Category: In-Class Assignments

In-Class Exercise: Time – Exercise Part 1 (Rhythm, Movement, Causality, Duration – Project 3)

Revisiting Project 3 Impossibilities of  Being – “Safe Haven” which is about a mental patient with depression and suicidal thoughts who thinks that the mental hospital she’s in is a safe haven. In addition, the two different perspectives of reality between the protagonist and the protagonist’s family member.

We have to review our Project 3’s visuals and soundscape and re-evaluate it in terms of:

  • Rhythm

– Regularised repeating of movement or sound. (Visual or sound)

-Occur when repetition is present.

-Rhythm establishes a sense of mood and timing.

-Irregularity creates anticipation leave audience confused, scared or amused.

 

  • Movement

-A shift or variation in the location of an object, light or sound.

-Effective way to direct focus

-Successional movement – leads the eye in one direction (one after another)

-Oppositional movement – leads the eye in a difference with a clash of forces.

-Stillness or absence of movement allows contrast within the work. (Perceived absence of movement)

-Movement much like sound, has distinct parts:

  • Attack (Onset, growth, birth)
  • Sustain (Steady-state, duration, life)
  • Decay (Fall-off, termination, death)

 

  • Causality

-The principle that everything has a cause and effect.

-Causality implies expectations, and artist can use this sense of anticipation or suspense to establish any number of situation with expected or unexpected outcomes.

  • Duration

-The overall length of time (a work or a portion of a work lasts).

-Too long or too short, it loses its power to affect the participant.

 

Identifying these principles in Project 3 – ‘Safe Haven’:

Rhythm

Both regularity and irregularity of rhythm were present in my video. The overall emotional graph for the soundscape begins with a non-diegetic happy background music which is disrupted into a thrill, suspenseful and psychotic feeling.

00:15 – 00:20 – A rhythmic ticking sound which shows the inner mind state of the protagonist’s anxiety which reinforced her feelings of fear and anxiousness.

00:20 – 00:24 – The repetition of stomping of the feet gets amplified and louder as the doctor approaches nearer to the protagonist.

00:38 – 00:43 – The rhythmic and repeated sound of the beeping and water dripping creates a calm ambience.

In addition, there’s irregularity in the soundscape where the rhythmic sounds are disrupted by loud camera shutters for transitioning scenes and it creates feelings of anticipation or suspense because they know something scary or frightening will happen next. The irregularity of visuals of the protagonist’s psychotic behaviour and smooth flow of soundscape disrupted by camera shutter creates an oppressive and confined environment that the protagonist is in.

 

Movement

For visual movement, the view of doctor’s footsteps approaching the protagonist in the alleyway becomes bigger and the stomping sound of the feet is amplified which uses successional movement to have direct focus on the feet to show the audience that the protagonist is fearful of the doctor.

In addition, there’s a smooth transition and panning of the camera of the family member holding the protagonist’s mental hospital invoices so that the audience have time to process the hints given in the short film of where the protagonist is and why she’s being confined and treated like a patient.

For sound movement, there’s a transition of smooth and relaxing non-diegetic sound of the dream-like safe haven that the protagonist have in mind in the beginning to disruptive and quick transitions of diegetic sound brings us back to reality. Distinct parts such as ‘Attack’ , ‘Sustain’ and ‘ Decay’ is present in my short film.

In terms of ‘Sustain’, there’s a calm and relaxing perspective of the protagonist’s view on the location she’s in because that’s the reality she accepted readily – using a happy non-diegetic music track.

In terms of ‘Attack’, the faded, dream-like perspective is soon disrupted with quick non-diegetic sound which reinforces the movement of the clear visuals. However, I felt like I should increase the opacity of the faded effect in the beginning so the transition of a dream-like perspective to reality is more prominent. Hence, this section of the soundscape and visuals bring a new revelation that the protagonist is in a mental hospital for the audience.

In terms of ‘ Decay’, the ending where the protagonist whacks the camera and it turns black as the beeping sound went dead shows that in reality, the protagonist is already dead inside and she’s in own made up world, being confined and trapped in a hell zone in the eyes of her family member.

Causality

For this video, I’m trying to portray the different perspective of being in a mental hospital to the protagonist and her family member. I managed to make the audience realised it’s a mental hospital instead of a dream-like safe haven which is perceived by the protagonist. By adding unexpected elements and twist of events of a unknown white figure with blue gloves taking her away and strapping her onto the bed to create suspense of what’s going to happen next and the location she’s in, revealing her depression through drawings and slits from her suicide attempts to the audience to give hints that she’s in a mental hospital. In addition, using linear narrative, I revealed the protagonist’s family member holding the mental hospital invoices so the audience can piece all the hints together. Some of the audience told me that they felt like the protagonist is playing all the character in the short film which showcase her being mentally unstable about her whole acceptance of reality. Hence, giving off a psychotic feeling which I’m trying to achieve.

