course. It was a documentary-style piece that wished to inform its viewers of the impact of staying inside. What if I created something similar in a sort of soundscape format? A dialogue piece directing the viewer through nature, while its audible presence of wind and rain places the listener into the scene. A melody would also play, progressing the audio while emphasizing its emotion. 

Influenced by Mark Rothko and Morton Feldman through their depictions of ‘Abstract Expressionism’. Work such as No. 61 (Rust and Blue) and Rothko Chapel to be precise. These collaborations of art forms created a newfound experience that aimed to envoke deep emotion through the subtleties of the human senses. As I examine No 61, I tend to notice its oddities of colour. There's something natural to its proportion and the way that it is formed, often creating a look that feels fixated within an older period of time. Combined with Rothko's chapel, this period of time starts to become real, drawing in sadness and heartache through its wide variety of instrumentation (or a lot of the time, a lack thereof). I wonder if I could create this same feeling through the combination of my soundscape poetry? Of course, these emotions would need to be expressed a little bit differently, but the same style of collaboration could apply. 

References:

• Rothko, M, 1953. No.61 (Rust and Blue).
• Morton Feldman, 1991. Rothko Chapel [video] Available at:<https://youtu.be/1ZZ0DYIkaP8>.

Class Learnings – Week 5 introduced us to a more in-depth view of sound design. With additions to the Pro Tools template that included correct bussing and aux tracks for effects, naming procedures and dialogue placement within a stereo image. We also looked at a more in-depth view of microphone positions, whilst also considering the legalities of working within sound. Our second class expanded on this, with Paul giving us a more thorough look into compression, equalisation, and other effects. Giving examples on when to use certain plugins, and where to place them within a mix. 

Soundscape Project - Unfortunately this week due to illness I haven’t been able to do much of my soundscape project as I would have hoped. At the time of writing this (Saturday), I’m currently lying-in bed choked with the cold, with the project being the last thing on my mind. Hopefully by Monday, my illness will have cleared up and I can again start to put a little bit more effort into my soundscape. 

With that said, however, I have finally finalised the overall idea for this project. Upon looking for a narrative, I came across a poem created by a man named Alan Ardy called ‘A Cry for Nature’. After reading his poem once, its theme of devastation and beauty grabbed me, containing a story that includes reminisces of history and relates to all parts of the world. What if I based my soundscape off of his poem? Creating a backdrop for his story, whilst also including all of the required elements mentioned before. I also managed to find a suitable score. A piano cover from Tom Day's ‘Winter in Melbourne’ which I feel will suit this piece well. This was then later downloaded and imported into Pro Tools.

Class Learnings – Our first and second last class for ‘Listening, Sound Alone’, finished with a final look at sound design. Taught by Ronan, we analysed audio and various film material, trying to understand the creative techniques used, as well as their artistic approaches. Examples include films such as 1999’s ‘The Matrix’ and 1998’s ‘Pi’.

Our final class of the week included a class peer review for our work. Going into it, I was nervous. I had listened to a few of the soundscapes other classmates had made and felt like their work was so much better than mine. However, after presenting my piece, I got a few comments saying that people enjoyed it, with one comment saying, “I could hear this on television as an advert and wouldn’t question it!”. With that said, Paul and Fiona mentioned that the only issue with my soundscape is its balance and that the voice should be a minimum of 6db louder than the rest of the mix. Something which I will try and fix before submission. 

Soundscape Project - With the final week commencing, it was time to finalise everything accomplished. I began to combine everything completed within the previous weeks, with each sound being placed within their appropriate tracks, in line with a vision I had within my head. 

• The sounds were positioned correctly within the timeline, making sure that the sequence flowed with no obvious clipping or stutters. However, upon doing this I noticed that the ‘Glasgow Street Ambience’ and the music both contained a random clip or two within their sounds. To remediate this, I imported both sounds separately into Adobe Audition and applied de-click to the audio which fixed it immediately. I also ended up extending the overall song by 30 seconds by re-using a previous verse as it didn’t last as long as I originally anticipated. 
• The session was then mixed appropriately through the use of the faders in the mix window, whilst also making some adjustments to certain clips and their clip gains.
•  Effects such as equalisation and compression were also added to certain sounds to clean up any issues they had, whilst also adding reverb to sounds that were originally too dry within the mix. 
• Finally, the mix was then bounced out, reimported into the session, and mastered for YouTube using the required loudness measurements. This was done using Ozone Elements’ and their maximiser plugin.

And with the learnings made in the peer review, the mix was slightly re-balanced for final submission, with the inclusion of louder dialogue and other various changes.

Class Learnings – Our first for week 6 introduced us into the realm of time-based effects, including the use of esoteric effects, delay, and reverberation. Taken by our lecturer Ronan, he discussed the use cases for Reverb within a post-production and music setting, teaching us the basic principles of reverberation and how to use it effectively within our work. We were also guided through the process of using/creating convolution reverbs, a staple of reverberation that I have always been fascinated by. For this exercise, Ronan taught us how to record impulse responses within a space using a microphone and a balloon. This could then be easily transferred into Pro Tools and transformed into a convolution reverb. 

Our second class was mostly a continuation of last week’s more in-depth view of sound design. Again, taken by Paul, we again had a look at using a variety of plugins within Pro Tools, their history and how to place them within a mix. We were also taught how to create an appropriate mix down, with a look at how audio reproduction systems work whilst also analysing various monitoring types.  

