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Week 13
In honour of my project with Putri, I give you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw
Gosh, I made it! hahah. It’s funny to say that, knowing that there are always new projects and jobs on the back burner. But at least this is the final blog. It’s really been a whirl wind semester, and I want to thank you for helping me make some of my best work, but also giving me the tools I need to do so. I think this is the first semester where the importance of researching, getting feedback and just constantly updating work, hit home. It was the sheer amount of it that pushed me to the point where I made some pretty good work. In previous semesters I would have been like “yet a few sessions is great”, but getting feedback almost weekly in the end really got my works here.
Utopia
Collaboration with Putri
Prelinger Archive Collection
https://youtu.be/G3uWNMeyBEg
I can’t stress how amazing and talented Putri is and how special it was to work on this project. The sound has been a massive test, and when I look back to all the times I sobbed over it, it all becomes worth it. This past week was a battle, it was endless trail, and, I touched briefly on it in my presentation, by it was one of those times where I just sat there and just could figure out how to fix it. I knew what was wrong and what needed to happen, but I just could not for the life of my know exactly how to fix it. So again, it was great to get advice from Darrin on ways to fix it, and I think its really turned out well. In my presentation I said it’s at about 80-85% completed, and again, its just that middle sections into the breakdown, I totally understand how it needs do go into it and that it needs to push harder, but again its just something that I feel I need to keep playing with and tweaking. Also the final mix isn’t great. I don’t know if exported it too low or maybe it was an export problem. But that also feels like something that needs to be addressed.
But overall, I’m happy were this piece ended up. It wasn’t exactly a Kraftwerk master piece, but I think it does set the tone accompanies the visuals well.
Integrated
Collaboration with Krystal
Richard Grant Collection
https://youtu.be/XaZIn9D1NXI
I’m really happy with how this piece turned out. I think I subtly created good tension within the piece and completed the starting goal.
This week was just getting in and mixing the beast. (So many tiny details in panning), and also just finishing the final edits with the final visual.
Two things about this pieceI I really struggled with this week was the mix out, it kept clipping and when I exported it without clipping it was so soft. Bouncing out is my weakness, I need a crash course in how to do it well. The other, which goers with mixing, is coming in at 1:00. I’m really annoyed at myself. After feedback a couple weeks ago about that section needing something more, I layered in these great pads that really gives more meat, but during mixing I left the level too low and now you can’t hear it. So it just sounds really bland in that part. So if I had another week, I’d go back and fix that mixing and figure out how to bounce it out correctly.
Abyss
Collaboration with Krystal
Richard Grant Collection
https://youtu.be/l1BkMdTH3FM
Another on bites the dust.
I love this weird project. I feel like out of all of them, this project is the most “me”, or at least the style that I love making. I just love the way you can use sfx and foley in a compositional way, how they can have percussion or texture that fits really well into a piece. I feel like this one is a whacking fusion of minimalist/atonal scoring and music concrete. Schaeffer meets Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Like my other projects, there are always things I would change. I’m still not set on the musical tones I gave to the tunnels. I feel like they needed to be more distorted, maybe I should’ve tried a triangle tone instead of sine. Because it just sounds a little too sweet. When I first started doing it I wanted it to come across old school computer glitch and I just didn’t get there. So if I had a couple more weeks, then I would go through with a fine tooth comb and fix that up. And the ending!! Another of my darn weakness. I just don’t know how to finish a piece off. It’s the same with Integrated. They just die flat, really spoils the pieces. But again, it’s that trick of the trade where I know what’s wrong, but just don’t know what I should to do fix it.
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Week 12
This week was a bit more of a quiet one, as I was just waiting for final edits and also spent the week finishing up assessment for other classes.
Putri
I completed and mixed my project with Putri and now I’m just waiting for the final edit to just double check all my sfx are in the right place.
I spent the start of the week listening to 80s songs, “Party all the Time” by Eddie Murphy and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cindy Lauper, where two that really helped with decisions on adding a baseline and the panning and mixing of my instruments. I’m really happy with where this one ended up, and I think the addition of the baseline really brings together the piece to give that 80s pop feel, but also helps drive the song more and also add that extra layer I felt was missing.
Project 1 & 2 with Krystal
It was lovely to hear Richard’s feedback and to get some positive feedback about the layering and the syncretic nature of the pieces. I was also lovely that he talked about the way ini which the process of creation happened and how its effected the works in a positive way.
