Trial Audio

I used this one first, but then made edits.

Audio Profile from ADifferentCase on Vimeo.

Sound-Image and Image-Image Relationships

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kXYiU_JCYtU

Music Videos have a tough job between grabbing the artists’ audiences’ attention as well as bringing forth a new and innovative image that correlates with what
would be expressed through the song. Linkin Park’s Numb provides a great
interaction between sound and image, as well as, image and image. The editing
within the video played a central role of understanding the message that lied
within the song.
In the beginning of the video, the audience sees a teenager looking off, standing by
herself in a huge environment. As she begins to stare off into a new direction,
we see nothing but buildings and then it cuts to the band. The cut proceeds to
her being in class when Chester (the singer) says: “tired of being what you
want me to be”. The teacher is lecturing to the students and she is just
drawing in her notebook which gets interrupted by the teacher hitting a stick
on her desk. When Chester sings, “I become so numb”, the speed between her
reality and actual reality changes. The students, through editing, zoom out of
the classroom leaving her alone looking at her drawing. This happens again when
she trips on the floor and everyone zooms past her. The situation repeats one
more time when she goes home and Chester sings, “can’t you see that you’re
smothering me, holding too tightly, afraid to lose control”, the teen is
sitting down staring off to space while the mother is fixing everything in the
kitchen in hyper speed, and then the mother sits down and yells at her. She
looks alone in the video and the hyper speed shows how unconnected she is to
the world around her.
Throughout the video, the teenager is wearing black, white, and grays. She’s mixed in a world of light and color, in a world that doesn’t notice her unless they are
scolding or being repulsed by her. The shots between the teenager and the band
are equally short except for the end. At the climax where Chester sings the
phrase “I become so numb”, the teenager is full of anguish, she just thrusts
her paint brush all over the page. Chester and his band mate keep singing, “I
become so numb, tired of being what you want me to be”. This scene only shows
the band and them pouring their soul out into the music. Then the teenager runs
into the dark church that they were singing in only to find no one there.
Without the cutting into the girl’s life, the video may not have been as strong as it
was. The ending, in which the female runs to the church where the band was
playing, unites both worlds. Showing the empty space when she arrives (an extra
shot was made) increases the notion of her being alone.

Roaming Through

As I left Hunter, my ears turned on and picked up: “You’re a wonderful person, are you fond of Earth”? The woman’s voice was probably about 60-70 dB SPL. It was clear, direct, and aggressive. Living in New York or in any city in the morning to afternoon, anyone is bound to hear voices. From the side of me was a sound of a crumpling wrapper. The crumbling wrapper was actually the sound of a woman’s coat, and as she approached, she yelled: “What?! She worked in the Bronx? Don’t ask me for $35”. I would place her around 70 decibels. Occasionally, I heard people speaking in a tongue that I didn’t recognize; relatively normal. Then my favorite, well most distinctive phrase of the day: “…sir, you murdered five people”.

Perhaps shocking in regular conversation, but this was all to be expected; the city is full of people, especially people with cell phones. Talking was a given, but while walking, I heard something else.

I’m musically bias, but the city had a beat. After the Green Peace advocate made her declaration of the person’s nature and asked a question, I heard a distant honking. It was slow. *beep* ……….. *beep* ………. *beep*. As, I was walking toward 42^nd Street, the sound started to dissipate, and became more of an echo. It sounded like the sounds one hears within a sea shell, and then it disappeared…well not disappeared but just became so minute and dwindled down to a decibel that I couldn’t hear.

That one honk started the beat.

Several honks followed suit, one by one, and then, the order didn’t matter. Some were sharp, some were soft, and some seem broken, while others were as rough as a punch to the face. I heard screeching, like nails scratching a window pane, from the bus driving by. Then there was a fast pace clicking that I learned came from the wheels of a bike. I heard the echo of the plastic window from the restaurant and then large thumps. *boom* *boom* *boom* *boom* *boom* Just noises of clashing and heavy loads falling; it sounded like a minor earthquake. Later I saw that the ruckus was actually construction work. Still, all these sounds collaborated into a song. The heavy bricks were the base, the people talking were the singers, the wind that would blow ever so gently and then smack me in the face were the flute and low/high pitched strings. The leaves, papers, and bags on the floor all sounded so similar, but some sounded heavier and reminded me of the scraping of sandpaper. Nonetheless, the leaves, papers, and bags were the guira. Then there were the main drums. The drums were the shoes. Each step gave off a different sound. Some were sharp like pins dropping, while others were like a snare. They would all pile up against each other. At times the beat would slow down due to the streets being less vacant and then as more people came on the block, I heard the wonderful fast pace beats of the African drums. Then someone would cough, the music would quiet down and then start again.

Every rustle, every step, every paper, and every breath; music in the air.

The city was alive.