This week was a fairly light one, I thought. I thought twelve stars of audio assignments was kind of a lot but it was not too bad to actually do them.
The first audio assignment I did this week was the DS106 Radio bumper (1.5 stars). I didn’t do it in the first audio week because I liked a lot of the other audio assignments so I did them instead.
How I did it:
I used FreeSound to get the sounds that I needed. I searched for static, a boing sound, and background static. I imported all of these sounds into Audacity so that I could edit them. I then searched for a free text-to-speech site which I could download from. I was very picky at this stage in the game because I wanted the speech to sound natural. I tried several different sites but ended up settling forthis one. I am happy with how the speech turned out. I downloaded it and imported that into Audacity as well. I also had to mess with what I typed in. First I tried “D S 1 0 6 Radio” but they said “one-zero-six.” Then I tried “D S 106 Radio” but they said “one-hundred six.” So finally I tried “D S 1 o 6 radio” and that is what I ended up going with. Some of the text to speech things made the “oh” sound funny and that’s why I had to be picky.
Then I cut and moved the tracks around until they sounded right and fit together well. I cut out a lot of stuff from three of the tracks (the sound ones) because I knew my bumper was going to be short. Then I put it all together, saved the Audacity file, and exported it as an MP3. I tried to upload it to Twitter, the Hub, and SoundCloud via Known but for some reason it didn’t upload to SoundCloud so I had to do that separately.
In honor of hunting season starting last weekend, I decided to make the “Sound Effects Story” (3.5 stars) of someone shooting a deer with a bow.
How I did it:
Using Free Sound I pulled different sound effects that I hear (or hopefully hear) when I am sitting in a tree stand. First you hear the ambient noise of the woods, including some annoying crows. Then you hopefully hear (or see) a deer walk up. You draw your bow and let it go and hopefully hear the thump when it goes into the deer. Then you hear the deer walk a couple of steps and hopefully see it lay down.
Once I had all of these sounds downloaded I imported them into Audacity so I could edit them together to make a cohesive story. Obviously the order that I said up there was the way in which it happened in the sound story. I had to fade in the deer walking up because as it gets closer it gets louder. Then I had to make sure that the bow release and the thump were not too far apart or it wouldn’t sound real. I also had to make sure that the deer didn’t wait after it got hit to move away because generally that happens immediately. I faded out the deer walking away because it is getting farther away from you (generally). I also had to make sure that much of the ambient noise in between the crows cawing wasn’t in my sound story or it would have been distracting. Unfortunately I didn’t know what to do with the ambient noise behind the crows actually cawing, so that stayed in there.
The next assignment I did was the “Interview/Music Mashup” (3 stars). The example posted to the assignment page and some of the other examples were great. The hardest part was trying to pick out a topic to do the interview about. I thought about doing it about Ebola or Ray Rice but I figured they would be too hard to figure out songs for.
How I did it:
Here is the list of songs and artists that I used:
This Is Our Time by Kenny Chesney
Honky Tonk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins
We are the Champions by Queen
All Jacked Up by Gretchen Wilson
Bob the Builder Theme Song
And the Crowd Goes Wild by Mark Wills
Angry All the Time by Tim McGraw
It was actually a lot easier to choose questions and songs than I expected it to be. I thought that would be the hardest part but it turned out that choosing the person to interview and the topic was the hardest part.
First I made a Word document with all of the questions that I wanted to ask and thought of songs for them as I made them. I found the lyrics to the songs using Google. Then when I picked the part of the song I wanted to put the lyrics in the Word document so that I would remember which part of the song I needed once I downloaded it. I downloaded them from YouTube using a YouTube to mp3 converter. When I did that for all of the songs I needed, I opened Audacity. I recorded all of the questions first so that I would have them all there. I then imported the songs one at a time as I got to the questions that they answered. I had to listen to the song to find the right part and delete the parts that I didn’t need. I did that for all of the songs and then lined them up so they sounded natural. I then selected all and clicked on Effect>Normalize to make all of the different clips the same volume. Then I saved it as an audacity file and exported it as an MP3 file. I uploaded it to Twitter and the Hub via Known and uploaded it to SoundCloud separately (I can’t figure out why it won’t work).