As for my feedback I still noticed issues with points of build and I really want to address that. I’m also really conserved about the mix. I’ve been using monitors, but when I listened through my apple headphones I lost a lot of subs and there was a lot of distortion. So I’m really worried that a lot of the work I’m doing is actually not being heard.
As for progress, I started the week by trialling new sounds for project 2. I added tiger frequencies to the tunnels and brought in my layers a little sooner. I still think it needs a little more to be brought in during the middle and I’ll aim to add that when doing the final mix.
As for class, it was really interesting having Nick, Sue, Richard and Frank all come in and speak to us. I find it interesting because all of them had a different approach to the way that they were making their work, as did our class. It was also fascinating to ear Nick talk about editing processes that either supported and brought new life to the film and the vex that he found actually hindered them. I also loved hearing the way that Sue works and this idea that here choreography and the way in which music and movement co exist and how this can be translated into video editing too. It was interesting to hear Richard’s take on corporate work and how he views it as the money he makes for Foxtel actually fuels his personal work. I also loved how he sets himself challenge to keep things fresh and to challenge his skills, that was really interesting. And Frank, my word. So much to say about Frank. He truly was inspiring. It was really a light bulb moment listening to him talk. I really appreciated the advice about his three steps to success, and how you need to balance passion, skill and employment to maintain balance within your career and also how it helps him with his mental health. It was really fascinating having Eamon bring up that topic and it made me wonder why I was so unhappy and drained during this course. I think I realised that this style of abstract interpretation is not for me. I feel like I have struggled way beyond any other semester and I think that comes down to just doing nothing that I loved. I reflected and found that the only joy I got out of my work this semester was adding a clap to the timeline in Putri’s video. This really comes down to the fact that I love sound editing. I like spending the time placing clips to images and creating a sound world within the visuals. I was really lucky that last semester I had Adam’s class, where I could do that and spend hours building up the sound design for a world. And I just didn’t get any of that this semester. Yes, I spend ALOT of time editing by none of it was what I enjoyed. So it was nice listening to Frank and realising that it is really important to get good at something that you love and I really wish I’d had him come and talk to me when I was 18 and not when I was ini my final studio semester at the age of 25!
As for next week, the final week. I’m really going to spend my time mix my two projects for Krystal. I am waiting for finial edits, so who knows how many changes I will have to do, but I’m hoping it won’t be too many and I really can focus my final days mixing and automating. As well as prepping for the final presentation.
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Utopia final mix before adding to the final video edit
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Week 11
Brief overview, I’m ready to move all my files to the trash bin, empty my trash bin and set my Mac on fire, hello and goodbye week 11.
Class Work
A very interesting week to look at Gladwell’s 10 commandments and 21st century skills. I believe in a lot of what Malcolm Gladwell spoke about and the importance of continuous practise, reflection and learning as this develops creativity and opens the mind to new iterative processes and approaches. It’s also interesting that he spoke to the importance of patience and the longevity of “perfecting” an art, as sometimes I feel our course really feels like we should know everything know. I do however disagree with the importance of “out work others”. In fact that didn’t sit well with me at all and it might be my naivety or tunnel vision or maybe I missed the point, but seems like a big capitalist propaganda comment … “work till you’re dead”. I understand that he’s encouraging people to push and go beyond for greater work and achievement but isn’t being a workaholic also detrimental. Again maybe I just see this in a different light considering it’s the end of semester and I’m at wits end, as opposed to if we discussed this last year in the first few weeks of class, but I really don’t see the importance of rule 10 and the emphasise he plays on being the best and hardest worker. Seems unhealthy.
By comparison, 21st century skills made a lot of sense, feels like it correlated to Gladwell quite well and again the importance, which I’ve learnt throughout the course, is this need to keep engaging and learning in different skill sets and soft skill sets. So was interest to re visit these.
But going on from class discussion… week 11. Yep, what more can I say than it’s struggle time. I have ear fatigue and I hate my projects. Hence why I’m so negative in the post. It’s reached that point in the project where everything I do I don’t know if it works or if it doesn’t work.
Project One
Received helpful feedback on next steps. The main points where:
Layering more to build up the tension, especially coming into the second half - I think I’ve started to achieve this with adding more textual pads. Also played with volume to increase this build in the second half.
Ending was another feedback point. Yep... still a working progress and I don’t know how to solve this bad boy at the moment. In my mind the visuals just don’t flow with the sound design and I don’t know how to tie them together.
Next weeks goals I guess will be to wait for feedback from Richard and go from there. I also really need to fix the ending. I’m also keen to start automating. I’m getting really stressed that this isn’t going to be finished in time.