In terms of causality and sound, after the protagonist fell and the happy music background is disrupted by a loud thud, the faded dream-like effect of the video disappears and it becomes really clear to show reality. Also, using ticking sound to show the protagonist’s inner mind state of being anxious and creating anticipation and curiousity for the audience about what’s gonna happen next.

In addition, at the end of the video when the protagonist is showing her unusual behaviours which caused her to be in a mental hospital. There’s an irregularity and quick transitions of sound and visuals which leads to the protagonists staring intensely at the camera and whacking it away to engage with the audience, leaving them feeling confused and shocked at her violent and weird behaviour.

Duration

The overall duration of the video is one minute. I felt like I needed an extra 10 seconds to build up the story and interest for certain scenes like the drawings which represented the protagonist’s depression and suicidal thoughts so the audience can fully understand the reason why she’s in a mental hospital (story). The audience felt that the scene was too fast and I should have slowed down a bit and showed all the drawings so, it will evoke a sense of emotion about the well-being of the protagonist.

Overall, I managed to showcase the thrill and suspense during the encounter of the protagonist and the doctor and at the end of the video to show the psychotic side of the protagonist – using quick transitions by using camera shutter sound for the different visuals of her unusual behaviour.

In-Class Exercise: Time – Exercise Part 2 (Scratchy Scratchy)

Imagine things you would not want to watch/hear/taste/feel/smell (experience) for 10 seconds, and things you would want to last longer than 10 seconds but don’t.

 

Events that I don’t want to experience more than 10 seconds:

  • Shitting
  • Holding in my pee
  • Sneezing
  • Being screamed at
  • Being irritated/made fun of by a friend
  • Burping
  • Farting
  • Screeching sound of the nail against the table or wall
  • Choking on my own saliva
  • Forgetting my words during a presentation

Events that I would want to last longer than 10 seconds but don’t:

  • Scratching the itchy part of my body but it starts to hurt after a while
  • Eating my favourite dish (Once swallowed, it’s gone)
  • Braiding hair
  • Cartwheeling
  • Getting full attention from a kitty cat
  • Being able to shit after being constipated for 3 days
  • The thrill when the rollercoaster drops from the highest point
  • Applause after dancing or presenting
  • The excitement of meeting my loved one after so long (I’m like so over it after 10 secs because I have to entertain their bullshit which I still love to do)
  • When the bass drops in the club

 

What would engage you for 10 seconds?

SCRATCHING MY UNDERARMS

I like how there’s a change in sensation from having an orgasm-like feeling by scratching the itchy part of my underarms and it starts to hurt after a while despite doing the same action. Hence, it reminds me of quote, “Having too much of anything is bad.” Everything should be in moderation ahahahaha (:

 

Scratchy scratchy – 10 Seconds Performance Art:

Hope you like it <3

In-Class Exercise: Clock Time (Cartwheeling My Way Into My New Clothes)

Objective – Create a 30-second video that expresses clock time.

Cartwheeling My Way Into My New Clothes

Idea sketches: 

 

Final Video

The moment I heard about this project, I decided to do a continuous series of cartwheel because it reminds me of the clocking ticking. To make it more fun, I wanted to show a routine of changing into a new set of clothes which takes 30 seconds! Enjoy <3

In-Class Exercise: Soundless Video Response

SOUNDSCAPE FOR SOUNDLESS VIDEO 

 

https://vimeo.com/299239309

 

After watching this soundless video, what came to my mind was a relaxing mood with flower petals falling in the beginning which turns chaotic and explosive afterwards. Hence, inspiring me to do a soundscape of my mind when I’m entering a class with a calm and positive outlook, ready to tackle a new project but having brain fart explosions due to the overwhelming requirements and being clueless on where to start. At the end, I just want to enjoy my holiday and be worry-free! Enjoy the soundscape!

 

In-Class Exercise: A Clap & A Bang (Group Exercise)

GROUP PERFORMANCE

For our group performance, Gwendolyn, JiaXi, Zoey and I had to create a response and decided to do a short performance regarding the question that was given to us;

  • Silence is ???
  • Noise is ???
  • Sound is ???
  • Listening is ???

Gwendolyn started off with a rhythmic clapping (sound – pleasant to the ears).

JiaXi and Zoey followed Gwendolyn by clapping with a regular beat. (sound)

I disrupted the flow of the beat by doing a non-rhythmic clapping by doing a fast and irregular clapping. (noise – unpleasant to the ears)

Everyone started creating chaotic sounds by clapping in a non-rhythmic way.  (noise)

Zoey stopped the chaotic sound with a loud bang by slamming her palms on the table. (sound)

After the end of the performance, there was a brief moment of silence (an abrupt change of sound – loud to silent).

The whole process of our audience paying attention to the performance is listening.