I did the assignment “FlickrSounds” (1.5 stars). I didn’t know what to search at first so I searched “sunset.” After a couple of clicks I came up with this combination. It is pretty weird because neither sound has to do with a sunset and there is no stream in the picture but there could be one out of the frame that you can hear but you can’t see. Then I decided to search “sunrise” to see what came up. After a few clicks this combination came up. I like this because the sound is very soothing and reminds me of getting up early at the beach to watch the sunrise. I also like the picture and how the sun is going through the middle of the pieces of wood. It is a really cool picture. Finally, I wanted to bring the day together with an afternoon picture. Well afternoon was bringing up some weird things. Mostly pictures of cats and sound effects like thump and boing so I don’t know what was up with that. Then I decided to search “midday” instead. And after a few clicks of search, this combination came up. It’s cool because it is a different setting than the other two pictures but the middle of the day is a more busy time so it is fitting that it is the New York City skyline. The water also goes with the picture very well because the picture looks like it was taken from the middle of the water. If you want to see the picture and sound combinations you can view my original post.
Voice Over a Beat (Times Two):
The final audio assignment I did was “Voice Over a Beat” (1.5 stars).
How I did it:
But I went on Soundation and created a login so I could choose and save and download a beat. I ended up choosing the second beat that I listened to. It caught my attention. I clicked on Electronica>125>BassBroke C. That is the one I went with. I had to click and drag it into the center space where you can add tracks so that I could save/download it. I went to File>Export as .wav file because I knew I could import that file type into Audacity. I then opened Audacity and imported the file. I didn’t modify the sound any, just what I recorded.
So at first I was like oh I’ll make a bumper for our show using this, but then I remembered that that is a separate assignment that I have already done this week. So I made that one and I made another voice over a beat. I said Groom’s catch phrase “Make Art Dammit.” I went to Effect>Amplify and made it louder. I also went to Effect>Change Pitch and made it lower so it didn’t sound like me saying it. I played around with that a lot because it was funny to hear my voice in different pitches. I went lower because I thought it would sound cooler and would be easier to hear over the beat. I saved the bumper first and exported it then I took out the words and changed them and re-saved and re-exported. Here are both of the tracks that I made on SoundCloud.
I made a promotional poster for our DS106 Radio show. I wanted an angry picture of McNulty so I could basically make him say something like “you’re going to do this or else…”
How I did it:
I found the picture of McNulty here by googling “The Wire Cast” or something along those lines. This one stood out to me, one because it was one of the larger pictures (and higher quality), and two because of the angry look on his face. I knew with that look that I could make it a threatening poster. I saved the photo and opened it in GIMP. I then added the text–the top is CF Jack Story (fromdafont.com) and the bottom is Colors of Autumn (also from dafont.com). I was going to do the top in Colors of Autumn also but the numbers looked like they were straight out of Times New Roman so I decided against that. I resized and moved them around until I got the effect that I wanted. I tried to do drop shadows (by hand using the airbrush tool) but they didn’t turn out as well as I would have hoped. I do think that the text is pretty readable though since the background is so dark.
I did the daily create “(Don’t) Describe #wire106.” And I read a couple of other people’s ideas (of course because I don’t want to be way off base here) and I kind of spun off of their ideas. I don’t know if anyone has seen White Collar but it is a GREAT show (which will unfortunately be in its last season here soon *tear*). Neill Caffrey, a convicted con artist (I guess) helps out the White Collar crime unit (the crimes that he used to commit). He basically solves their cases by thinking of the way he would do it and then telling them and they get the bad guy. It is great because he is freaking brilliant. Anyway it is a great show and you should watch it. But here is The Wire edition of White Collar (or the White Collar edition of The Wire) explanation:
The Wire: White Collar Edition is a great new television show about a police department who enlists the help of a former drug dealer (who escaped from prison several times only to be found by this police department). The final time he escaped they gave him an ultimatum–either he helped them find other drug dealers or he went into solitary confinement. So, of course, he chose to help them out. Not only did he avoid solitary confinement, one by one he was able to laugh in the face of his former competitors while they got carried away to jail. Not to mention he managed to do a little drug dealing on the side while he wasn’t under police supervision. As you can imagine he has to talk himself out of many a sticky situation, but in the end he helps the department and he and his handler end up with a very good relationship–almost best friends (*insert collective AWWW here*).
