Hello, all.
We meet tomorrow, (Monday, February 2) in the Lab Rooms for the
Soundwalk. Remember that you can find your lab by checking the Course
Directory:
http://www.glennbach.com/film_116/116_directory.html
Note that the lab rosters have shifted a bit, so please double-check the
Directory to make sure you have the right lab.
Lab 1: Mitchell Hall B-91, Emir Cakaroz
Lab 2: Mitchell Hall B-18, Sean Kafer
Lab 3: Mitchell Hall B-75, Joe Sacco
Lab 4: Mitchell Hall B-65, Heidi Spencer
To prepare for the Soundwalk, make sure to dress warm and wear good
walking shoes. The Soundwalks will probably take place mostly indoors,
but you will spend some time outside walking from one site to another,
and possibly completing one of the Soundwalk exercises.
You will need to bring a notepad or sketchbook and a pencil/pen. You
will be taking notes and drawing maps during the Soundwalk. You
can/should clean up these drawings later, but during the Soundwalk you
will need to be actively sketching and taking notes. You may want to
keep your notebook no larger than 8.5" x 11" so that you can easily scan
your notes and maps on a standard flatbed scanner (available in B18 or
in the campus labs if you don't have your own).
Here are the visual elements that you will need to complete for this
assignment:
* Soundwalk Area Map: a map of the overall area of the Soundwalk,
including start and end points, the route walked, and stops along the way;
* Sound Body Map: a map of the sounds you heard, visually depicted as a
swarm or cluster of events surrounding you (your presence will be
depicted as a dot or symbol or figure situated in the middle of the map);
* Sound Log: your original notes listing the names of the sounds you heard.
I have included some examples of these maps and notes on the Drift Atlas
page:
http://www.glennbach.com/film_116/116_atlas.html
Also on the Drift Atlas page is the list of questions that you will need
to answer as part of your Soundwalk Response (your maps, notes, and
responses must be posted to your Drift Atlas blog). Here is the list of
questions:
1. Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really
listen?
2. Was it possible to move without making a sound?
3. What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?
4. What types of sounds were you able to hear? List them.
5. Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a
recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
6. Were you able to differentiate human, mechanical, and natural sounds?
7. Were you able to detect subtleties, changes, or variations in the
everpresent drone?
8. Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
9. Were you able to intervene in the urban landscape and create your
own sounds by knocking on a resonant piece of metal, activating wind
chimes, etc.?
10. Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the
sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
11. How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your
practice as a media artist, if at all?
Remember that your responses to the Survey are due at 5 PM today. You
also must register on the Technical Forum by 5 PM as well.
We'll see you tomorrow.
