Alrighty, here we are at the end of another week. Let us start this out on a good note.
The Wire
(Unfortunately I watched all the episode back to back so it all just merges together)
Now everything is beginning to pick up. I am beginning to see where the story is going to center around a lot of the activity at the dock. I am very curious to see how McNulty will get involved with the actual case that is going to start up. McNulty is edging closer and closer to ending up in this case. Speaking of McNulty, his family issues are some what weird to watch. To be quite honest, I am not entirely interested in his family life. However, I can tell you that I am interested to see what becomes of D’Angelo and the rest of Barksdale’s crew in prison. I really have the feeling that something bad is going to happen because D’Angelo is clearly showing that he no longer wants to be in the “game” anymore. It is funny to me that Avon and the others do not exactly see what he actually wants. By Stringer’s dialogue, it seems as though they want to put him away from that stuff, but still want him to stay in the game.
Now then, I am excited to see the team getting together again, but I am very curious to see how this all works out. Especially since Quima and Daniel’s wife/partner seriously did not want that to happen. That specific scene where they rounded around the table between the four was just perfect. Nothing needed to be said, you just watched facial expressions. That alone told you what was going on.
The story about Ziggy and Nick is also warming up. Their personalities are just completely different and the way they go about things are just different. I am very curious to see how this situation with paying back those gang members goes. I mean, Ziggy’s car is gone and I am not really seeing how he is going to pay them back. The situation just looks bad.
These are just some thoughts on The Wire.
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Daily Creates
This week, I created two daily creates. Here is some stuff about them:
That Feeling when you Pass a Test
You really gotta be happy when you pass that test you studied for. Especially when you work hard, and pass it with flying colors.
I just wanted to add this picture up for a daily create; it really summed up a lot of happiness that is generated on campus (at least academic wise).
How to Burpee
This was an interesting daily create. I’ve never heard of this being called a burpee before. However, I figured putting a helpless stick figure through it is much better than me trying to do it.
Additional Thoughts
Passing a Test – This one seriously does speak for itself. Coming up with this picture was a no brainer. We have all been there! We have all taken a test (especially if it was a hard one) and passed it with flying colors at some point. You really do feel like it is your birthday. If you have never experienced that feeling, then you really need to join the club; it is an awesome feeling!
How to Burpee- As stated, I never even knew what this even was. I have done them before, and I have terrible memories of them. That was where I found inspiration to draw this up. Specifically in the stick figure’s speech. One thing you will learn about me is that I am not into the whole exercise thing. Especially doing these.
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Brainstorm Time!
In case you missed it, here it is:
The Wire and Technology goes off of the basis of a couple of main points:
1. This show was done in 2003 (correct me if I’m wrong).
2. The technology used is probably out dated.
3. Criminal methods have probably improved over years.
So, what I was thinking was what if The Wire had been made in 2014? How would it be different? Would character representations be different? Would the kind of technology they used, such as pagers and pay phones (I haven’t seen either of these in years) still be used? Other interesting things to take a look at would include various some scenes where certain technology was used as well. I’m just curious to know how would this show be different; I think it would be at least.
I’m still cooking the idea in my head, so that is all for now; I will probably update this if I think of anything else.
Additional Thoughts
Wire and Technology – I think this could possibly go somewhere. Methods and routines typically change overtime as technology changes. Furthermore, with more advanced technology now becoming common, this could drastically change how certain events and scenes could be portrayed in The Wire. Again, right now I just need some more feedback, and some more time to fully let the idea cook. I feel like I am going somewhere with this, I just need a little direction.
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On the Jennifer Ralston Interview
Rather than me telling you a brief version of what I wrote, feel free to take a look at it right here!
First thing is first, I am amazed at the level of detail that went into making this interview; it was very clear, informative, and it was professional on all level! So with that out of the way, let me give a summary on my thoughts for the interview.
1. The More You Know
I had no clue that so much time and effort was devoted towards sound. It was stated in the interview that the, “Behind the Scenes,” tidbits that are done on television are generally focused around actors, the filming, or even some research behind a given show. However, none of them have ever focused on the amount of detail that goes into producing the specific sound effects that really add to the moment. I think I truly discovered how important sound was when I listened to S2E04 of The Wire, and then listened to the sections of The Wire that were in the interview. The sound really does add to the atmosphere in a way that most people do not notice.
2. Hidden Secrets
Most people do not know me, but I am the kind of person who does not read into things. My mind was blown when Jennifer mentioned that the different sound effects were also cues to certain events/activities that were going on. For example, when McNulty is on his “booty calls” and dogs are making noise. I actually looked up those scenes, and heard a dog howling, and it consistently did that. Furthermore, she brought up a very valid point about silence. Rather than making the different scenes quiet, Jennifer stated that reinforcing sounds in the given area is key because you generally would not notice them if people were talking. Again, I would have never noticed any of this, and that is what amazed me!