Soundscape Project – Before I could continue working within Pro Tools, I felt like I needed to record some more ambience, specifically sounds that included rain and wind. For this, I booked out a Zoom H4N portable recorder from my university and ventured up to a woodland located minutes away from my home. Equipped with appropriate gain, I ended up recording a variety of sounds, including a little stream of water that I found whilst also obtaining the rain and wind that I needed. I also ended up recording the weather outside my bedroom window, gaining a little bit more wind and rain ambience as the weather worsened. These sounds were then imported into Pro Tools, examined, and then sorted. 

With time still left in the day, I also ended up recording all of the dialogue. The recording was done on an AT2020 Cardioid Condenser Microphone that was attached to a boom arm connected to my desk. The microphone was then plugged into the left channel of my audio interface, equipped with appropriate gain. I recorded the poem myself into Pro Tools, playlisting my takes as I went along, whilst finalising it all by extracting the best clips. 

Also, to quickly note, luckily earlier in the week our class was notified that the assignment submission for this project would be extended to Monday 8th November rather than the previously set Friday, giving us more time to finalise our projects after our peer review.

Due to the limitations of Jimdo (the website builder used to create my website), extra information such as captions cannot be placed next to images. To combat this, I have added a 'captions' tab to each of my projects, which aims to give better clarity on the images used in comparison to the work created. 

These images are labeled in a manner that corresponds to their placement. This should be read from left to right, with image 1, detailing information for the highest left-most image. 

• Image 1 - StreamRecording.png - Recording a stream of water during the second recording session (Gilles Hill Woods, Cambusbarron, Stirling).

• Image 2 - GilliesHillWoodland.png - A photo taken of the woodland during the second recording session (Gilles Hill Woods, Cambusbarron, Stirling).

• Image 3 - ACryforNaturePTTimeline.png - AVID Pro Tools timeline screenshot.

• Image 4 - RothkoNo61RustandBlue.jpg - An image of the infamous No. 61 Rust and Blue created by Mark Rothko.

David Campany

‘The Cinematic’

Introduction // When to be Fast? When to be Slow?

pp. 10-17

Photography and film have coincided together for over two hundred years, both including themselves within a complicated relationship that features artistic expression, emotion, and change. In this introduction, David Campany wishes to reflect with the reader, highlighting the positive and negative aspects that these two art forms have had with one another over the past century, whilst also giving examples to artists who have had an influential impact on both art forms. An insight into their history is also given, with both mediums having to adapt and eventually re-find themselves as they navigated to the 21st century.

Guy Debord

‘Separation Perfected’

The society of the spectacle

pp. 10-24

In this reading, Guy Debord gives a highly complex insight into ‘the spectacle’. The notion itself isn’t clearly defined; however, it can be displayed as a method of control—created by a system that wishes to separate man from his creation through the creation itself. Its intention is to separate us whilst concealing itself in a mask of unification. This idea is shown to be limitless, one that will continue to inflict itself on time, as long as humankind wishes to evolve itself. Proven today through our incessant use of social media, its influence on ourselves, and the outside world. A quote from the reading which I believe sums this explanation well includes:  

“Though separated from his product, man is more and more, and ever more powerfully, the producer of every detail of his world. The closer his life comes to being his own creation, the more drastically is he cut off from that life.”

Douglas Kahn

‘Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts’

Noises of the Avant-Garde

pp. 45-67

From the very start of the chapter, the word “Bruitism” is immediately highlighted. One of its depictions includes the Bruitism of futurists and their use of sounds to create a baron of noise. Its source was dadaism, an art movement created within the epicentre of the first world war that dedicated itself to contradicting the traditional artistic values of the 1900s. Douglas begins this chapter by guiding us through the history of these concepts and how this art movement grew almost instantaneously. 

Dadaists had a great depreciation for war, with their noisemaking being attributed to more naturalistic sounds, highlighting their disgust for nationalism and the brutalist actions that war is typically attributed to. Through this and other notions, they weren’t just escaping war from a safety aspect, but in a sense, they also escaped the notion of reality, creating their own individual universe for themselves where they can define how things should be. 

Personally, I feel like this form of movement would have been a great thing to be a part of, especially since, in some respects, it’s so similar to a lot of the feelings the punk rock genre stands for today.

Weis, Elizabeth & Belton, John (eds.)

‘Film Sound: Theory and Practice’

Asynchronism as a Principle of Sound Film by V. I. Pudovkin

pp. 86-91

We initially want to perceive sound in a realistic manner. Relating the cause of a sound to the sound itself. In the moments that we struggle to do this, for instance, with a bang or a knock, we as humans can’t help but feel unnerved. The notion of not knowing how something was created scares us. 

I feel like this form of feeling can relate to Pudovkin’s notion of asynchronism within film. In its simplest form, sound follows film, producing more depth within the image, limiting its expressive capabilities. When film follows sound however, a bigger image is created, highlighting various details not visible to the human eye. HINDERING, the focus of the viewer. It is only when we blend these elements together that sound can be displayed as both directive and expressive within film and in the real world.

Nathan Platte 

‘Sound: dialogue, music, and effects’

Postwar Hollywood 1947-1967

pp. 59-82

Summarising some of the difficulties of this chapter, Nathan Platte immediately beings his reading with a strong controversial quote given by film music critic Page Cook. Within 1967, he believes that: “music has all but disappeared from films. What was once a functioning part of the cinematic art from has deteriorated into an assortment of auditory effects which derive.” As a critic to some degree myself in many aspects, it is clear to see that Page is somewhat living in the past. And although certain modern works may include elements which he may not be so familiar with, we must always continue to look forward, for some work has to be created and experimented with; otherwise, there will continue to be no innovation. 

