Final Film and Presentation

• The final export of our experimental sound project can be found here.
• The final export of our experimental film can be found here.
• Our presentation can be found below.

Mouthing Off [Presentation] from RossWalker098

Self-Assessment

My self-assessment sheet for this project can be found here

What kind of experimental film is ours?

Given its focus on the combination of sounds and visuals, its frequent close-ups focusing on specific parts of the body, as well as its noticeable lack of narrative or structure; I believe our film falls into the category of "Pure Abstraction".

"When we watch a film that tells a story, or surveys categories, or makes an argument, we usually pay little attention to the sheer pictorial qualities of the shots. Yet it is possible to organize an entire film around colors, shapes, sizes, and movements in the images." 

- Bordwell, D., Thompson. K., (2007). Film art: An introduction (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill

This is rather close to the intentions of our film. The project does not follow any kind of narrative or set structure; it instead focuses on the combinations of visuals and sounds, expressed via numerous close-ups of various body parts. The definition of an abstract piece of experimental filmmaking is that it focuses on things such as sound, shape, colour, and light rather than a narrative or a particular theme. Our film can be quite easily categorised into this description given its focus on shape, sound, colour, as well as the ways in which these elements can be combined to create a variety of effects.

Each of these images show an example of how the film prioritises shape via a series of close-ups.

Class Feedback

After a screening of our rough cut to our classmates, they gave some constructive feedback. A summary of their responses can be seen on the post-it notes below.

Experimental Film Rough Cut

We have completed the first draft of our experimental film. The project is of course far from finished in this state, but it is certainly beginning to take shape. We have mostly completed the first of the four 'cycles' of the sounds project; although admittedly, the first is likely to be the easiest. It can be viewed here. The following three cycles are likely to require some more complex editing, especially in order to implement our intended split-screen effect.

Initially, we had some trouble working with Avid Media Composer. In order to match up the sound with the visuals, we needed to import the audio as it appeared in Pro Tools, i.e. - as multiple individual clips as opposed to one single difficult-to-interpret clip. Attempting to interpret the sounds by ear would have proved very challenging and time consuming. However, we had difficulty importing the sound project in this way as although we were able to successfully import the sound project into Avid Media Composer, the software had not located the clips properly, meaning that they produced no sound. Thankfully, we managed to decipher how to fix this: exporting the project as an OMF, finally allowing them to work as intended and allowing us to interpret the sounds much more easily.

Avid Media Composer remains, for the most part, a rather alien piece of software to us. I personally am much better acquainted with Adobe Premiere Pro. However, using this software would not have been suitable as it would lack the compatibility that Media Composer and Pro Tools have with one another; both being Avid products. We initially had attempted to use Premiere Pro, but this meant we had to resort to interpreting our sounds by ear; which unsurprisingly, proved to be very impractical. Despite our lack of experience with using it, Media Composer allowed us to reference a template of our sound project; allowing us to apply accompanying visuals much more efficiently.

The rough cut, although clearly incomplete, does shed some light on our intentions for this project. Around a quarter of the visuals are complete (the first cycle is mostly complete, but is likely to undergo alterations). The remaining three-quarters of the project will continue in a similar style, but are likely to make use of some more advanced editing techniques; namely the aforementioned split-screen effect. It may be that our efforts to utilise this effect may prove a little too ambitious given our lack of experience with the software. The project is rather demanding in terms of editing, meaning some aspects may need to be toned down. Nonetheless, we will soon begin work on a final version.

As the project stands, I am not entirely satisfied with it. Although it does give a good impression of the style of the remainder of the film, I feel that the editing between the sounds and the visuals needed to be more tight. The combination of these two elements is largely the focus of the piece. The aforementioned split-screen effect also needs to be implemented soon to prevent the film from becoming too visually repetitive. Hopefully, we will be able to take action on these criticisms when we being work on the final version.

Film Ideas

In our group, we began discussing how the concept of our sound project could be translated into film. Hence, we began to brainstorm how our sounds could be presented visually. Our original idea for our film would be similar to that of the aforementioned Tango (1981), in that a person would individually act out each of the actions presented in the sound piece; all of which would overlap and intertwine with each-other to create a very abstract and chaotic scene. It quickly occurred to us however that such an idea would realistically be impossible to create considering our experience as filmmakers, our lack of advanced resources, and our time constraints. Hence, we decided that it would be suitable to scale down the idea. Rather than focusing on an entire scene, we would instead focus closely on a particular action. Given that our original concept of the project was sounds of the body, we came to the idea of using several close-ups of mouths miming the actions presented in the sounds. Although the actions of the mouths would represent those of the sounds; they would not necessarily do so literally. For example, an idea was the sounds of the door slamming could be coupled with a close-up shot of the mouth abruptly closing. Although the two objects closing create a parallel action between one-another, their connection should not be taken literally; the mouths would only create an abstract interpretation of the sounds.

