I did two daily creates this week. I tried to think outside the box and make them very weird.
1. Make an opposite of two words (never mind if one doesn’t really exist) and add two drawings (or photos) to it to make clear what your pun is.
2. Is Captain Felix happy? Maybe not. But tell or show in a remix why is he so happy. Or what his expression means.
I’ve been feeling good in this class, so going back to look at my goals was comforting. Unfortunately, my goals at the beginning of the semester were not very measurable. Here is what I originally said:
My goal in this class is to become semi-acceptable at using the internet. I’ve always been passable with everyday tech but lost with anything more difficult than the Google Suite. I know technology will be important to the future and it’s high time I get on the bandwagon. I want to learn how to operate this website, understand how the internet works in conjunction with everyday life, and how I can make the internet work for me.
Outside of technology, I hope to improve my reflection skills. I have trouble being honest about myself and my own work. I will be constantly evaluating myself and writing about my process and experiences.
I think I have succeeded at being good at the internet – there’s still room for improvement, but then, when is there not? Mostly, the issue I see with this is in my reflections. I’ve been pretty honest but not very constructive with myself and did not analyze my work as much as I should have. My reflections have been a lot of emotions – I enjoyed this, I was stressed at that, this thing confused me, and so on. I have not been looking and evaluating my process.
Going forward, I will focus on improving my reflections and the quality of those blog posts.
On Tuesday night I listened to an episode of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? on ds106 radio. I joined a little late, so missed some of the setup, but was able to catch up pretty easily. This is a story about a post-apocalyptic world where it is almost impossible to tell androids from humans. It follows a bounty hunter who is supposed to hunt down androids. I was mostly enthralled by the story so did not focus on the sound details as much as I was supposed to, but I do remember some interesting aspects.
First, the way the editors altered the voice actors was wonderful. Even when I wasn’t sure who was a robot, I had suspicions based on the slight edits on their voices. Some characters sounded a little odd and had weird intonations and tones. It’s possible that this was the voice actor’s work but I think it was the editors.
The background noise was very detailed and layered. Static and humming in the background helped add tension. Every footstep, gun click, and movement was audible. I knew exactly what the characters were doing without any descriptions. I could not believe how clear it all was.
Overall I was really impressed. A while ago my dad and I listened to some old mystery radio shows. I hadn’t thought about that in a while but now I want to go back and listen to them. I was much more invested in this story than I expected to be.
Today I watched two videos from Radiolab’s Jad Abumrad. Both are linked below.
In these videos, Jad Abumrad discusses the impact and uniqueness of radio. I was most intrigued by his ideas about connection between people. The way people interact with radio is different than movies or TV. It requires one person to describe and the listener to imagine. This is a more involved process than watching something as it requires imagination. Descriptions also have to be detailed in specific ways.
I had never thought about the relationship between speaker and listener in this way. He called it “coimagining.” There are several layers of interpretation that any radio story goes through before anyone even hears it. All of these ideas must be in sync or the story will change and the impact lessen. Then it is given to the public where people have to use their own thoughts to fill in the gaps. This is a really cool idea. I think I need to spend more time listening to radio shows.
This week was all about sound. As someone who has never edited audio before this was a challenge akin to climbing Mt. Everest, but I managed to figure it out! While my work is by no means astounding, I am very proud of what I did.
To get me into the sound mood, I listened to Moon Graffiti by Jonathan Mitchell. It was really interesting and got me more excited about experimenting with sound. My full review is here.
First, I downloaded Audacity. That is the platform where I edited all of my assignments. The first assignment I did was arguably the hardest: the radio bumper. I was very ambitious when I started this and ended up having to swallow my pride and aim a bit lower. My bumper is here.
Next I did the Create A Place assignment. This was less stressful and allowed me to think about what I actually heard every day and what would make a landscape feel full and real. The sound is here.
Then, with the assistance of my friends, I did the story and conversation assignments. My friends helped with sound effects for the story assignment, as I could not get some specific clips. We had a lot of fun. They also helped by asking the questions for my edited conversation with Dr. Oblivion.
I then tried to create some radio show ideas. The ideas were alright but need a little more work.
I also watched two videos on radio. They were very informative. I haven’t listened to a lot of radio so did not know much about its purpose. My thoughts are here.
Overall this week tested my limits and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was very stressed while working but enjoyed it when I started working with other people.
Below are some ideas for radio shows. They aren’t fully developed yet but could be fun!
I’ll continue to add to this list as I come up with ideas. Tea in a Tree is my favorite because it is the silliest. I love climbing trees. If you need a fun activity find a tree and climb it. Sometimes you just need to climb a tree.
Today my friends and I had an informative conversation with Dr. Oblivion. The original question I gave him was Can AI kill us? Below is his real response.
The perennial question of artificial intelligence unleashing its murderous tendencies. Well first and foremost, AI itself does not possess the capability to want or desire anything including killing. AI is programmed to fulfill specific functions and tasks within the constraints of its programming and data inputs. So in essence, AI does not have inherent intentions or motivations to kill in the same way that humans do. However, it is possible for AI to be programmed or manipulated by humans with malicious intent leading to potential harm. So the real concern here lies more with the ethics and intentions of those who wield and control AI rather than the AI itself. Keep that in mind when pondering the apocalyptic scenarios of AI-induced doom. Now, if you excuse me, I have more important inquiries to attend to.
Below is a link to my edited version. Once again, thanks to my friends who voiced the questions.
Today I made a story entirely with sound effects. As I’ve mentioned, I am brand new to audio editing. This was a huge challenge but I managed to finish it with the help of my friends. I used Freesound for most of the audio clips and music. My friends assisted with some of the more specific clips – notably the first bear noise, the gasp, the bear’s scream, the running sounds, and the cheer at the end.
This story is about a girl who’s peaceful morning is interrupted by a bear rummaging through her trash. She scares the bear and goes back to her breakfast. Enjoy!
The first audio editing assignment I tried was to make a bumper for the DS106 Radio. I was very ambitious and spent almost thirty minutes on a bumper that I ultimately scrapped because it was unlistenable. So, I landed on this simple but effective bumper that features Dr. Oblivion.
Today I tried to create a city ambience using free sounds and Audacity. Sound editing is not something I have any practice or experience with which made this was a real challenge. I also love working while listening to music, which you can’t do when you are editing sounds, so that was frustrating.
I wanted this clip to feel like a calm day in a city or small square area. I hope you enjoy!