18/11/12
Today me and Bethany mixed together a range of samples we had collected using logic. We begin recording our own sounds on early morning Wednesday. We plan to record at around 3am as to reduce the risk of noise pollution from traffic and so forth. Once we have recorded the sounds we will layer them with the samples and create a 3 minute soundtrack exploring a journey through eerie woods.

Soundscape; sense of place.

Our first assignment is to create a 3 minute sound scape with the theme of 'sense of place'.
After weeks of brainstorming and looking for inspiration me and my partner Bethany have decided we want to use the sounds within a desolate forest.

When walking through a forest I found there are so many amazing sounds to explore. From the wind moving the branches, leaves and plants to animals, crunching footsteps, breaking of twigs and earth, falling branches, streams, rivers and echoes.
I want my piece to be sinister, eerie and dark so we decided to go for a personal view/ pure abstraction.
The film and sound will be from the point of view of the protagonist who has come to the forest to seek refuge from personal demons only to find his/her demons come to a surface in the forest.

Pipilotti Rist

Im really interested in the work of Pipilotti Rist.

Ive been watching her films a lot recently and she's always got me thinking and exploring different matters and thoughts when watching her video and audio installations. 

I LOVE her recurring use of vibrant colour and kaleidoscopic views.

'Sip my ocean' is my favourite piece by her, never has a film caught my attention so much, I literally couldnt peel my eyes away from my computer screen - I only wish id seen it at one of her exhibitions where it is projected using two screens to create a mirror like view.

The film rips us from our current whereabouts transports us into an underwater journey where we see objects such as tea cups, tvs, women in bikinis and a beautiful sea bed of corals and so forth.

A cover of Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game' is played throughout the film. Pipilotti herself is the artist of the cover.

SIP MY OCEAN

At the moment I've found myself heavily interested in silent films. I was introduced to silent films at a young age- not by choice but by force from my grandparents who loved to sit and watch them. I love how silent films rely on music and actors over exaggerating their expressions to convey emotions, moods and tension.

Still from Nosferatu 1922

The music used in silent films are crucial as it sets the general atmosphere in the scenes without use of dialogue.

My favourite silent film is F.W Murnau's Nosferatu which is a 1922 German expressionist horror film.

Nosferatu contains many iconic images which often pop up in modern films today. The most famous scene being Orlok's shadow whilst he walks down the stairs.

Murnau uses lighting to convey the different atmospheres, for example the lighting appears to be darker at Count Orlok's castle and the over use of shadow is used to create tension and suspense and also enlarge Orlok's silhouette which deems the other characters inferior.

I think Murnau was well ahead of his time regarding his film making style. His use of lighting, sound and  mise-en-scene makes him one of the most important figures of the German expressionist movement.