We then expanded this idea further, suggesting that perhaps rather that creating shots consisting of just mouths, they could instead feature numerous parts of the body creating various interpretations of our sounds. A few examples of our ideas can be seen in the image below.

The visuals will correspond to their respective sounds, but not necessarily in a literal sense.

For example, an idea was that the person's head could tilt to one side, which could then be coupled with the sounds of pouring cereal. This idea was inspired by an ocean drum: a musical instrument that creates a sound similar to that of the ocean when slowly tilted. Another was that the sounds of the brushing of teeth could be coupled with the person scratching their hair or their chin. We were even able to reincorporate the idea of the door slamming being coupled with a mouth closing. What all these combinations have in common is that the visuals represent their corresponding sounds, but often not literally. They present an exaggerated or abstract interpretation of these sounds. This project intends to experiment with the way in which sound and image can be combined in order to create a variety of effects; this idea should allow us to do exactly that.

Images for Experimental Film

http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-13136996-stock-footage-businessman-nervously-clenched-his-fists-and-kill-it-for-a-spin-close-up-angry-business-fist.html?src=rel/6108284:8/gg

The above image depicts a clenched fist. The original source was a short video of said fist being clenched; a shot that was rather similar to a shot idea for our project. It shares the idea of a particular part of the body being the focus of a shot. In our case, we plan to use such a shot in combination with perhaps, our door slamming sound; which would link into our idea of the images representing the sound, but not necessarily literally.

https://www.pinterest.com/tamredavidson/kiss-kiss-bang-bang/

This image shows an abstract interpretation of the human mouth. This links into our project in that we will primarily use mouths in order to create abstract interpretations of certain sounds. The mouths that will be present in our film will not be artistically abstract themselves, in that they will not exhibit any particularly unusual qualities. It is instead what these mouths represent rather than the qualities they exhibit themselves.

Tango (1981), Zbigniew Rybczyński    https://vimeo.com/90339479

This is a frame taken from Tango (1981) by Zbigniew Rybczyński. The film consists of a series of actions being performed by a number of people within a single room repeatedly. More and more people begin to crowd the scene to create a very chaotic and abstract image. It does so in such a way that it becomes clear that these actions cannot be being performed simultaneously. The intertwining and chaotic nature of the visuals in Tango reflect the intertwining and chaotic nature of the sounds in our project; as was our intention. The tone of chaos and pure abstraction within our project resembles those seen here.

Om (1986), John Smith   http://www.vdb.org/titles/om

This is a screen shot taken from Om (1986), an experimental film by John Smith; a film that provided some inspiration towards ours. It features mostly a single shot of a young man who initially, appears to be some sort of monk; wearing a robe and breathing in incense. He begins to hum "Om" - a sacred sound and a spiritual icon in Indian religions. It then appears that this man is having his hair shaved. and the sounds may actually be coming from the razor, not the man. The orange robe is then revealed to be a barber's robe, and the incense is revealed to be a cigarette. The man himself is also revealed to be a skinhead, almost a polar opposite of what was originally connoted. The film plays with the idea of the viewer's expectations. It was this film that provided some inspiration towards our ideas concerning the relationship between sound and visuals; and the ways in which their combinations could create a variety of effects. "This four minute film explores our response to stereotypes - aural, visual and ideological. Smith signals these stereotypes to the viewer through a chiefly associational system. which deftly manipulates the path of our expectations. The structure is stunningly simple and deceptively subtle. We are taken on a journey from one concrete stereotype to its diametric opposite, as the images transform and juxtapose to, ultimately,  invert out interpretation of what we see and hear." - Gary Davis

The Symptoms (2013), Lee Pearse    https://vimeo.com/86796902

The above image, a screen-grab from The Symptoms (2013) by Lee Pearse, shows a use of split-screening that could be interesting to use in our project. Since the audio consists of several overlapping and repeated tracks, it would make sense to make use of the corresponding visuals in a similar fashion; having several of them on screen at once; perhaps using the same shot multiple times within a single frame. This way, the visuals could overlap and intertwine similarly to their respective sound tracks. The monochrome effect also creates a rather gloomy and depressing tone, which could also be a good thing to incorporate into our project as it would reflect the repetitive morning routine on which the sounds were based.

https://www.axahealthkeeper.com/marketplace/index.php/alberto-gonzalez-quinza-os-consulta.html

This again links into the idea of using particular parts of the body to create an abstract interpretation of sound. The eye is particularly interesting as it reacts and adjusts to the environment around it. Placing a camera in front of a person as they open their eyes will cause it to noticeably adjust; allowing the possibility for this movement to provide ideas in terms of the ways the eye could represent sound. Similarly to the fist, the eye could also be linked to the slamming of the door; the sound being an exaggeration of the closing of the eye.

