Hi guys,
As mentioned in my previous post, my film was based on the journey to see the stars, as it was inspired from how we are so affected by light pollution that we are unable to see the true beauty of our universe.
However, after much consideration, I felt that the “journey to see the stars” was lacking a kind of depth? Therefore I went back to look at my previous projects again and I realised that from the series of photos I took, be it Before Dawn or The Night Watch, there’s this sense of quietness and stillness captured in the photos. As both series was taken during the night, I felt this certain type of “quiet” that can be found only during the night as there are lesser people and vehicles around. Only during the night, urbanisation has slowed down a little, it’s still happening but it’s not as much as during the day.
Thats when I realised, the quiet I was looking for, was the “natural quiet” of our nature. We’re so surrounded by so many things in our world that we rarely SEE or HEAR the real quiet. Urbanisation is causing us to lose the natural silence of our universe. I’m not saying that urbanisation is bad, and that it should be stop. We can’t stop urbanisation as it has benefitted us a lot, and it has evolved so much to the point that I don’t think it can be stopped. What I’m trying to say is, humans and nature should coexist together in a good and healthy way. Yes, urbanisation can still happen, but we should still preserve the natural quiet of our universe at certain parts on Earth, to leave it untouched by any human or human activities. So that we, can truly enjoy the real nature and fall back in love with our land.
I did some research on my work and I found a book that is quite relatable to what my voice is trying to say – “A search for natural silence in a noisy world.” I will just post some sentences that I found that are relatable!
Book 1: One Square Inch of Silence
It is our birthright to listen, quietly and undisturbed, to the natural environment and take whatever meanings we may. Long before the noises of mankind, there were only the sounds of the natural world. Our ears evolved perfectly tuned to hear these sounds – sounds that far exceed the range of human speech or even our most ambitious musical performances: a passing breeze that indicates a weather change, the first birdsongs of spring heralding a regreening of the land and a return to growth and prosperity, an approaching storm promising relief from a drought, and the shifting tide reminding us of the celestial ballet. All of these experiences connect us back to the land and to our evolutionary past.
Preserving natural silence is as necessary and essential as species preservation, habitat restoration, toxic waste cleanup, and carbon dioxide reduction.
Silence is not the absence of something, but the presence of everything. It is the presence of time, undisturbed. It can be felt within the chest. Silence nurtures our nature, our human nature and let us know who we are.
Today, silence has become an endangered species. Our cities, our suburbs, our farm communities, even our most expansive and remote national parks are not free from human intrusions.
All in all, my new film topic is going to talk about how urbanisation has affected the natural quiet of our nature, that the silence is starting to become an endangered species. Throughout all the chaos that we go through everyday, be it sound or light, we are slowly losing the silence of our universe.
But I guess, I will be focusing more on sounds in my film itself. Initially I thought I would have to film mostly in the night, but after consulting with Robert, he mentioned that I can also film in the day as the “message” I want to get through is quiet similar to my previous project. Therefore, I will most likely focus on the noise pollution that Urbanisation has caused, as that has started the process of losing our silence.
My new film title will be – “Sounds of Silence”. I have yet to come up with my 50 words narrative but overall the message I hope to get through is to create awareness that we are slowly starting to lose the silence in our world. As this is an environmental issue that is not well-known and is often ignored.
“The day will come when man will have to fight noise as inexorably as cholera and the plague.” – Nobel Prize-winning Bacteriologist Robhert Koch (1905)
