Sound Assignment!

For the Sound Assignment, our group made an audio walk recording of a cell phone conversation between our fictional protagonist, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Jim. She travels through York University’s underground tunnels late at night using Jim’s directions to avoid getting lost. In this suspenseful thriller, Sarah hears noises which lead her to believe she is being followed. The audio is entirely from Sarah’s perspective, so students are encouraged to hold their cell phones to their right ear to induce an immersive quality. The audio track was designed to make participators in the audio walk feel the same suspense as Sarah. Consider a film being shot entirely through the perspective of the main character.

The mood and atmosphere is created through the use of dramatic voice acting and realistic sound effects, many of which were recorded at the same locations as those featured within the audio. The Audio Walk is meant to be followed by the audience at the same pace as Sarah, to fully relive her experience in the tunnels.

The walk begins on a staircase beneath the Ross Building, and continues through the tunnels, twisting and turning until the students reach the staircase to the Stacie Library.  Some of the techniques used to enhance the story and audio were echoes, phone effects, static, and making use of dual audio channels. The audio walk concludes with the revealing of the stalker’s identity. What may first appear as innocent intentions escalates to an exciting climax whereby the ending is left open-ended.

The recording directly engages with the audience to make them feel like the character Sarah and have them relive that experience. In that sense, it can be a lot more frightening than watching a film in the comfort of your own home – especially if the walk is performed alone and after 11PM as done by Sarah. The target audience is anyone who enjoys suspense/thriller/horror films or stories, but would like to be immersed in the experience.

MP3
Audacity file
Source files
Map

Group members: Alex K, Alex O, Josh W
Voice actors: Sarah C, Alex K, Spencer K

Classroom Ambience

The class begins quiet. It’s early in the morning, so as the professor begins his well-prepared lecture, the students fall silent and submit to his low yet controlled voice, which projects loud and clear through the microphone. The echoes of louder spits of phrases bounce of the walls with a boom. The room is very spacious, so the slightest sound is amplified and multiplied. Whether it’s the occasional adjustment of a chair, the ruffling of papers, clicking of a keyboard, or a dropped pencil, the sound is a bump in the road for the tired students trying to pay attention, or catch up on a night’s lost sleep. As time goes by, the air grows thick with anticipation and restlessness. Soon, attention is quickly drawn to the source of any sound breaking ambient continuity. Students pack their books and laptops well before the end. When it comes, so do the voices of the students. Before long, however, even the sound of muffled discussion dies down; and so, once more; the room is engulfed by silence.

Sound Project Rough Stuff

Some [really] rough recordings completed after a minor setback. Just some general, creepy, industrial-like sounds of a style we hope to recreate in the final audio file. Uncanny ambience, echoed footsteps, and heavy metal doors are an effective means of creating a setting reminiscent of a horror film.

[Link]

Sound Assignment Idea!

For the sound assignment, my group came up with the idea of leading the class through a recording (or series of recordings), which depict the thrilling story of a person or pair of people making their way through a series of tunnels (rather, underground tunnels) in their attempt to escape from some pursuing threat. We’re not yet quite sure what the threat will be, but we were considering taking a more comic approach and having a zombie chase our victims. The recording would of course feature classic zombie-horror vocals, a horrified narrator (owner of the “found” recording), and background music, which would help set the mood. Having the ‘tour’ featured underground would allow us to experiment with various audio effects (echoes and fades) and different types of sound sources. We also plan to explore a wide variety of audio editing techniques, and hope that our theme is flexible in that it gives us much freedom in our approach.

The tour will take place in an underground tunnel linking the Ross building to the Chemistry building. It’s a long walk with many twists and turns, so we recommend students stay close to the group to avoid being lost.

Here are some top-notch photos of some of the hallways students will be passing through:

   

  

Embodiment Assignment!

NOVUM
The Nealth Omnidirectional Visual
Unification Microlouver pixel

At 4mm in length, each NOVUM pixel is a tiny addition to an extensive array of identical components, each contributing to make almost any covered object appear almost completely invisible. Every pixel transmits and displays seven multi-angled video feeds simultaneously to and from a corresponding pixel.

An invalid LCD screen is a screen which displays a feed from an angle the viewer would not normally experience from their viewpoint. Polarized blinders shield invalid screens from the onlooker’s view so that they only see one side of the pixel at a time. The blinders diffuse light to increase the viewing angle of valid screens. Invalid screens diffuse light as well (achieved through polarized microlouver technology).

Each NOVUM pixel is interactive, in that it communicates with all the others to calculate which pixel is synchronized with which so that the appropriate views are transmitted to the corresponding screens (using complex 3D vector visualization software programmed into each pixel).

Besides the LCD screens, cameras, and internal components, the structure of each NOVUM pixel is primarily composed of aluminum (a very cheap and light material). Another key material (used in the blinders for its low level of reactivity) is silicon. Silicon is the second most abundance element on earth, so it is naturally quite inexpensive as well. The majority of the cost goes towards the electronics (cameras and LCD screens), which together would cost approximately $80 CAD. The total combined total of material and construction costs add up to around $100 CAD.

 Alex Ornat's NOVUM pixel skp

Embodiment Process

My embodiment creation will consist of a tiny, multi-viewed pixel-like machine that when accompanied by numerous identical components, will almost completely remove the covered object from view. It’s of course a work in progress, but I have the basics thought of already. It will make use of microlouver technology, tiny cameras, screens, and a durable skeletal structure in which it connects with its copies. A central computer with which each pixel communicates will of course be present, and will make complex vector calculations which I’ll describe when I release the final product. It will be an expensive technology indeed, but not one intended for general public use anyway. It’s an experimental and research-orientated technology, which will probably only ever serve practical applications in the military or research-based projects.

I have several pages of more refined drawings on paper but cannot scan due to a printer malfunction.

Embodiment and Technology!

Mark Hansen begins by describing the body schema as the operational perspective of the embodied organism. With this he argues that the body is in fact a physical manifestation or visual apprehension of the embodied organism (Hansen is referring to the soul here). He further describes the body as a physical object (intentional in nature) and states that it communicates with the soul through transcendental means. According to him (and Shaun Gallagher, whom he frequently quotes), the body is but merely a system or collection of “motor capacities, abilities, and habits”. I disagree with them on the grounds that today it is known that the body is more than a mobile structure whose sole purpose is to “house the organism within”. Memories, for instance, are physically stored within the brain. To me, memories aren’t classified as abilities or habits. Memories are an intricate collection of complex combinations of sensory and interpretive qualities, referenced constantly by our conscious train of thought. Though I don’t fully understand the science of how the brain works or interacts with the rest of the body (or the soul, for that matter), I believe that there are things we aren’t meant to understand (and I disagree with Hansen on those grounds further).

As per the body’s relationship with technology, Hanson describes proprioception as a major element in the body’s ability to sense the orientation of mobile objects. He also differentiates between embodiment and its “representation image” (describing embodiment as an ontological operation). I agree with the stress Hansen puts on the aspect of perception, which is most important in the body’s relationship with technology.