The scene that I wish to use is the final scene in Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (1931), in my opinion the greatest scene in all of cinema, or at least my personal favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBHdYgg9fI
In the film, Chaplin plays a penniless tramp who falls in love with a blind woman who sells flowers in a park in the city. At the same time he becomes friends with a millionaire, and is constantly getting in and out of limousines when he meets the girl and is always given money to buy flowers from her, leading her to believe that he is rich. When he discovers in the newspaper a potential cure to her blindness, he refuses on principle to take money and is framed for attempting to steal the necessary amount, though he's been able to deliver a reasonable amount to the woman, enough for the surgery.
In the scene that I wish to use, Chaplin has just returned from jail and is an even shabbier wreck. The girl, now able to see and running a profitable flower shop, does not recognize him, and laughs at him like she might any other beggar. It is not until she touches his hand that she realizes that this tramp has been the one caring for her all along. Chaplin signals to her eyes, asking, "You can see now?" to which she responds, "Yes, now I can see."
Not only is this scene the perfect summation to an extraordinary film but one of the best acted and most moving scenes that I can recall, and I feel very passionately about designing my own score for it. The novelist and film critic James Agee has called it the best acting ever on film. I wholeheartedly agree, and believe that the power lies wholly in the subtlety of Chaplin's direction.
Chaplin scored the film as well.
I would like to bring that same subtlety to my rendition of the score. In the three minute scene, there are only three title cards and none have more than four words to them. The music is not at all heavy handed and makes great use of the violin, a particularly subtle and elegant instrument. I predict one of the greatest difficulties for me will be mimicking the elegance of Chaplin's score without using the same instrument. I suppose that I could still use the violin but alter the music, but I would rather take a different direction and make the score as uniquely mine as possible.
0:00-0:50: I think it is essential to commence the piece with more somber tones, as Chaplin has just been released from prison and his clothes are falling apart. I would ideally use sounds of a harp in this section and render it in a very dark way.
0:50-1:40: Chaplin meets the blind girl right at the :50 mark in the scene. Here the music should be similarly orchestrally dark but slower and with a semblance of hopefulness; even as Chaplin looks at her and recognizes that she does not recognize him, he is happy simply to be in her presence and is pleased that she can see. In Chaplin's score, the juxtaposition between the somewhat hopeful music and the petals falling from his flower is unforgettable, something that I am most looking forward to replicating in my own way. Though I imagine it would be hard to transition from violin to found recordings, I would like to try that here using sounds from the street, as he is in a big city and there are cars going by in the background. I think that grittiness could achieve a similar effect and I will still accentuate it with sounds from the harp.
1:40-2:15: This is a pivotal passage in the scene as it marks the time between their meeting and their recognition of one another, and thus the tone is harder to gauge. I feel that a transitioning from street sounds accentuated by the harp to pure street sounds would engage the viewer more as they recognize the sonic change from an elegant construction to a simpler one and therefore become more invested in what they are watching, which is pivotal in a silent scene.
2:15-3:15: This sound in this scene must start out in a slightly ominous manner, as we are more in the blind girl's world as she attempts to figure out who this man is; at the 2:55 mark, when she recognizes Chaplin, the template for the score should remain the same but it should rise slowly to what eventually becomes an overpowering but still understated crescendo. That will be very hard to achieve but the challenge should be fun. At the 2:15 mark, I will implement sounds of a piano accentuated by hum of an semi-quiet city street that does not have cars consistently running down it in order to ground the viewer in the environment in the scene while bringing out the drama.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
PROJECT 2 FINAL
PROJECT 2 FINAL: http://soundcloud.com/user7287671/sound-project-2
For my second project, I aimed to create an oral documentary that would communicate a very personal attitude towards anxiety by scripting an experience that was close to both the actress whom I used and to myself. I wanted the experience to be specific but still broad due the natural time restraint and I did not want it to be at all manipulative, as some works that utilize this subject matter can often become.
I did not use a great variety of sounds because I felt that the actress's voice, with some minor amplification, was plenty powerful and that any bold sounds would distract from her speech. I experimented with numerous ways of augmenting the overall feel of the piece, which was intended to be rather dark. The only sounds used are the ambient noise at a train station, the crinkling of a translucent trash bag and the low hum of wind, in addition to the actress's voice. The crinkling is meant to sound like plain static but at the same time resembling something tangible, introducing and concluding the piece somewhat ominously. I tried to create an uncomplicated environment that would simply accentuate the power of the actress's words.