Experimental Short - Om

Om (1986) is a short experimental film by John Smith that explores the ways in which sound and visuals can be used in combination in order to create certain meanings. The focus of the film is a young man who is depicted to be some sort of monk. He wears what seems to be an orange robe and is breathing in what appears to be incense. The man begins to hum "Om": a sacred sound and spiritual icon in Indian religions. The man then begins to have his hair shaved by an offscreen barber; his humming coupling with the sound of the razor to imply that this is in fact where the sounds originate. The end of the film reveals that the robe is in fact a barber's gown, the incense is in fact a lit cigarette, and the man is what appears to be a skinhead.

In this film, Smith intelligently uses a combination of sound and visuals in order to coax the viewer into developing false assumptions. Hence, the film can not only be categorised as abstract, but also as a representative of a personal view. The film aims to present how quickly people can be to jump to conclusions and stereotypes.

"This four minute film explores our response to stereotypes - aural, visual and ideological. Smith signals these stereotypes to the viewer through a chiefly associational system. which deftly manipulates the path of our expectations. The structure is stunningly simple and deceptively subtle. We are taken on a journey from one concrete stereotype to its diametric opposite, as the images transform and juxtapose to, ultimately,  invert out interpretation of what we see and hear." - Gary Davis

This film inspired our project in that it gave us the idea to experiment with the ways combinations of sounds and images are able to connote certain meanings, similarly to how the combination of these elements in Om is designed to fool the viewer into making false assumptions.

Experimental Short - Fisticuffs

Fisticuffs by Miranda Pennell is a non-linear short film depicting various fights between 6 customers at a typical British pub. Throughout the film, several references to Western cinema and culture are made, such as the film seen on the television and the square dancing club seen in the room adjacent to the pub. The non-linear narrative comes into play when the long-haired man (seen on the far right in the below image) appears to enter the bar multiple times; each time being attacked by a different bar-goer. Afterwards, he then returns to the door he entered from and the process repeats. That is until a man wearing what seems to be a cowboy outfit walks into the bar; a scene very reminiscent of Western cinema (this man being the teacher in the square dancing club). After this, the bar-goers seem to fight among themselves; the long-haired man soon getting involved. The non-linear narrative comes into play again when the bar-goers seem to very rapidly change opponents, within the span of just a few seconds. The film is simultaneously realistic and surrealistic

The four fighters seen here rapidly alternate between opponents within what seems to be a single shot.

The fights seem to go completely unnoticed by the other bar-goers; the violence seemingly having no consequences on the fighters, nor the world around them; much like the Westerns that they are referencing. These references to Western cinema, coupled with the obliviousness of the other bar-goers, reflects a gritty reality of British culture. Although it is exaggerated for the sake of the film, such fights have become largely incorporated into our society, particularly in an environment such as this.

The film exhibits some of the characteristics of an 'Associational Form'. According to an extract from Bordwell and Thompson: 

"Associational formal systems suggest ideas and expressive qualities by grouping images that may not have any immediate logical connection. But the very fact that the images and sounds are juxtaposed prods us to look for some connection - an association that binds them together." 

 - Bordwell, D., Thompson. K., (2007). Film art: An introduction (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill

In this case, the two seemingly unconnected images are those of the pub brawl, juxtaposed with those of the square dancing club. At a glance, the two seem to have little connection, however, the association that can be made between the two is that they both reference a part of Western culture, as well as Western cinema. Hence, the two actually work in combination to provide commentary on the condition of society; comparing it to that of the violence of Old Western movies.

First Draft Complete

We have completed our first recording session and were successfully able to record many of the sounds listed previously, as well as a few additions. The full, unedited clips of sound that we recorded can be found in their entirety here.

One of the most important additions to the sound recordings was the heartbeat (ZOOM 31-33 on the link), created by rhythmically tapping on a pin board. We intended for the heartbeat to act as a metronome; something that would act as a template for the rhythm of the other sounds.