It’s also important to mention that cinema also fell victim to this. Many picture houses located within the United States (and the world for that matter) often refused to upgrade to stereophonic sound, a technological advance that would shape cinema into what we know today. Optical media sought to rectify this by virtualising stereo sound and the normal mono solution; however, as many of those audiences know, it just wasn’t the same.

We now live in a modern society where change now occurs almost daily. All I can say is that there’s one thing for sure, “It’s a brave new world, and I sure dig being a part of it” - Quincey Jones.

James Bell

Chronology 

Sci-fi: Days of fear and wonder 

pp. 158-159

Within James Bell’s Chronology, is an extensive index of everything sci-fi, including various films and novels that have shaped the genre into what we know today. In association with this media, Sci-fi has rooted its imagination on history, often depicting real-world events with its futuristic ideals, with its examples including works such as George Méliès’s ‘Trip to the Moon’ (prophesizing space travel to the moon through a spacecraft) and Heinrich Galeen’s ‘The Golem’, (which prophesizes the creation of the atomic bomb). 

James Bell

Breathing the same air: Cold War sci-fi 

Sci-fi: Days of fear and wonder 

pp. 60-63

Breaking out from the catastrophes of the second world war, Sci-Fi was inevitably born. A genre that allowed a level of creative and imaginative freedom that had never been expressed in visual media before. In this article, Jason Bell explains the growth of the sci-fi genre during the cold war era. A time where the capitalist structures of America were at a constant war with communism. 

With the threat of an oncoming invasion ever so lingering on human minds, Sci-fi and communism started to become ever more so connected. UFO sightings within the US sparked the creation of the ‘alien’, an unknown lifeform that was said to be visiting from a faraway exterritorial source. This was only speculation of course; however, as knowledge of these sightings grew, the fear of the unknown began to take hold. This, combined with the fear of an immediate war against the USSR, sparked scare within the United States, with Hollywood playing on this even more by releasing films that featured these alien creatures forcefully invading earth. America had now sadly drowned itself in its own despair.

Dziga Vertov

Film and Ideology 

Film: A Critical Introduction

pp. 322 - 327

Vertov’s text explores the representation of gender, sexuality, and race within film whilst also giving us an enhanced look into the African American culture and their characterization over the years. ‘Representation’ is a keyword now used in modern cinema, with most filmmakers often feeling a lot of pressure to include a diverse range of characters within their art. This is due to the typical stereotypes placed within film over the years, with white males often being regarded as the hero of a story in comparison to everyone else. Vertov gives examples of this through the discussion of African American history within cinema, with films such as D. W. Griffith’s ‘The Birth of a Nation’, expressing that “free African Americans posed a threat to the white population”. This led to the creation of blaxploitation films, promoting the political structures activists such as Malcolm X created within the 1900s.

Von Trier, L., and Vineberg T.

DOGMA 95

1995.

‘DOGMA 95’ - an assembled group of film directors creating an ideology and a cause. They wish to create a new format for film, one that apparently ‘reclaims’ the artform while its predecessor continues to die. Restricting the art through the creation of the ‘VOW OF CHASITY’, a ruleset that defies any post-creation within film. “DOGMA 95 is a rescue action”, they say! Whilst giving connotations to a strict military presence. Their group represents itself more like an elitist cult rather than a method of creation. They wish to slander modern film, however without its history, they themselves wouldn’t exist.  With these negative aspects gone, however, ‘DOGMA 95’ brings a very clear and truly honest uncompromised vision to film. It is an element that rarely features itself within modern media due to its common perfectionism. I just wish that the movement itself was more inclusive.

Hito Steyerl 

In Defence of the Poor Image 

Moving image 

p. 180

Steyerl’s text gives us an uncommon view on visual media and its representation on art as its quality degrades. Broken down through the use of constant compression algorithms, bit rates and low-quality ripping, the media that was once a crystal-clear image, is now what most people would describe as a ‘blocky, blurry mess’. Hito sees this different, however, viewing the image as a new and separate art form that has escaped the picture-perfect realm of cinema. Its scars represent accessibility, describing that the media has “become travellers in a digital no man’s land, constantly shifting their resolution and format, speed and media”. 

I believe that in our current society, we are now spoiled to the richness of perfectionism. Before reading this, I would even regard myself as one of those people, often disregarding certain media if its quality wasn’t good enough. And although there can be exceptions to this, we simply cannot forget about these abstractions, primarily since they represent such an evolving journey.

This week's class included a peer review session, allowing us to talk express ideas on what our critically annotated bibliographies would be about. This, in turn, would allow us to gain feedback which we can then put into our essays. Overall, the session included a variety of unique ideas from all of my classmates, and I cannot wait to read some of their work! I was also influenced by my lecturer Jessica to examine a book called 'Terror Tracks: Music, Sound and Horror Cinema', which will provide me with more helpful information for my essay.

This reminds me that I also haven't yet explained what my essay is about. The general idea that I am going for includes the use of abstraction within horror visual media. The horror genre is something that has always fascinated me and often consists of some of the weirdest and grotesque ideas. In this essay, I would love to analyse these ideas in greater detail, looking at various works such as Resident Evil (1996), The Visit, and Alan Wake. Three audio-visual pieces of work that I believe have fundamentally impacted the horror genre in their own ways. 

I had initially wanted to write out my full essay during last week's study week; however, similar to last's month's soundscape, I sadly came down with a horrendous cold that had me slumped for most of the week. I did manage to write out some of it, however, allowing me to create an overall plan that I can now further progress with.