Recording sounds personally for the project was a very rewarding experience and much easier, from a technical standpoint, than I had anticipated. I found that once I was comfortable with the recorder my mind opened up and I became more adventurous when it came to searching for sounds and not merely settling for those which were simply the easiest to record. While one could say that I did not fully take advantage of the technology as only a small handful of sounds comprise my piece, I felt that the experience, the most important part, was very positive and gives me a good deal of confidence heading into future projects.
The first project was extremely rewarding because it served as our first introduction to designing sound, though this was even more rewarding in that it truly challenged us to make more personal sounds while utilizing essential technology, engendering a unique feeling of accomplishment even if the piece might not be perceived to be of the highest quality. Using the Marantz as well as the built-in microphones and embarking on one's own into the world to find sounds was something altogether different. While my project is not particularly complex I hope that it can still stand on its own as a sonically interesting oral documentary defined by the actress's voice, but also the very carefully selected sounds that accentuated its intended impact.
SOUNDS
- The voice of an actress
- Crinkling of a trash bag
- Quiet at a train station
- Blowing wind
For my second project, I aimed to create an oral documentary that would communicate a very personal attitude towards anxiety by scripting an experience that was close to both the actress whom I used and to myself. I wanted the experience to be specific but still broad due the natural time restraint and I did not want it to be at all manipulative, as some works that utilize this subject matter can often become.
I did not use a great variety of sounds because I felt that the actress's voice, with some minor amplification, was plenty powerful and that any bold sounds would distract from her speech. I experimented with numerous ways of augmenting the overall feel of the piece, which was intended to be rather dark. The only sounds used are the ambient noise at a train station, the crinkling of a translucent trash bag and the low hum of wind, in addition to the actress's voice. The crinkling is meant to sound like plain static but at the same time resembling something tangible, introducing and concluding the piece somewhat ominously. I tried to create an uncomplicated environment that would simply accentuate the power of the actress's words.
Recording sounds personally for the project was a very rewarding experience and much easier, from a technical standpoint, than I had anticipated. I found that once I was comfortable with the recorder my mind opened up and I became more adventurous when it came to searching for sounds and not merely settling for those which were simply the easiest to record. While one could say that I did not fully take advantage of the technology as only a small handful of sounds comprise my piece, I felt that the experience, the most important part, was very positive and gives me a good deal of confidence heading into future projects.
The first project was extremely rewarding because it served as our first introduction to designing sound, though this was even more rewarding in that it truly challenged us to make more personal sounds while utilizing essential technology, engendering a unique feeling of accomplishment even if the piece might not be perceived to be of the highest quality. Using the Marantz as well as the built-in microphones and embarking on one's own into the world to find sounds was something altogether different. While my project is not particularly complex I hope that it can still stand on its own as a sonically interesting oral documentary defined by the actress's voice, but also the very carefully selected sounds that accentuated its intended impact.
SOUNDS
- The voice of an actress
- Crinkling of a trash bag
- Quiet at a train station
- Blowing wind
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
PROJECT 2 DRAFT
Project 2 Draft: http://soundcloud.com/user7287671/output-1-2
After realizing that my initial idea for second project was too ambitious, and after reflecting upon the idea, recognizing that it might have sounded a bit ridiculous, I revised my idea to something more personal. This piece focuses on my battle with anxiety, so I worked with my actress, who struggles with the same illness, on a script based on a story of hers.
The piece will not be very abstract, as one might be able to tell from this draft. The draft, however, is in my mind rather complete in terms of what will actually be said in the piece; re-recording will only be necessary to ensure better clarity from a better microphone. The only abstract sounds will come at the beginning and end of the piece, with ambient noise underneath.
The challenge that I find myself facing is how to render a simple story into an interesting sound work. The literal retelling is not enough, so I exaggerated it lightly but found that I don't particularly like the way that it sounds at this point. I believe the use of a number of sounds would only be distracting though I also recognize the necessity of including them in order to make the piece more interesting and worthy of repeated listenings. This week I will record far more sounds than necessary in order to have a better sample size considering my lack of understanding as to how to accent the piece.