Above is a screenshot of part of the first draft of our project, arranged in Pro Tools. This draft is rather similar to our original idea, in that the sounds overlap and intertwine to form a rhythm (which is evident in the image through the placement of the tracks). The heartbeat plays at a constant rate throughout the piece; acting as the aforementioned metronome. The rhythm of this heartbeat acts as a template for the rhythm of the other sounds and therefore, reflects the repetitiveness of this morning routine. The full track can be found here.



 

Being a Producer

We were presented with a task that involved brainstorming some ideas about the responsibilities of a film producer. Our group, as well as some of the other groups scribed ideas onto whiteboards. The results can be seen in the images below.

This was our group's ideas.

Sounds and Strategy for Experimental Sound Project

Our idea for our experimental sound piece revolves around the idea of a person's repetitive morning routine. We intend for the piece to consist of several sounds associated with a person's morning (e.g. - getting up, eating breakfast. brushing teeth) which will all be played individually (and chronologically) initially, and will then proceed to overlap and intertwine with one another; breaking the chronological structure. Doing so will create a rhythm to the piece, not necessarily in the sense of a song, but some form of pattern and repetition within the sounds. The idea of a rhythm is that it is the same idea repeated several times, which would therefore be an ideal metaphor for a person's repetitive routine. Life's rhythm is found by living it.

The idea is somewhat inspired by the experimental short film Tango (Zbigniew Rybczynski, 1980). The film takes place entirely within a single room, with a huge plethora of characters within it; none of which ever seem to acknowledge one another, and seem to repeat the same actions over and over. The setting becomes so chaotic that it quickly becomes apparent that these people cannot all be occupying the room simultaneously. The characters more likely represent numerous stories that have occurred within the room throughout what is most likely several years. This manipulation of images, in that multiple events can be presented as though the were occurring simultaneously, creates a chaotic and deliberately repetitive tone; this being the idea that inspired this sound project. The sounds within our project will intertwine and collide as thought they were all happening simultaneously, even though realistically, this would be absurd (e.g. - brushing teeth coupled with eating breakfast).

Below is a few ideas of some sounds we may record. Note that this list may not comprehensively cover the sounds that we record; some extras may be added and some may be removed.

• Waking up/getting out of bed
• Yawning
• Brushing teeth
• Gargling
• Sound of a bowl being taken from a cupboard
• Cereal being poured into a bowl
• Fridge opening
• Milk being poured on cereal
• Sounds of cereal popping due to moisture of milk
• Chewing
• Washing up
• Showering
• Sound of a door slamming
• Possibly further some further sounds (e.g. - walking, getting on train, etc.)

We plan to record these sounds shortly. It has been arranged that we will record most of these sounds in James' room at the University accommodation at 11am on 26th October. Other sounds such as "getting on a train" will of course need to be recorded elsewhere. Ideally, the only piece of recording equipment that will be required will be an H5 Zoom Recorder, along with its windbreaks and pair of headphones. Many of the sounds we will be recording are rather subtle and so will require the level of recording detail that the H5 provides. Hopefully, we wont need to use any other pieces of equipment when recording. Each sound will be recorded at least 3 times in order to maximise the amount of usable sound. The windbreak will be equipped onto the H5 to make sure there is as little clipping as possible (for example, slamming a door could create a gust of air that could cause audio clipping). We will hopefully be able to record these sounds in a single session, although it is likely that further sounds may need to be recorded in the future, and thus we may have to arrange future sessions at some point.

Meat Factory Ear Worms

We listened to some examples of experimental sound pieces, one of which I found to be particularly interesting: Meat Factory Ear Worms. It can be heard in its entirety here. It concerns a young man with a dead-end and rather brutal job in a meat factory. His narration reveals that he is kept motivated by what he coins as "ear worms": songs that get stuck in his head. The piece frequently utilises contrapuntal music and juxtaposition of the brutal sounds of machinery and blades with that of soothing music; acting as a metaphor for the narrator's use of music as a coping mechanism.

The piece often uses the sounds of machinery and knives in order to set the rather sombre atmosphere of the meat factory. This is juxtaposed with the narrator's calm, rather cheery narration to create an almost humorous combination. This juxtaposition is intended to highlight the way in which music has livened the narrator's life; his rather casual description of his gruesome day-to-day job is as a result of the hope and motivation that said music provided. The music often plays in combination with the sounds of the factory; the former often dominating the latter, showing that the narrator's disgust of his job is numbed by the music stuck in his head.

Overall, I enjoyed this piece and the tone it creates. I find the concept of juxtaposing two opposing concepts to be an interesting idea; capable of evoking a variety of emotions and attitudes in the viewer, just as it does for the narrator. It works very well in symbolising the narrator's use of music as a a form of escapism.