Frank Rose

The Dyslexic Storyteller

The art of immersion: how the digital generation is remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the way we tell stories

pp. 9-30

Frank’s text gives us a modern insight into what can be achieved today. In previous times, advertisements for media such as film, music, and gaming were often related to material that would release prior to the launch of a product. 

Examples of this can span across a wide range of items, from physical products such as posters and clothing to electronic videos such as trailers. This is where we are introduced to Jordan Weisman, an American game designer who possesses the impairments of dyslexia. And although his learning difficulty has troubled him greatly throughout his life, his love for role-playing games such as dungeon and dragons has sparked a new innovation in storytelling. Using the power of the internet, Jordan has developed a concept which combines storytelling, gaming, and advertising into one singular medium, allowing players from across the globe to come together to solve a mystery. 

“Here was entertainment that involved problem-solving and was story-based and social” - Jordan Weisman

Due to the limitations of Jimdo (the website builder used to create my website), extra information such as captions cannot be placed next to images. To combat this, I have added a 'captions' tab to each of my projects, which aims to give better clarity on the images used in comparison to the work created. 

These images are labeled in a manner that corresponds to their placement. This should be read from left to right, with image 1, detailing information for the left-most image. 

• Image 1 - ResidentEvilCover.png - Cover image for 'Resident Evil'

• Image 2 - AlanWakeCover.png - Cover Image for 'Alan Wake'.

• Image 3 - TheVisitCover.png - Cover image for 'The Visit'.

Welcome reader to the start of my next project! As with the previous reflective journals, these entries are given to educate myself and others on the various mental and technical processes I may have throughout the creation of the short sound film project. However, instead of displaying these entries through the previously created weekly statements, I will now be creating four separate readings that will encompass this project's entirety. Two of these entries will contain the overall learning material I have gained and wish to use, whilst the other two will focus on both the planning and creation of the short sound film itself.

As per my previous assessments, various amounts of learning material were and will continue to be given throughout the next few weeks, including personal experiences with similar projects created by lecturers. To begin, our first lecture introduced us to the concepts within Experimental Sound Film, allowing us to take inspiration from a variety of well-known abstract creations and producers. This included work created by David Bordwell, Lis Rhodes, among many others, who have established a prominent foundation within the abstract film industry. Concepts such as Structural Film and Associational form within film are new to me; however, their justification for being within the film industry allows for the creation of some of the weirdest and most beautiful ideas to become true. It is work such as the movies created by Stan Brakhage which inspire me to create and be creative. 

Our next lesson gave us an in-depth view of videography, introducing the various aspects of video camera operation within both past and modern eras. In this session, we were taught the differentials between optical and digital cameras and the different methods by which we may use these cameras within film. A brief look into the workings of a camera was also given, including its most commonly used settings such as shutter speed, aperture, focus, etc. And although this lesson was a little bit more technical based and harder to specifically reflect on, I personally found it to be one of my most favourite lectures so far within this course (mostly because I'm a little bit of a technical nerd when it comes to equipment such as this). Learning about the workings of specific cameras and how to use them is something I have always wanted to learn, and I'm glad that my course allows me to do that.

References:

• Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K., 2010. Film Art. New York: McGraw Hill.
• Bose, S., 2022. Stan Brakhage: The experimental filmmaker who taught the world how to see. [online] Far Out Magazine. Available at: <https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stan-brakhage-experimental-filmmaker/> 
• Rhodes, L., 2022. Light Music - LUX. [online] LUX. Available at: <https://lux.org.uk/work/light-music>

My next few lectures all surround themselves within the basis of video editing, and because of this, I will be combining all of what I have learned into one specific entry. This generally makes it easier for me to speak about what I have learned as a whole rather than talking about each lesson individually. 

As with all creative projects, it was distilled that planning is one of the most key and influential stages within the creation process. Using the correct workflow allows for a seamless integration of ideas and fast production. In terms of my film creation, all media should have a clear backup and archive protocol, using both local and cloud storage to achieve this. All systems should be thought about before use, including the settings for each piece of equipment and software used. With this said, all of the above are elements of which I already know about, including requirements that I always try to include within my projects. With a more profound knowledge of these workflows now known, I will continue to adapt my planning process for any future projects.

In terms of the video editing software itself, both Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro are highly recommended and are taught during the duration of this unit. Both contain a variety of similarities; however, they feature very different workflows (Track based vs Magnetic Timelines). I currently work on macOS, so both options are available to me; however, I have always had a preference for working with track-based systems and software, and because of this, will be choosing Premiere Pro. Throughout the future lectures, we began to learn the systems commonly embedded into video editing packages, including standard project management (tagging, bins, common project settings, proxies) and the various editing methods available such as destructive/non-destructive editing. As well as this, essential guidance on the editing basics was provided, all of which is very comparable to the tools found in DAW’s such as Pro Tools. 

Finally, we were taught the basic exporting procedures and how to import our progress into our DAW’s. Depending on the software used, an AAF (or a converted XML file) of the finished editing session should be generated, allowing us to import everything neatly without any issues. In terms of the video and audio export itself, all of the requirements of the brief should be followed whilst also trying to maintain the highest quality of audio/video possible. Once imported into the DAW, editing, mixing, and mastering of any audio can then be done for the finished film to then be re-exported in compliance with the R128 standards.

As the weeks continue to progress nearer the Christmas break, it was time to start the planning process for my short sound film. Throughout the weeks, I had begun to think of concepts and the theme of which my film should surround. This included ideas such as:

• A personal interview with Eduardo Sanchez and his motives surrounding the creation of a COP26 protest within Glasgow. – Abandoned due to time constraints and legal issues.

