soundart

Upon deciding that I wanted to create a piece of sound design for my final project – I chose to dedicate myself to this and research further into new films and their process within filmmaking. I was lucky to attend a screening and Q+A with the cast, director, and post-production crew of Netflix’s latest film ‘Society of Snow’. 

As a fan of the director J. A. Bayona’s previous work, I was intrigued to hear how recreated a portrayal of a real-life disaster. I realise creating a biopic based on such harrowing events means it is important to justify your creative decisions making them as credible as possible.

From a sound designer’s perspective, I found it fascinating hearing the parallels between creating something sonically beautiful but also keeping this plausible and true to it’s self. A paper by the Language and Communication Centre at the Nanyang Technological University talks about redefining art and the controversy of the photographer Steve McCurry.

However, is the onus of immorality really on the artwork itself? It seems somewhat unfair to put down the entirety of an aesthetically well-executed artwork just because of the message it is conveying to the viewer, whether intended or not.

I find the controversy that loiters around Steve McCurry’s name interesting and relate it strongly to the Q+A with Society Of Snow. Mccurry famously shot a picture of an Afghanistan girl which was later sold to National Geographic – making him enormous profit and glamorising the injustice and poverty the girl faced. Alongside this, the child received no benefits herself as the world made money from her face. Some say McCurry profited from someone else’s tragedy and pain – creating an aesthetic out of the truth.

When hearing how Oriol Tarragó (the sound designer) approached this film I saw a similarity behind the probability of creating art based on tragedy. Their approach was interesting and they proclaimed how when it came to big scenes such as “avalanches” it was more important to fill the space rather than creating something that is not true. They expressed the importance of foley within this film – bringing an enormous sense of realism instead of replacing this with more designed fx and sound design. Finally, they explained how when shooting in the Apalade mountains they took as many soundscape recordings as possible to capture the true sonic ambience rather than falsely recreating this later on in post-production.

I found their approach inspiring and it made me reflect upon my approach to sound designing for ‘Where the sea does not follow’. Although this is not nearly a biopic the film itself is based around Victoria’s real-life events. Inspired by her childhood trauma – I understood the importance of following the same approach the sound designer from ‘Society of Snow’ used. Although I can not state I will be working under the same budget as the Netflix feature film – their sense of truth and veracity in their artistry I knew I could copy. I hope to recreate Victoria’s world on screen as sonically accurately as possible. I intend to work alongside her when creating ambiences and fx to ensure these sound as factual as possible.

Using this map I could measure the level of influence from each area in which I wanted to include with the ambiences and soundscapes. 

The Seaside represents her old home – whereas the China soundscape represents her new home. Although primarily the film is set in China, I chose to include the wave sounds as a recurring motif – in order to create displaced unsettlement towards the piece.

A lot of the flat is set within China – but within the confinements of her grandma’s flat. With a lack of budget, the film could not be filmed in China – instead, they had to make this as convincing as possible. This is where my sound design and ambience will play a powerful role within the piece. Creating a realistic soundscape true to Chinese culture was one of the key ingredients to making this plausible. Working alongside Victoria she helped me build a typical daily soundscape set in a town similar to the film, by providing me with items, people, jobs, vehicles, nature or music you may hear. Even during scenes within the flat, I chose to feed some sounds of the outside world of China into the home. It felt to me very important to make its presence constant throughout. To gage trapping, inescapable feeling. However during quieter scenes at night I chose to reduce this for stylistic reasons.

Nighttime is a big part of my influence on my ambience. We all know how loud our thoughts become at night time, and I felt that it was important to play on this. Due to the themes of self-longing and isolation, I felt it necessary to use the night as a means to play on this. As you can see from the graph – scenes set during the night like the seaside – have a recurring motif throughout. A subtle reminder of her old home. Bringing us a sense of longing and displacement in comparison to the location we see on screen. Hopefully, this will also create a dreamlike atmosphere to mirror her thoughts and feelings during the scenes – as well as a sense of fatigue and tiredness mentally as well as physically. Finally, wave sounds can be meditative – this will completely juxtapose the chaos heard when walking through the markets – bringing us a shift in mood and thought.

In response to my previous blog – talking about Ghost In The Loop’s work with hydrophobic recordings I chose to get experimental with my recordings.

I first began by recording underwater noise. This was only used within a small realm of a plastic box – however, I felt it was necessary to begin my work by understanding the movement and fluidity behind recording water sounds; I hope to hopefully expand this into the natural world soon.

