Explorations

Finding and pursuing a passion.

In essence, this is what the explorations project was. I was given the freedom to self-direct a project in order to develop my “21st Century” skills.

With too much freedom comes fear. The endless possibilities and focuses made it difficult for me to pick a subject. I knew I wanted to develop my 21st century skills in technological literacy–specifically sound design and post-production editing– and self-direction. But, I didn’t know what to make my project about. At the beginning of Explorations, I was talking to a friend of mine at Freestyle, and the subject of ASMR was thrown around. We decided to make complementary ASMR projects. As a design student, my friend Sarah Martinez created a book , and I created a short, experimental film. Although these projects were independent and quite unique from each other, the similar subject of interest allowed Sarah and I to input creative direction and critique one another during the process.

 

Waiting On A Bagel

 

Presentation

 

Behind the Scenes

I think it’s safe to say I watched far too much ASMR. I never thought my Youtube recommendations would be filled with ASMR videos. After some quality research time, I soon realized what I did not want to be–me sitting in front of a camera with a microphones in hand, tapping random objects and whispering words. I was drawn towards the sound quality and atmosphere of Japanese ASMR cooking videos and the experimental quality of stop motion animations of cooking.

 

Besides cooking videos, two videos in particular inspired me to create the unique aesthetic of Waiting On A Bagel.

 

ARVE Error: Mode: lazyload not available (ARVE Pro not active?), switching to normal mode

 

 

ARVE Error: Mode: lazyload not available (ARVE Pro not active?), switching to normal mode
Buying props! The options for a kitchen timer included: minimalist egg or chicken. I went with the chicken.
Buying everything bagels and snacks to fuel us for the shoot. It’s safe to say we ate all the bagels during and after shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

Using a boom mic to capture clean and crisp sound.
A one-man crew isn’t always the best way to go about.

 

 

 

 

 

Interviewing our chicken timer to get quality soundbites.
Burning the bagel outside with a lighter. Only one bagel half was harmed in the making of the video, the rest were consumed.

In addition to creating a project in our majors, supplementary work was done in English and Digital Media. In English, I researched ASMR which not only helped me produce my film, but also gave me the knowledge to create an ASMR infographic in Digital Media.

I had lots of fun creating this infographic. It was an opportunity to use one of my favorite Adobe Applications–Illustrator–which I don’t get to use so often as a film student. I also think it is an appealing and eyecatching way to educate your audience about a subject.

 

Screenshot of Adobe Illustrator Interface while creating an ASMR infographic

 

 

In addition to our main explorations focus, I created experimental music.

 

Explorations was too short! I had lots of fun studying and creating a film independently, and I hope to revisit the topic in the future. This project opened my eye to significance sound design can have on a film. Although my focus was on sound, not visuals, I soon discovered that sound and visuals are meant to complement one another, not stand out from the other. Sounds help emphasize certain shots or fit the tone of the film. For example, while editing I found that the juxtaposition of quick cuts followed by a slow cut and a long, resonating sound would create a compelling sequence. Because of explorations, I became much more comfortable in post-production sound editing and learned how to use a boom mic. Besides technical skill, I’m proud that I was able to create an abstract short film. The bulk of the year was spend learning linear and expository storytelling. Explorations was a chance for me to expand my abstract, conceptual art to the medium of film.

 

 

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