• A TikTok-style short film featuring the modernization of technology and how future technologies will continue to impact our society. Its medium of viewing focuses solely on mobile devices such as phones. – Dismissed as the idea did not meet the requirements of the target brief (Aspect Ratio, R128 Compliance). A project which will be pursued at another time. 

• Growing up Young, a documentary short film that explains the impact of my parents having me at a young age. Includes the use of old home footage and the recording of family members being interviewed. – Abandoned due to the topic possibly containing sensitive material. 

• A Teenage Reflection, A documentary short film that explains both the past, present and future aspirations. It would be created as a sort of homage to my family and a video time capsule which I can then respond to within the far future. A great way to represent the end of my ‘teen’ years as I turn 20 in April. Similar to growing up young, this would include the use of old and new footage to highlight my growth, with personal interviews also being included between this. – CHOSEN

The above ideas were presented to the class through a Peer Review session hosted earlier this week. Through this, we gained valuable feedback on our ideas and complemented each other on our progress so far. As mentioned before, it is incredible that I have such talented classmates, and I cannot wait to work with them on any future projects.  

In terms of the film’s technical aspects, I knew immediately how I wanted to display and create my work. For recording, I wish to hire a series of equipment from the Glasgow School of Art’s Media Studio, such as the Fujifilm X-T30 camera, a tripod, and AudioTech’s ATR35 Lavalier Microphone, allowing me to record within my Livingroom efficiently. Attending to the brief’s requirements, all of my film footage would be converted, imported then transcoded into Adobe’s Premiere Pro editing platform for optimal playback. All video editing would then be accomplished, for it to then be imported, mixed, and mastered within Pro Tools, in compliance with the R128 Loudness requirements.

JOURNAL 4 – This entry will encompass the final part of this project's creation, collating everything we have learned within my previous entries and putting it all together to create this project in line with a vision I had within my head. This process goes as follows: 

• RECORDING - In terms of recording, the process sadly didn't go as well as I would have hoped. Due to the omicron variant of the coronavirus, I had to remove any plans of hiring out the intended equipment from GSA's media studio. Although frustrating, I just wasn't comfortable enough with travelling through to Glasgow from Stirling, especially during the busy Christmas period when I would be seeing vulnerable family members. This resulted in having to use any equipment that I had at home, including my OnePlus 6T Android phone as a camera, and my personal AT2020 cardioid condenser microphone connected to a slightly broken boom arm. This created a poorer quality visual than I would have hoped, with audio quality suffering too due to noise being produced from high gain. However, as a fix to this, I have applied both a de-noise and a de-reverb plugin within Adobe Audition, cleaning up the audio substantially. 

• MEDIA MANAGEMENT - After searching the house for what felt like an hour, I had eventually managed to find my home videos, with my baby videos being stored on disc, and the rest of my younger years up till now stored on an old external drive. I inserted the discs into my Windows PC (which luckily still has a disc drive in it) and copied all of its media over to a separate folder. This was then transferred to my MacBook, with its files being converted to a more accessible file type through software (Handbrake). The same filtration was then done with my external drive, with all of its files already containing the necessary file types.  

• VIDEO EDITING (PREMIERE PRO) – With everything now filtered into a more appropriate file hierarchy, all of the media was imported into a fresh Premiere Pro session before being transcoded into Apple ProRes 442 LT for the most optimal playback. Editing then took place, with all footage being sorted into their appropriate bins, imported into the timeline, and positioned appropriately. Once editing was finished, primary colour and audio correction was done, before exporting both the video (an H264 with included timecode) and an AAF file.

• AUDIO EDITING (PRO TOOLS) – Once editing was completed, both the video and AAF file was imported into a ready-made Pro Tools session before snapping to the appropriate time code for optimal tracking. After a quick visual to see if everything was playing correctly, any essential sound effects were then added, allowing for a cleaner audio experience for the visual. The session was then mixed appropriately through the use of faders in the mix window, and most importantly, clip-based gain, with effects such as equalization and compression being applied to tracks that required touch-ups. Finally, the mix was then bounced out, reimported into the session, and mastered for both BBC's R128, and YouTube's loudness requirements. This was done using Ozone Elements and their maximizer plugin. Both masters were then bounced out before being combined with a removed timecode version of the video, with the YouTube version then being uploaded onto YouTube.

Due to the limitations of Jimdo (the website builder used to create my website), extra information such as captions cannot be placed next to images. To combat this, I have added a 'captions' tab to each of my projects, which aims to give better clarity on the images used in comparison to the work created. 

These images are labeled in a manner that corresponds to their placement. This should be read from left to right, with image 1, detailing information for the highest left-most image. 

• Image 1 - ATeenageReflectionTitleCapture.png - Screenshot of the film's intro sequence. 
• Image 2 - ATeenageReflectionPremiereCapture.png - Adobe Premiere Pro timeline. screenshot
• Image 3 - ATeenageReflectionPTCapture.png - AVID Pro Tools timeline screenshot.
• Image 4 - Ethan.png  - A look into the camera of my reflecting self. 

Our second session of the interactive audio visualization class re-introduced us to the concepts of ‘noise making’ and ‘deep listening’. Taken by Adam Scott, Alex Horowitz, and Jessica Argo, we were placed within an enclosed studio environment to learn more about these concepts in greater depth whilst also experimenting with our learnings. 

We first began to learn more about the contemporary contexts of these concepts, with Jessica introducing us to interactive technologies such as her theremin, essential figures such as Brian Eno, and a look into Glasgow’s very own Improvisers Orchestra.

