Overdue Post

Part 1: Studying Tarkovsky

There are not many things more inspirational than reading Tarkovsky by candlelight.

Most of my recent dissertation research has been concerning Andrei Tarkovsky (one of the biggest and most influential discovery I've made at university)'s Stalker (1979)¹. Tarkovsky's soundscapes are used as important devices which directly reflect the characters' mental and physical states while also being a non-human, location character in the film. Just like in Uncle Boonmee (Apichatpong, 2010), the natural "zone" in which the narrative takes place is alive with sound to an extent which is unusual in narrative film. I will be trying to figure out how and why these natural soundscapes are imbued with meaning and how this affects the film narrative and characters. 


Part 2: Cool Animations

I stumbled upon this wonderful animation by Allison Schulnik yesterday. It's really mesmerising and technically incredibly well crafted². I am getting more and more into animations, and am looking forward to working on some animated shorts for my portfolio. This experience will help me learn a different approach to sound design as well as add variety to my final portfolio.


Also, here is that small animation sting I worked on for my friend Hughey. I used sounds from sound libraries, mainly various typewriters and casino machine noises. Both me and Hugh are very happy with how it turned out.

Part 3: Project of the Week
 
I will be editing sound for an instructional sushi making video later this week. I am so excited about this project because I love sushi and cooking videos! (I've been really addicted to Chef John's foodwishes.com lately). I'll be lip-synching some recorded dialogue, which should be fun as always (!), recording a voice over to edited footage as well as adding music and mixing the whole deal together. Hopefully I'll be able to post the video here soon, if I'm allowed.



¹Similar to The Tree of Life (Malick, 2011), viewing this film made me realise that what I was seeing here was completely beyond me, a phenomenon which, through each viewing, rewarded me with unique experiences as well as insights both into my own person and into so many other aspects of life, not to mention (perfect) film (-making). I've been wanting to write about The Tree of Life  since first seeing it this summer (including my attempt to make it my most-viewed film in the cinema [which at the time was {embarassingly}, the first Pirates of the Caribbean {Verbinski, 2003}], plus my run in with Christoph Waltz). But that will have to wait.
²HD Version.

Man is a sensitive creature. It has just two legs but one heart in which an army of thoughs and sensations live.

Man is a creative creature. But sometimes we use time on meaningless passions, just to kill all well being and good there is.

Martin de Thurah

~

I am taking my first steps into blogging with Tyrolean slippers and wool socks on my feet. I need to make sure that I don't get a cold for half a year again. There is so much going on.

For one, I partied way too hard last night. On my walk home I got a nosebleed and came home covered in blood and booze.

For two, I will try and make this work, an online journal for my thoughs.

For three, I've been watching the second season of Adventure Time pretty much all day. I am fascinated.

     Fascinate [fas-uh-neyt]

     1. to attract and hold attentively by a unique power, personal charm, unusual              nature, or some other special quality

     2. to arouse the interest or curiosity of; allure

     3. to transfix or deprive of the power of resistance, as through terror

So I will be going back to campus tomorrow to return some DVD's and hopefully get some research done. I am preparing to write a dissertation on a sort of "nature observer" in films including Uncle Boonmee (Apichatpong, 2010), Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog, 1972) and The Thin Red Line (Malick, 1998); all beautiful films with amazing sound design which take place in jungles. I'm hoping to figure out how the films/filmmakers use the sound of the natural space surrounding the narrative to comment and reflect on plot events and messages in the films. It's all still quite basic, exactly why I need to get going on these readings.

I'll also be going into a ProTools suite for the first time since being back to work on a short animation by Hughey.

ahoy.