3. Sound and Reality
Okay, was anyone else impressed with her explanation of the sounds in the scene where Quima got shot? I sure as hell was! The first time I saw that scene, it was a disaster. Voices, choppers, cars, sirens, radios, and more were making so much noise. Yet, in all the confusion, it all made sense as to what was going on. Think about it for a second; most movies would probably have a couple of radio calls then an epic, car rush to get to the scene (cue epic music as well). However, what we witnessed was a rushed incident that made sense in the show, and more importantly, made sense in reality. By that I mean, the radio calls meant something, rather than them being just some random calls over radio because the viewers probably do not know any better. The fact that they got an actual cop to sit down and make the radio calls make sense is just awesome. I had my suspicions about whether this show had some real elements in it, and now I think I can definitely say it does.
4. Sound and $$$ (your suppose to make that cha-ching sound!)
Rarely do I care what happens outside of my major. I will admit, that it was very interesting to hear that sound design is actually a good field to go into. I was impressed to hear that she got paid to do it while in school. I was also amazed to hear that very few people actually go into creating these sounds. Sounds make up a lot of memorable moments in movies (not including music). The level of detail that was outlined in the production of it was really interesting as well. She gave a good view of how sound production has changed as technology has. The one part that really stood out was when she talked about the scene where D’Angelo and Stringer were talking near traffic. She mention that on one side you had traffic sound being picked up by the mic, but on the other side, you did not get those sounds. The fact that they manage to blend those together to produce a realistic sounding scene is phenomenal! I can see why someone working in sound gets paid so much; when they do a good job like that, it really blends in well!
5. Final Thoughts
I was thoroughly impressed with the interview, and I left it feeling like I knew much more. The questions asked were on par, and the overall discussion was entertaining and worth listening to. I typically do not listen to these kind of things simply because they are rather dull to me, but this one was just perfect!
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Now, onto the last and most interesting part of the week.
Audio, Audio, Audio
Let me take you through all of these, one by one:
This was my very first sound story. Here are my thoughts on it:
Credits to sounds from:
jmbphilmes – www.freesound.org/people/jmbphilmes/sounds/200273/
Yuval – www.freesound.org/people/Yuval/sounds/205817/
vhlam –
www.freesound.org/people/vhlam/sounds/203171/
joedeshon – www.freesound.org/people/joedeshon/sounds/117416/
mungous – www.freesound.org/people/mungous/sounds/62878/
Here was my first attempt at creating a sound story. If you can guess the sounds, give yourself a pat on the back! Creating this was much different than anything I have ever made before. I have not had a proper tutorial on Audacity, but this was attempt #1. Finding sounds was rather fun on free sounds! I began by looking for the most persistent, background noises then built up from there. I am curious to know how to move sound to later parts of the track though. That will probably useful for future events.
Additional Thoughts – I think that this went well. I really want to see a full tutorial on how to use Audacity. I pretty much had to create this on trial and error, but I know you can do some wild things with it. I initially wanted to go with a person walking through the rain and going home, but I wound up with a person leaving home to go on a walk in the rain. Either way, I tried my best to capture a semi-busy neighborhood in a city. All the sounds seemed to work well, and I actually ended up reducing the volume of the door opening and the sirens. The noise of the city also had to be lowered because I did not want that to be the main focus, but rather an ambient sound. Lastly, I had to trim each one to around 45 seconds; you should have seen the first time I trimmed it incorrectly. I freaked out!
Here is a bit more about me. The article is below:
This was an interesting one to see posted. I had to stop and think about something interesting in my life that was worth sharing. Of course, being in college, I reflected back to entering college. Fortunately, coming up with the audio was simple since it was just speech. As for the story, it is just under 2 minutes.
Additional Thoughts – This was just me being me. Soundcloud, headset, and a quiet room was all I needed. This was a nice assignment, but it had me confused because old posts stated it was worth 4.5 stars (which had me thinking was there more I had to do). Overall, it was a good self-reflection.
My Initial Thoughts:
So… this is rain, from my voice. I have to admit, I did this about 7 times before I got it to where I wanted it. I had my fan on in the background and began to make a somewhat watery sound with my mouth (you know how rain sounds). I did not get a good rainfall pitter-patter, so I tried to go for more of a heavy kind of rainfall.
This one was really weird to be quite honest. Making it was easy, but trying to get everything when combined to sound right was not. I tried tapping fingers, moving the fan closer, shaking a water bottle, and a few other things on my keyboard. I figured I should not cheat since I am at my computer, ant this all seemed to come out decently.
Additional Thoughts- Looking at this now, I still don’t even know what to say about this. I tried to make this sound good, but man did I fail at it. I thought this would be fairly easy, but making it sound convincing and real is just plain difficult. Seriously, if you do not believe me, try it! I dare you! It is actually difficult (or I actually am that terrible at it). You really won’t know how it sounds until you play it back. Then you really hear the horrible nature of your voice. However, it did make me laugh!
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That’s all for this week, I hope you all enjoyed this quick blog!