The second daily create I did this week was “Pearls of Wisdom.” I’m sorry it’s another writing one, but I just couldn’t pass it up. It was so easy to think of the book that I have read with the most wisdom in it. The Bible is easily the most influential book that I have read that affects how I live my life. It never ceases to amaze me the way God’s word speaks to me. Here is my response to the prompt:
When I saw the title of this daily create I already knew my answer. The Bible is easily the book with the most wisdom that I’ve ever read. Every time I read it or learn about it I learn something new. It tells you how to live a happy, fulfilling life. For instance: “forgive each other just as Christ God forgave you.” -Ephesians 4:32. “Do to others as you would have them do to you” Luke 6:31. And one of my favorites, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13. I take these to heart and try to live by them because I know that they will make me a happier person.
The Wire Episodes:
Season 2, Episode 12:
The police are pulling a body out of the river—its going to be Frank; and Nicky knew it too and the more time goes on, the more frantic he gets. All of the dock guys are watching but I bet they don’t expect that it is going to be Frank. Or maybe they did know because none of their reactions showed any surprise. Notifying homicide, they should be not happy to hear that. And they aren’t because they want him to help them with information about the Greeks. Nicky wants to go kill the Greeks but the guys won’t let him. Russell must have had a thing with Sobotka because she is not happy.
“Business. Always business.” – The Greek—they’re leaving to go back to Greece or somewhere.
Stringer tells Brother that he got his back. And Stringer says that they will figure out who did it and take care of it. But Brother said there is no need because he will take care of them himself. Brother doesn’t tell him who came after him and says “thank you for your concern.” Uh oh Stringer probably knows Brother is onto him. Omar wants to go after Stringer now. Avon is mad Stringer asked Brother who he is going to go after. Ruh roh, I didn’t think Avon was going to pound it with Stringer.
UGH Bubbs really? Why did you try to steal stuff out of an ambulance? I’m glad Kima is the one doing his interview. Good Kima is treating him hard because he can’t give her any information about any homicides or anything. Oh Bubbs was there for Brother shooting the guy and he said the East and West siders are sharing. And Bubbs told Kima that the product in the towers was bad but now it’s good.
Prez is being charged by his Father in Law because he punched him. Everyone heard him call Prez a “shitbird” though. Daniels is happy that he convinced FIL to press charges on Prez.
Nicky is probably turning himself in so that the Greeks get in trouble—he is going to use it as collateral to get him a lighter sentence. The problem is they are no longer in that diner and he doesn’t know a whole lot of information. The Greeks are in a pickle though because they don’t have anyone at the dock on their side anymore. The Greek doesn’t like walking into police everywhere they go. Oh yeah I forgot Nicky met with Frank before he went and talked to Spiro—he knows what the Greeks’ plan is. Nicky knows that Frank’s death was for nothing because Zig made a statement that he bought the gun.
Hmm, Daniels and his wife are sleeping in separate rooms—she must be VERY upset with him.
UGH THE FBI GUY DRIVES ME CRAZY—thank goodness he is not in San Diego anymore. Uh oh he knows his information has been going to the wrong person because he has been gone for more than a year according to the lady. He told Daniels that he was the leak.
Carver and Herc are dummies. They were waiting for Nicky to turn himself in but he already did. Obviously some communication was lacking there. They aren’t happy that they aren’t getting all the information. Carver wants a new job to use his stripes. What is Nicky doing? He gone. How stupid can you be? They told you not to leave without telling someone.
“I bet there’s police somewhere else looking at a table full of heads.” –Bunk—Bunk cracks me up well at least they got the tapes and got something on the tape. Links Sergei to the guy that was beheaded and whose hands were cut off. The guy they beheaded was the one who killed all the girls. And Daniels doesn’t want to tell Rawls right away.
Kima is not excited about the baby but her wife is.
The Greek and Prop Joe talking—I guess the Greeks supply Prop Joe, what is he going to do when the Greeks leave.
Episode 12 Commentary:
I enjoyed the discussion about the importance of the image telling the story. I think that is one thing that the directors and everyone on The Wire completely nailed. I love that they don’t have to use artificial sounds to make the show more interesting. They only have to use camera movement, camera angles, and authentic sounds to make you more interested. Then when the music is there, you know it is important and they thought long and hard about what the songs are because they aren’t usually there.
I didn’t notice that episode 12 was all about people’s eyes until they said that in the commentary. The first time I watched it that was not something that I picked up on. I realize that I have gone away from dissecting the scenes the way I did during the visual week and prior to that. Another thing that I missed that I used to pick up on is the transition between scenes. They do a great job to make transitions seamless.