Short Film Analysis

We were screened 5 short films in a recent lesson, each being between 4 and 15 minutes and totaling approximately 50 minutes. Each one employs a very stylistic approach to a certain subject matter. These styles help to reinforce each film's themes and messages. One of these films in particular I found rather interesting. I will now analyse it in further detail.

The film's title is very minimalist; reflecting the film's style.

Salaryman 6 (Dir. Jake Knight, 2002)

The theme and focus of Salaryman 6 is that of overwork and the feelings of repetitiveness and worthlessness that it can incur. It follows a Japanese salaryman (i.e. - a white-collar worker) named Shiode who begins to question his own life upon realising how repetitive and monotonous it has become. He comes to this conclusion after realising he has absolutely no recollection of the previous day. I suspect that Jake Knight (the director) would have undertaken research upon working conditions of white-collar workers in Japan, as well as how strenuous their jobs can become. Overwork is a serious issue in Japan due the culture largely being built on productivity and efficiency; a benefit that often comes at the expense of the well-being of its workforce. The film's co-writer, Ryoko Tanaka, is Japanese, and may therefore have experienced Japanese overwork first-hand.

Many close-up shots feature Shiode at one side of the screen.

Personally, I very much enjoyed the film and its stylistic approach towards presenting the issues at hand. I feel that it presents the subject matter very effectively. The film repeatedly uses very loosely framed and colourless environments, and aside from the narration from Shiode, no non-diegetic sound is ever heard. Certain shots are also used repeatedly. This, coupled with the intentionally dull setting and lack of sound, creates an unmistakable impression of repetitiveness, mundane, and fatigue; therefore an accurate reflection of the life of an overworked salaryman.

As I mentioned, I find the stylistic techniques used in this film to be rather interesting, particularly with regards to its cinematography. An interesting approach within the film is that Shiode is almost never observed directly, in that he almost never stands in the centre of the shot. In most cases, he is observed around a wall of through a doorway, or from a balcony above him. This makes the film seem like a voyeuristic journey; as though someone is observing Shiode's life, gaining insight on his repetitive daily routines. The settings themselves also play a crucial role. They seem very grey-scale and dull, this of course intending to reflect Shiode's life and routines. They also appear infinite and symmetrical, often covering the whole screen and not allowing room for sky or natural ground (which incidentally are almost never seen throughout the film).

An example of the colourless, symmetrical urban landscape. Shiode can be seen on the left.

This reinforces the idea of the 'urban jungle' that Shiode lives and goes about his routines in and its repetitive and monotonous nature. These techniques of loosely-framed colourless environments, coupled with the lack of sound and deliberately tiring visuals I believe, successfully present the fatigue and monotony in the life of a Japanese salaryman, as well as the psychological harm that such overwork can inflict on a person.

Initial Ideas

During an introductory lesson for our course, an activity consisted of the class being split into groups of 4; each group then being provided with a strip of paper providing a scenario, which the groups would then develop into a film idea. Due to an odd number of students in our lesson, our group was a group of 3. This proved significant when the strip of paper we were provided with said:

"Midnight: Peak District: One car: the 4 of you are all together..."

Due to an absent 4th person in our group, we decided that the 4th person within the film would be with us, but not alive. More specifically, we decided that the 4th person would be dead in the boot of the car, as the others drive out to the Peak District to bury the body. A basic idea, but then we began to develop it further and further, making it increasingly complex. We began adding to the idea, with one person suggesting that perhaps the 4th person's death had occurred during a party the previous night; the murder possibly being brought on due to the influence of alcohol or narcotics. An additional idea was that the other 3 party-goers had all blacked out and, as a result, none of them can remember who had committed the murder, whether it had been one of them, two of them, all of them, or none of them (the culprit being some other person(s) in this case). Each person is aware that it could have been them that had committed the murder, or one of their colleagues. To compromise, they agree to split the blame, and bury the body together, agreeing to never mention the events to anyone. The idea then became developed even further when a suggestion was made that perhaps one person did not black out and is lying about doing so. This would mean that either this person is the murder, or knows who the murderer is. Either way, they would likely be retaining this knowledge for their own safety. A suggestion for the motive was also made: perhaps the victim was getting married, with the murderer being the third part in a love triangle.

This activity shows the huge span of imaginative potential that films are capable of. We were able to develop a simple idea into what almost resembles a film pitch in a matter of no more than 15 minutes. Such a simple idea evolved into something far more complex and intriguing; as is often the nature of films.