Next was a deep listening exercise influenced by figures such as Pauline Oliveros and John Cage. For this, we were tasked to listen to the soundscape around us, homing in on the sounds that before may not have been particularly noticeable to the human ear (Similar to John Cage’s composition, the exercise was done for 4 minutes and 33 seconds). I always tend to feel inherently nervous when these sessions begin. My mind immediately tries to find the state of sound that it is most used to, and with that now gone, it must actively listen to its surroundings. Once I am finally in that state, however, I could stay in it for hours, with it providing such a calm and relaxing feeling for my entire body. The sounds that your mind progressively processes are strange, with myself focusing more on the sounds that my body would make rather than the environment itself. 

Finally, we then proceeded to the noise-making exercise. With my drum sticks in hand, we were told to create a variety of noises corresponding to certain words shown to us throughout the piece. Various objects were also littered around the room, allowing us to mix and match multiple items. Each of our improvisations created a sense of both mess and flow. In the beginning, I felt a certain consciousness around me on what types of sounds I should play in relation to what everyone else was playing, creating this weird robotic dynamic within the space. As we progressed, however,  this movement became more natural, creating a motion of sound that ebbed and flowed throughout the entire room. With all of these noises made, there was a certain timbre of sound that I was immediately drawn to. Alex, another fellow student on the course started to use her voice as an instrument, which immediately changed our dynamic. At first, it startled me. With its piercing tone overtaking every other sound within our environment, however, as we progressed, the natural movements of the human voice started to feel comforting, creating an emotional impact that felt powerful. Similar to the above, there aren’t many times within my life where I get to create noise, which to an extent, can make me feel limited sometimes in terms of my effectiveness when applying noise within a production-like setting. Sessions such as this allow for a weird variety of creativeness to be displayed. No wonder why collectives such as the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra do this so often!

References: 

• BBC Click, 2017. Brian Eno: How To Beat Creative Block. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tURRSJ-q4bg>.
• Glasgowimprovisersorchestra.com. 2022. Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. [online] Available at: <https://www.glasgowimprovisersorchestra.com/about/> 
• John Cage, 1952. 4'33. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN2zcLBr_VM>.
• Pauline Oliveros, 2015. The difference between hearing and listening. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QHfOuRrJB8>.

For my self-directed gallery visit, I decided to venture off to Dundee for a long-awaited visit to the V&A. The city itself has always had a firm place within my heart. My mum’s side of the family initially resided in Dundee, with myself being born within the city itself within the early months of 2002. To see the city that I had originally grown up in begin to take a more modern form was something that really moved me, with places such as the V&A gallery allowing for more artistic freedom to be produced within the city. 

The first exhibition I wanted to visit was created by Yinka Ilori. Labelled ‘Listening to Joy’, the exhibition aims to provide an immersive and sensory experience through the use of a “colourful, interactive playscape” (V&A Dundee · Yinka Ilori: Listening to Joy, 2022). Once entered, you travel through its maze-like form, allowing you to open and close new paths as you move around the space. Its centre also includes a series of circular xylophones, allowing any person, young or old, to play and create various musical notes. 

It was amazing to see an exhibition created to bring out the inner child. Both I and others had a lot of fun being able to run around and experience making noise whilst being lost within its maze-like form. Interactions such as this remind me never to overcomplicate the work that I create. 

I was also very fortunate to experience the collaboration between MSCTY and the V&A. This second exhibition included a variety of music that aimed to respond to the architecture of the V&A, both inside and out: “Inside the museum, be carried away with a soundtrack by Japanese composer and percussionist Midori Takada. Inspired by the natural materials chosen by architect Kengo Kuma, Midori has created a spellbinding soundtrack to welcome visitors to the museum” (V&A Dundee · MSCTY x V&A Dundee, 2022). Not only that but a composition created by Dundee’s very own musician ‘SSHE’ was also played underneath the building’s archway, with this piece being inspired by the venue’s extraordinary location next to the River Tay. 

As I had arrived at the venue at around 15:00, I was able to experience all of the compositions played live. The music provided a sensorial feeling that I had never experienced before, encompassing the entire venue just enough so that it could be heard without taking away the features of the other exhibitions. With the architecture of the V&A having such an artistic and modern design, I had found myself jumping around the various parts of the venue, listening for any oddities that each space may produce (different resonances, diffractions etc.). 

If you are planning a trip to Dundee within the near future, I highly recommend taking a quick little trip to the V&A. I’ll leave some information below for anyone interested in any further information, including a hyperlink to the compositions themselves.

 
References:

• Mscty.space. 2022. MSCTY x V&A Dundee w/ Kengo Kuma, Midori Takada and SHHE. [online] Available at: <https://www.mscty.space/project/mscty-x-vam-dundee> [Accessed 3 March 2022].
• Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee. 2022. V&A Dundee · MSCTY x V&A Dundee. [online] Available at: <https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/exhibitions/mscty> [Accessed 3 March 2022].
• Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee. 2022. V&A Dundee · Yinka Ilori: Listening to Joy. [online] Available at: <https://www.vam.ac.uk/dundee/exhibitions/yinka-ilori-listening-to-joy> [Accessed 3 March 2022].

Due to the limitations of Jimdo (the website builder used to create my website), extra information such as captions cannot be placed next to images. To combat this, I have added a 'captions' tab to each of my projects, which aims to give better clarity on the images used in comparison to the work created. 

These images are labeled in a manner that corresponds to their placement. This should be read from left to right, with image 1, detailing information for the highest left-most image. 

• Image 1 - NoiseMakingWorkshopSoundList.png - An image of the sound list I created during the noise-making workshop. 