It also interested me when she said that the director didn’t want the language to be traditional TV. I guess I assumed that that was true because of the amount of cussing in the show (the F word scene comes to mind). She also reinforced what Jen Ralston said about how they used authentic sounds at the docks and how important sound is, especially to this show where they don’t really use music.
I am also more aware of the different camera angles that they use. Like in the scene with Nicky with Frank’s picture behind him and the focus from Nicky to the picture and back to Nicky. Another thing they made me more aware of was how they showed the distance between Daniels and his wife even though they didn’t come out and say it.
Season 3, Episode 1:
Maybe tearing the towers down signifies the end of Avon’s reign and maybe Stringer will get Avon out of the whole situation—it actually stands for a change in the game from territory to product. Territory doesn’t mean anything if your product is crap. They are going to become resellers because they have the best product out there. Poot pissed Stringer off when he said “do the chair know we are gonna look like some punk a$$ b!tches out there?” The end of this episode emphasizes the change in the game also. With the guy who just got out of jail getting jipped out of his drugs and the young kid trying to sell drugs to the police officer.
The conversation between Poot, Bodie, and all of them is very vulgar and that surprised me. Well, that didn’t happen quite as planned—the light turned from green to red.
“Don’t matter how many times you get burnt, you just keep doin’ the same.” –Bodie. I had a feeling that would be the quote for this episode. I also think that’s the first time it has come from before the credits. I also don’t like the new song.
Interesting scene with Freamon and Prez and the lady sitting behind them. It used to be that Freamon knew what they were saying on the wire and he had to translate for Prez but this time it was the opposite. They’ve been following Cheese for three months and still haven’t heard his voice. Rhonda and Daniels don’t want to re-up on the phones because they aren’t getting anywhere on them. They have to get up higher somehow. They got a newer nicer camera now.
Carver tried to stay one step ahead by not chasing the runner because usually he doesn’t do anything but this time they may have. But then we saw another kid leave with something. So the druggies may have still outsmarted them. They look so discombobulated with Herc driving around and Carver running around—hahahah Carver sticks out his thumb like he is hitchhiking when Herc drives up. And then he tries to lay down the law after he just looked like a fool. “Because you do not get to win, shitbird, we do!” And he didn’t have any drugs. Herc and Carver don’t really seem to be on their commanding officer’s good side.
They took Bubbs and his buddy’s pants so that they come back and pay them for his car. “Y’all know ya ain’t got pants?” as they are turning in their metal for money. But the guy isn’t happy with the money that they gave him. Tomorrow ain’t shit—maybe he is finally coming to his senses. Talking about begging for half a shot and the fact that he’s not even high and then there are gun shots in the background.
People are moving from the city to the county because of schools and crime. The mayor doesn’t care and acts like it is business as usual. The head of the council says that Herv should come to him if thy mayor gives him the short end of the stick. But he says nope because he reports to the mayor.
Daniels talking to Herv about the wiretap and how they’re banking on Prop Joe promoting the wrong person and Herv says what makes you think they’ll promote the wrong person and Daniels says we do it all the time. Daniels isn’t getting his promotion because his wife is running for a position currently held by the Mayor’s ally. Daniels probably didn’t even know his wife was running because he has been living out of the office (even though he doesn’t answer when Rhonda asks him). And his wife is basically using him to get the position that she wants because he is well-known and she is not.
Avon just walks across the middle of the baseball field and they stop the game for him with no complaints. Avon says the game is the game but Stringer is saying the game is changing.
McNulty is jealous of his ex’s new boo. And then the kids don’t want to go with him because his seats aren’t as good. And then she tells him what to do with the kids like he doesn’t know. She annoys me. Hahahaha Bunk tells McNulty I’m thinking of becoming a woman and McNulty didn’t even flinch. He is very unhappy with his ex. Also they all have cell phones now instead of pagers!
I love this town—pan down to him looking at a dead guy.
Woo, Rawls is dropping all kinds of curse words and the other guys look at him like he’s crazy. Rawls is such an a$$. They are telling them to cut down on murders—not sure how they are going to do that. They’re basically telling them to lie about deaths or else they will be replaced.
“You don’t look at what you did before, you do the same shit all over” –McNulty
Comments:
Lots of conversations with my group this week. Here are some of them:
@nixmemita @smreutter fine with me if you have someone in mind!
— Brittany Scites (@brittanyns13) October 7, 2014