After this, I began exploring the surrounding areas of my office – finding materials and objects which would usually give no sound. Some would say I was hunting noise. GILT’s work inspired me to go beyond and look deeper for sound, finding recordings in the lesser obvious spaces. 

Finally, I chose to use objects which I knew would have a great potential for physical reverberation such as the slinky. This provided me with some really interesting and unique sounds that I could carry with me in my library through my later practice.

It was refreshing using the hydrophobic microphone and really forced me to look beyond what is sonically obvious in our daily lives. We are surrounded by noise constantly but sometimes going beyond what we can hear – searching deeper for recordings can result in something quite inspiring and diverse. I stepped out of my comfort zone and honed in on natural sounds that were there but could not be heard. 

Listening to our earth. Within recent weeks Ghost In The Loop (GITL) released a new album named Le Chant De La Glace. This multi-instrumentalist blends his musicality with high-quality recordings from nature. His album Le Chant De La Glace was recorded in the heart of the Final Glacier in Switzerland. His hydrophonic recordings represent movement and destruction taking place within the glaciers. A beautiful trajectory to his sound art. 

Not only does his work represent the bigger picture behind global warming and the destruction of planet Earth – its creates intricate and beautiful sonic soundscapes.

I find the contrast of narrative and sound such an inspiring pair. His contextual message behind the piece provides us with first-hand sonic evidence of our planet melting and dying – yet the synthesised sounds and overall music are so meditative and calming. This prayerful-like sound completely juxtaposes the premise of the piece – however, its sonic structure leaves you space to reflect and enhances you to ponder on the idea of where this piece came from. Its meditative influence helps a listener contemplate upon the issues in their own way.

Overall I believe his work is a thing of beauty – not only has it inspired me to go and use hydrophobic recordings, it has encouraged me to listen more to our Earth. Since moving to London from the countryside, I have noticed that my being of art has solely focussed on Politics and Society. One could argue that this is a natural transition due to the lack of nature we have surrounding us in the city. However, this piece has moved me to look beyond this and back into the realm of nature and our Planet. I hope to listen more to nature and it’s natural vibrations and movement. Something that may not necessarily be heard in daily life but can be when you explore deeper. 

Finally, GILT’s work has helped me recognise that the end result does not always have to directly mirror the message or feeling behind the piece. His angelic musicality contrastingly merged with a darker message and recordings left space for reflection. Showing the beauty of nature whilst also giving you space to think about the effects and causes of global warming. I hope to mirror this juxtaposing style within my own work.

François Matarasso (2019) writes that “art creates change, but it should be in the hands of the person who experiences it, not at the command of another, whether artist or funder.”

Matarasso’s quote sparks a series of internal challenges for me when creating my piece of work. Although every artist hopes to ignite some “change” with their art, the lines in which this can happen can quickly become blurred.

First of all, as Matarasso states change should always be in the hands of the person experiencing the work. This is a strong statement which bypasses the idea that change might not happen for everyone. This comment takes away individuality. However, you may make your piece based on a certain target audience. This does not mean those people you have not targeted will not come and experience your work. Due to this, I believe that sparking change for the viewer can not be as certain as Matarasso hints. If you have not targeted or thought about that specific type of person when creating your work, it could potentially mean that the effect and results of your work may not reach the individual.

Moving on I believe that we can delve into the word change a little more deeply… What kind of change do we as artists hope to bring? Physical or mental? This can be confusing when creating work for a targeted audience. People experience art in various ways and not everyone will experience it the same. Some may retrieve your work in a more emotive response whereas others might feel more physically affected. This blurry the lines of what change you want to create. 

Moreover, who are we creating change for? However, it should be the viewer who makes the change. As an artist, you are responsible for who the change is for. Do you want to reach a certain group or minority of people or could the change be more personal to you and how you are perceived as an artist? Could it be the weather? Nature? Or even the government? This detracts the agency away from the art. The artist should not be dictated the idea for change – instead, change should happen from within; a more individual process. 

Finally, despite the conflicts this quote faces when talking about change, I do believe that it highlights that art is a collaborative experience. It empowers the audience, where typically, the artist is the only one applauded. An artist can create, but without an audience, it would not be art. Working collectively can create more meaningful work with a better response from yourself as an artist as well as the viewer.