• Image 2 - NoiseMakingWorkshopCapture.png - An image of where the noise-making workshop took place, and some of the objects included (SimVis, Glasgow).

• Image 3 - VAOutdoors.png - An outdoor image of Dundee's V&A Museum. 

• Image 4 - ListeningtoJoy.png - An image I took of the 'Listening to Joy' exhibition within the V&A. 

Welcome back to the start of a new documentary! Similar to my previous entries, I will be creating four reflective journals in the hope of explaining my thoughts throughout this project's entirety. This documentary will be a little different of course, with the aim of creating more of an artistic piece about a chosen art movement rather than the personal project that came before. To help me with this documentary, I have been paired up in a group with Shannon Woods. Being placed in a group will also allow us to build various team-building skills, with a more straightforward dynamic of production being created along the way.

Some sad news to start this project off, I was sadly ill with a horrible headache last week, which hindered me from attending the GSA Library session hosted last Thursday. This would have been good to participate in, as I would have gotten to meet with Shannon to discuss ideas and art topics; however, it wasn't meant to be.

Luckily, I had already begun. To start this module off strong, I began to create what is known as a Padlet. A webpage which allows various amounts of information to be stored and viewed, similar to rough planning sketches like mind maps or flashcards. As you may have already guessed, our Padlet will be used mainly for the planning side of things, offering a quick way of adding references, videos, artwork, and generally just fun ideas for the project. As everything is still in progress, there isn't too much information just yet, with myself and Shannon still deciding on what art movement to pick. I'm honing more towards a look into scratch video, as it has always been an art movement I've wanted to know more about, but everything will be chosen in due time. 

Similar to the previous documentary, these types of projects are things that I live for. As this form of media creation is something that I want to pursue as a career, I must try and get stuck in whilst enjoying every moment that I can. I cannot wait to get started.

Class Learnings: Finally, just a quick note on what I had learned in class this week as I always feel that it is beneficial to reflect on my learnings once they're still fresh in my mind. Ronan re-introduced us to the concepts of 'Location Audio', 'Production Sound' and the general practices of recording. As we are hoping to do an in-person interview for this project on location, having a reminder of things such as the equipment that should be used and how we should prioritize documents (such as a 'sound checklist') was very influential. A deeper analysis of microphone techniques, interview recordings and voice over was also conducted, allowing us to manage a live interview first-hand within SimVis.


References:

• McEwan, E. and Woods, S., 2022. Ethan and Shannon - Art Movement Documentary - Brainstorming Session. [online] Padlet. Available at: <https://glasgowschoolofart.padlet.org/emcewan21/cllsiikjjn5kcqlh>.

Well, all I can say is a lot has changed from the last time I created one of these journals. Without going into full detail, I have now left my previous group with Shannon and now partnered with Claire and Connor (two of my friends/classmates). Shannon has always been someone I have gotten along with very well in class, with myself and her having a good few laughs together. However, in a group setting, I was a bit uncomfortable working with her due to some bad experiences. Nothing super bad, of course! But her often delay in communication, and overall work ethic made me feel that the project’s future would be somewhat hindered. I hope nothing but the best for Shannon, and I cannot wait to see what she creates over the next few months.

With myself now joining Claire and Connor’s group, I immediately got myself stuck in. Similar to myself and Shannon previously, Claire and Connor were still in the planning stage of the project, with themselves also creating a Padlet to share and feature information. They had already chosen their art movement; however, with extensive research being done along the way, they were well ahead with their progress. I was now undertaking a poetic documentary style surrounding surrealist art, with a significant focus on feminism and women within the movement. Luckily, this was something that I have always wanted to learn more about, with artists such as Lenora Carrington even influencing my grandmother and her created artworks.

With things being continuously added to the Padlet page, our specific roles within the project were decided on Thursday, allowing us to dedicate our areas of expertise to the particular tasks we had chosen. An extensive list of this will be shown in our technical report.

Class Learnings: To start the week off, Jessica introduced us to the ethics of documentary filmmaking. Looking into the ethics policies sought by GSA, it was taught that our ethical manner is important. Using the correct ethical documents such as consent and ethical evaluation forms will play a massive role. GSA’s ethical code provides a great stance on what is and isn’t appropriate. Our next lesson with Paul Wilson also expanded on this, with ourselves venturing into the use cases of Risk Assessments and how they are crucial for on-location recording. Risk Assessments aren’t just there as a precaution but are legally required by law. Because of this, it is vital that we create a risk assessment for any on-location shooting that we conduct.


References:

• Peat, C., McFarlane, C. and McEwan, E., 2022. Connor, Claire & Ethan's Art Movement Documentary Moodboard. [online] Padlet. Available at: <https://glasgowschoolofart.padlet.org/cmcfarlane22/3kg1u08tj58xs01b>.
• Emre, M., 2020. How Leonora Carrington Feminized Surrealism. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/28/how-leonora-carrington-feminized-surrealism>.
• Brown, K., 2020. Surrealism Was a Decidedly Feminine Movement. So Why Have So Many of Its Great Women Artists Been Forgotten? | Artnet News. [online] Artnet News. Available at: <https://news.artnet.com/art-world/kunsthalle-schirn-surrealist-women-1779669>.

As the weeks continue to progress, I find it harder and harder to include information in these journals. My weeks now feel so compact with work, and although I would like to explain every minute detail, it’s a struggle trying to collate everything into a singular journal. Because of this, I have begun to separate these journals into separate sections, allowing myself to explain any essential items a little bit easier:

COLLATING DOCUMENTATION – Another job that I ticked off this week was the creation of any documentation needed for the documentary. Items such as the ethical consent forms had already been provided to us through templates; however, documentation such as the Risk Assessments and a Gantt Chart also had to be created. The risk assessment allowed us to highlight and mitigate any potential issues for the upcoming location interview set for early next week, whilst the Gantt chart highlighted our dedicated job roles and their provided schedules.