 

OWN INTERPRETATION:

  • SILENCE is death, deafening. To me, you will only achieve true silence when you’re dead. In addition, silence can also be an abrupt change of sound from loud to silent (transitional).
  • NOISE is an unpleasant sound to the ears. It is a subset of sound but has a negative connotation to it as it tends to be annoying and disruptive.
  •  SOUND is pleasant to the ears. Something that we do not mute out and notice in an environment full of sound.
  • LISTENING is getting the audience to act on what they hear. The conscious act of processing sound and the brain is engaged and makes meaning from the sound they heard.

 

RESPONSE TO ANOTHER GROUP’S PRESENTATION

My favourite response is from Stella, Li Xin, Li Ying & Whitney’s group about the vending machine which uses their voice to mimic the mechanical sounds (diegetic sound) and asking the buyer whether they’re okay in a humanistic way (non-diegetic sound) which is an interesting approach to this dialogue.

It makes me ponder about the Fourth Industrial Revolution where soon everything will be filled with Artificial Intelligence and robots. It strips away our sense of emotions and incorporating our human voice as a greeting to the buyer retains a sense of humanism in the future. I really love their response <3

 

In-Class Exercise: Soundwalking

PERSONAL REFLECTION

For this in-class assignment, my appreciation for sound is heightened. I realised due to the abundance of sounds in our environment, I tend to mute out the unpleasant noise so it doesn’t bother me. After the exercise of recording various types of sounds using a Zoom H4N Recorder with Whitney, I’m more attentive to the sounds in my surroundings and I can’t sleep at night because I’m super sensitive to the chirping and clicking sounds of cicada in my dorm area ):

I realised there’s always sound in our surrounding even when we perceived it as silence due to the echoes in a room. There’s only true silence when we’re dead, in my opinion. After the lecture in class, what strikes me the most is this phrase “Films are 50% visual and 50% sounds”. Sound have a high importance in film as it can be used to reinforce or manipulate the visuals.

Foley (named after sound-effects artist Jack Foley) is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to film, video, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality.

 

In-Class Assignment

Listen to the sounds of your body while moving.

Going up the stairs :

 

Try to move, without making any sound. Is it possible?

Whitney’s heartbeat – There’s still a faint rhythmic sound created by our heart pumping:

 

Which is the quietest sound of your body?

Eyeblinking:

Lead your ears away from your own sounds

Listen to the sounds nearby.

Faint buzzing/static sound from the corridor – I didn’t notice that there’s this sound in ADM Level 2 corridor:

 

What do you hear?
What else do you hear?

Other people

People talking/chattering:

 

Nature sounds

Exiting the ADM building – You can hear the mechanical sound of the door and wind gushing in:

 

Mechanical sounds

Rhythmic clock ticking:

 

How many Continuous sounds continuous continuous sounds continuous

Beeping sound from the card reader in ADM:

 

Can you detect

Interesting rhythms

Crunching & Munching:

Regular beats

Typing on the keyboard of a phone:

The highest

Strong static/buzzing noise:

The lowest pitch

Opening of Blue Ray CD Slot:

Do you hear any
Intermittent or discrete sounds

Aircon – Sound of vastness and emptiness of the corridor:

 

Rustles

Rustling of leaves:

 

Bangs

Knocking on metal dustbin:

Swishes

Washing hands:

Thuds

Rubber band smacking:

 

What are the sources of the different sounds?

Flushing toliet – When you close your eyes, it’s really relaxing and you can manipulate into a sound of a waterfall. My personal favourite:

 

Lead you ears away from these sounds and listen beyond—–into the distance.
What is the quietest sound?

What else do you hear?
What else?

Ignition of lighter:

Exercise 2: Irrational Objects

Conceptualization of object with verbs & templates

First Exercise

Thinking out of the box with the questions given in class:

Questions about the object given

After this exercise, it gives me a new outlook on how to explore and view my object (measuring tape). There’s more for exploration when I stopped thinking about the literal functions and purpose of the object in a logical way.

Second Exercise

Coming up with 10 sketches of concepts with verbs using our object given:

(Blooming, Fleeing, Flirting, Pleading, Camouflaging, Healing, Screwing, Eavesdropping, Expanding, Mumbling)

We had to do automatic drawing when we were given the verbs, unexpected and unpredictable ideas are created and this encourages spontaneity of image-making which can be further used for development. It helped me out for certain concepts I had beforehand and I’m considering to use some of the random concepts I came up with for my “Component 2 – Connotation”.

Third Exercise

  • Identifying the component parts and features of the object
  • Apply the transformation as suggested by each template
  1. The REMOVAL template (removing one component of the object)
  2. The REPLACEMENT template (replace one component with a different component or replace to a resource from the immediate environment)
  3. The REDEFINITION template (redefine the environment/contextualise the object’s function through a new environment)

CONCLUSION

This in-class exercise really helped me out by broadening my perspective by looking at different aspects of the object/topic given. In addition, how to let loose and not be too rigid when I’m coming up with the conceptualization and ideation. Hence, I can think of something unique and impactful and select an idea/concept that is not overused for component 2 and 3.