Putri
Was great to get some feedback for this one and it was nice to get a positive comment on the sound design. I’m glad I’m on the right track and happy the play dough advert dialogue works. Was actually really hard filtering through adverts of the 50s and 60s to find that treasure. But glad I did.
Also I took out the guitar riff at 00:18 and 00:48, after reflection I agree that it sounded muddy but I am a little worried it’s a little naked now. Also from the feedback comments I went back to kraftwerk and it was interesting just how my music has changed since my starting idea. It was also really interesting listening to the complexities of audio placement and gestures in kraftwerk’s music to really give it that “computer” sound, texture and story. I feel like mine has really changed to a cheesy pop song, that I’m hoping and believe works with the visuals and the story. It makes me revisit the “sunnies” ACMI video, which didn’t have a super complex soundtrack, but had one that sold you the joys of the sunglasses throughout time.
Goals for next week is to actually finish this. I want to spend the time waiting for video edits from Krystal to completely finish this piece. So I need to do mixing and automation and also get the final cut from Putri to check the SFX are in the right spot and then I want this bad boy to be done and dusted.
Project 2
Feedback for this one was creating more synchretic connections, especially in the end part, by make more sound gestures to more intricate details within the tunnel. You can hear a test I did for this, but once blended into the other tracks I’m actually loosing a lot of the gestures. I’m feeling pretty defeated by this as it look me close to 3hrs to just put in the different sounds and for them to get washed out is heart breaking. But hey, just got to keep going.
Another comments was the cheesy sounds at 00.23, 00:26 and 00:33, so we traded in the cheddar for a fine bre. Again some of these are getting washed out.
And third comment was to build up more until 01:14. Yep, I agree it was too stagnant going into the build and decided to try layering more pads. It’s still sound like it comes in super hard at 0:14, so I’m going to try and pushing the start of the ramp up a little earlier.
So goal. Wait for Richard feedback. Fix the details and make the little sounds of the tunnels stand out and also start that build up earlier.
That’s me out, I’m going to bed and hopefully will find the last shreds of creativity and energy to get these assignments done.
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update for project 2 week 11
https://vimeo.com/466812335
password: ATC
tumblr was having trouble letting me upload the video
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project two
synchresis test for tunnels
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Project 2
video for feedback week 11
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Week 10
This week went well. I feel like my projects are coming along alright, but the looming deadline with the amount of videos edits happening is starting to stress me.
Project 1
This was a massive task this week and took up most of my time. I got a new edit from Krystal, which meant a complete redo of the audio. The only thing I had was my sound palette and the sounds I’d decided on for specific video, but other than that, it was a blank canvas. For context, below if a screen shot of my session with the old sound layout with the new timecode… it was a massive week.
So I went through and placed all the sounds to their corresponding video, but also took the time to get in there and start really emphasising video gesture with audio, to make it more syncretic and detailed. This was really to give more life and detail to the different sounds.
But once all the sounds were in it was sounding very very bland. There wasn’t much overall flow and not too much build or engagement. So going back to my research last week I knew that I needed to layer in more sounds, so I drew up a visual map on how I wanted it to build.
So I tried to build up the volume and also layered sounds with ascending notes to get this sense of something building. I think I can still go harder at the end, but at the this stage I’m just going to put it in for feedback and go from there. I’m really stressed about this video, just because I’m not too sure how much more major editing there will be, and if I have to do another major change like this week I’m afraid it’s going to be a very very very stressful rush to the ending.
Project 2
This week I worked on building the ending. I received a new video from Krystal which looks amazing and really gives the sounds more context and interest, however after a message from Krystal and the end of the week she decided to try something new with the video. So I didn’t go in and change any of the syncretic sounds and decided to wait for the new edit before doing that. So I really focussed on layering more sounds to really build the piece in the last quarter. I am hoping that I can make the ending even more intense but until I have final footage I don’t really know how much more I can do, and wether it will come down to the syncretic .
Purti
I’m just waiting for the final edit from Putri. Note: just got a final edit from Putri after I posted this. So this will be Monday’s task.
Overall I’m getting stressed that I’m just going to run out of time to get these assignments done. I don’t want to sacrifice the quality of the work and everything that I’ve been doing this semester because I run out of time :( I feel like up until this point I’ve been very lucky that my collaborators have been giving me content, but I do need time to automate and finalise sounds and I just can’t do that until I have final cuts. Fingers crossed we will get some footage locked in next week.
Note: after posting I send emails to Putri and Krystal and timelines for getting everything donee and thats making me feel better.
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