My most pressing questions are, How do I make a standard story sonically interesting without distracting from what's being said? What sounds properly accentuate a story such as this? What is the process for deciding this and what can I turn to as inspiration? I am not posting any images or links as influences, as my personal experiences served as the influence for the piece.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
PROJECT 2 PROPOSAL: ORAL DOCUMENTARY
I would like for my oral documentary to be as abstract as possible, influenced by my endeavors in numerous fields of creative work. The documentary will not focus on my day-to-day life but my work as a filmmaker, poet, novelist and film critic with a focus on how these ideas govern the way that I navigate the world, not only my academic and professional pursuits.
The piece, for the first 10-20 seconds, will initially sound like any other radio piece, introduced by a reporter who will be voiced by an actor introducing Sam Littman the Writer. The interviewer will speak in an almost nonsensical manner before accurately describing what I have done, leading fittingly into a non-synch narrative that resembles something out of David Lynch. The sounds I use will be all voiceover with an eerie, wind-like sound wave blowing underneath which is nearly inaudible.
The narrative will be broken into four sections: Filmmaker, Poet, Novelist and film critic, with the reporter changing his voice subtly for each section in a way that sounds very eccentric, jarring the audience as they still will recognize that it is the same actor. The voice change will reflect the slight variance in my passion for each facet of creative work, alternately intense (poetry) and humorous (film critic).
The more abstract aspect will result from a melding of documenting a combination of my accomplishments to this point and my aspirations, blurring the line between fiction and reality for those that are not familiar with my work. For example, I will be introduced as the film critic of the Daily Orange of two years before the fast-talking narrator progresses to note how I progressed, from my first job at the Newar Star-Ledger to my current position at the Village Voice. As a filmmaker I graduated with a B.F.A. from Syracuse University and made experimental films under an alias before landing a teaching job at SUNY-Purchase. These will be abstractly melded together by quotes from those that know me (some in reality, some in my imagination) that will be rendered almost blurry to the point that the listener can only understand fragments, some of which might not even be particularly meaningful. The listener will then be forced to decide why I highlighted those snippets of the interview.
The problem that I expect to encounter will be the abstract formulation of the piece; will I intend for it to be abstract, this proposal merely, admittedly, makes it sound eccentric. I have never heard any type of “abstract” radio program so while I am a little confused as to how to go about designing the piece, I am excited at the prospect of creating something somewhat new, an abstract, radio-inspired sound piece that is also very personal.
The piece, for the first 10-20 seconds, will initially sound like any other radio piece, introduced by a reporter who will be voiced by an actor introducing Sam Littman the Writer. The interviewer will speak in an almost nonsensical manner before accurately describing what I have done, leading fittingly into a non-synch narrative that resembles something out of David Lynch. The sounds I use will be all voiceover with an eerie, wind-like sound wave blowing underneath which is nearly inaudible.
The narrative will be broken into four sections: Filmmaker, Poet, Novelist and film critic, with the reporter changing his voice subtly for each section in a way that sounds very eccentric, jarring the audience as they still will recognize that it is the same actor. The voice change will reflect the slight variance in my passion for each facet of creative work, alternately intense (poetry) and humorous (film critic).
The more abstract aspect will result from a melding of documenting a combination of my accomplishments to this point and my aspirations, blurring the line between fiction and reality for those that are not familiar with my work. For example, I will be introduced as the film critic of the Daily Orange of two years before the fast-talking narrator progresses to note how I progressed, from my first job at the Newar Star-Ledger to my current position at the Village Voice. As a filmmaker I graduated with a B.F.A. from Syracuse University and made experimental films under an alias before landing a teaching job at SUNY-Purchase. These will be abstractly melded together by quotes from those that know me (some in reality, some in my imagination) that will be rendered almost blurry to the point that the listener can only understand fragments, some of which might not even be particularly meaningful. The listener will then be forced to decide why I highlighted those snippets of the interview.
The problem that I expect to encounter will be the abstract formulation of the piece; will I intend for it to be abstract, this proposal merely, admittedly, makes it sound eccentric. I have never heard any type of “abstract” radio program so while I am a little confused as to how to go about designing the piece, I am excited at the prospect of creating something somewhat new, an abstract, radio-inspired sound piece that is also very personal.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)