COLLECTING ARCHIVE FOOTAGE – As you may have seen in the previous journal, one of my main tasks was to collate any archive footage needed for this documentary. For this, I used a variety of websites to collate any of the videos, audio clips or images that I felt were necessary. Websites such as YouTube and UbuWeb were terrific resources, allowing me to easily find and collate all of the footage that I needed. The application 4K downloader also allowed me to download these pieces of footage at their highest available quality. Everything was then sorted within a google document, allowing me to reference each piece of footage easily through title name and artist.

INTERVIEW RECORDING – Finally, we were also lucky enough to have interviewed Julia Szimak earlier this week. Julia is currently an architecture student at the Glasgow School of Art; however, she also creates a variety of feminist and surrealist art in her spare time. We were also fortunate enough to have recorded the interview within her ongoing exhibition, currently held within The Variety Bar in Glasgow. 

With all of the necessary equipment being booked out before the event, we met up at the train station and walked to the venue. From there, introductions took place, along with a general walkthrough of the venue to look at the various pieces she had on display. We then chose a booth at the back of the venue as the best possible spot to record and set up the necessary equipment. Similar to the previous roles set, my job within the recording process was to set up any of the audio equipment required (Tascam field recorder, Sony Lavalier mic etc.) and monitor the audio feed throughout the entire recording process. Connor was then on camera duty whilst Claire played host, providing the general chat and interview questions. 

Overall, everything went super smooth, with the interview lasting just under 45 minutes. The recording quality was also excellent, with zero clipping and reasonable gain control. Three recording channels were also conducted, with a stereo recording being made through the Tascam itself and a single mono feed from the Lavalier. The only thing that may be an issue is the music playing in the background of the recording. This was something that I had foreseen beforehand, as the exhibition is set within a bar environment; however, I hadn’t realised the extent of how loud the external sources were. This is something that I will try to mitigate in post, with a learning experience being made for any future interviews. 

References:

• McEwan, E., 2022. Archive Footage List - Art Movement Documentary. [online] Google Docs. Available at: <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TnN5UDxwbjkUuy5RLeb3_zky54S-2pXWE6B9oaVGDLU/edit>.

This entry will encompass the final part of this project's creation, collating everything we have learned within my previous entries and putting it all together to create this project in line with its initial vision. Before I go into detail about these procedures, I want to remark that a couple of changes to this vision have been made. Instead of going for a poetic mode of documentary, we have now opted to create a traditional BBC style documentary. Going for the conventional documentary style will allow us to explain surrealismo (the name of our film) a little bit easier whilst still obtaining the creativeness you would usually expect. With this said, the creative process goes as follows: 

VIDEO EDITING – Since I wasn't the assigned video editor for this project, I won't go into too much detail on how its development went, as Connor will be able to explain that process much better. I will say, however, that myself and Claire were also in the room with Connor throughout the entirety of the video edit, with ourselves giving essential suggestions to Connor on the placement of footage, how long each piece of footage should be and its creative style of editing. The editing work was conducted within Dubbing Theatre 3 at SimVis, with Connor using Final Cut Pro as his editing software of choice. After the editing was performed, an XML file was created, converted to an AAF through X2Pro, ready for me to import and sort into Pro Tools.

AUDIO EDITING – Since I was the assigned sound designer, I will be able to go into a lot more detail on the audio editing process, explaining my thoughts on how I felt everything went. With the AAF being generated, I imported the AAF and a timecoded version of the video into a previously made Pro Tools session, snapped everything to the appropriate timecode, and sorted the imported audio clips into their respective tracks. From there, I moved the session into Dubbing Theatre 2 at SimVis, set up the studio as appropriate, and recorded myself and Claire using the attached voice-over booth. The recording was conducted with an AKG 414 with good gain staging, using the provided script given by Claire. Similar to the above, Connor was also present during the entirety of the recordings, helping with any needed adjustments whilst giving valuable feedback. 

With the voice over now conducted, I consolidated the session, moved it back to my laptop and conducted the rest of the audio work at home. After a quick visual to see if everything was playing correctly, any essential sound effects were then added, allowing for a cleaner audio experience for the visual. The session was then mixed appropriately using the faders in the mix window and most importantly, clip-based gain, with effects such as equalisation and compression that required touch-ups. Finally, the mix was bounced out, reimported into the session, and mastered for both BBC's R128 and YouTube's loudness requirements. This was done using Ozone Elements and their maximiser plugin. Both masters were then bounced out before being combined with a removed timecode version of the video, with the YouTube version being uploaded to YouTube.com

Due to the limitations of Jimdo (the website builder used to create my website), extra information such as captions cannot be placed next to images. To combat this, I have added a 'captions' tab to each of my projects, which hopes to give better clarity on the images used in comparison to the work created. 

These images are labeled in a manner that corresponds to their placement. This should be read from left to right, with image 1, detailing information for the highest left-most image. 

• Image 1 - Varietybarscene.jpg - A Screenshot of 'The Variety Bar' scene in 'Surrealismo'.
• Image 2 - FinalCutSessionSession.png - A Screenshot of the Final Cut Pro session. 
• Image 3 - ProToolsSession.jpg - A Screenshot of the Pro Tools session. 
• Image 4 - SurrealismoTeam.jpg - All of the Producers together!