michel gondry.

michel gondry.
"spin art"
1997.

i chose a rather interesting sound/image relationship where the sound actually controls the image. michel gondry is a director that does a lot of stop motion animation and his son often uses a machine in his arts and crafts class that produces something called spin art. as a disc is spinning on a turntable paint is dropped down on it to create interesting patterns on the paper. michel took this one step further by employing bjork, a friend of his, to attach fishing line to her fingers so that when she played her piano, each finger would release a different colored paint. in this way then the sound really does affect the image. if michel mastered this process enough and even connected the fishing line to individual keys, he could create works of art based off of popular songs. i really enjoy the idea of this because then you could perform songs over and over again and actually create multiple works of art that actually looked close to identical if you performed them well enough. most of the time when we consider sound/image relationships we create images with our imagination based on what we hear or we produce sounds based on what we see, but when we have a machine that automatically produces an image based on sound it's completely different. i also enjoy the idea of attaching bright and warm colors to "happier" sounding keys on the piano and then darker colors to lower and "sadder" sounding piano keys. so in that way when you look at the final piece of art created you could predict pretty well whether the song was more upbeat or serious.

ryan fox.
(included is a visual of me transforming into a kitten to further serve as evidence of who this blog is made by)

Wings of Desire

Wings of Desire (1987)

Directed By: Wim Wenders
Screenplay: Wim Wenders, Peter Handke
Cast: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin

Post by Chris Mosca
This film is one of my favorite movies of all time. I just love the peotry of it the most, the way is shot with the pans and the way that it makes you feel weightless almost like an angel. In this scene one of the main angels goes to the library, what's cool about it is how libraries are quiet, there's complete silence but at the same time we can hear the peoples thought through the angels, they can hear our thoughts, plus the erie soundtrack playing in the background. In this complete silence of the library we hear these murmurs and the way the camera moves it very poetic.
I wish there was a more complete clip on the web of this scene, there's one nice shot in the begining when he goes up to the second level that is not in this clip.

Play clip here

The Sopranos

(Click image to play clip)

The Sopranos
-created by David Chase


Posted by BRIAN DUNIGAN



I also chose a clip from a highly praised HBO series, The Sopranos. This show is truly amazing, not only as a piece of popular culture but in my opinion it is one of the finest works of art put on film in the last decade. From the acting, to the writing, to the direction: this show is not only a great crime story but also a fascinating meditation on mortality and the American culture and mindset we live in today.

To set this scene up, Tony Soprano is at a dining hall with members of the New Jersey mafia which he belongs to. They are meeting there with the New York mafia to celebrate Tony's uncle, Junior Soprano, becoming head of the Jersey family. The relationship between Tony and Junior has been very trying lately because Tony has secretly been running things behind Junior's back. As the guys raises their glasses to toast Junior, we start to hear a clicking of a camera, which is not only the intro to the song "Paparazzi" by Xzibit, it also turns out to be source sound from a hidden camera on one of the waiters jackets, who belongs to the FBI. The feds are on to the The Sopranos.

I feel this song combined with the following segment really worked well together. The sound really has this old Italian feeling to it but it also adds a contemporary element to it with the bass beat. As the photos are being taken of everyone in the room, we next cut to an office in the FBI headquarters where all the pictures are posted on the wall. There are certain beats here that emphasize the action. There is somewhat of downbeat when we get a close-up of the former boss, Jackie Aprile, who has recently died of cancer. As his picture is taken down from the top of the wall, we get another close-up of Junior and another downbeat, foreshadowing his rise to the top. What is interesting here is the way that both Junior and Tony look in their pictures. Tony is looking somewhat perplexed, which foreshadows his moral problems to come. But what is really interesting is the way Junior is looking. His eyes are positioned downwards to the left and he seems very suspicious about something. And when his picture his moved to the top of the wall, he seems to be staring down at Tony. To me, this is just a great visualization of the coming drama between these two men, and the music just adds another great element to this drama.

Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

This clip features the ending of Dr. Strangelove. The best way to describe this sound/image relationship is: haunting. The sound heard is a song called "We'll Meet Again" (sung by Vera Lynn) that plays as multiple nuclear bombs explode, creating gigantic mushroom clouds. If listened to closely, the lyrics reveal that the song is optimistic, and clashes perfectly with the disastrous explosions. It is an unusual audio choice for what could have featured massive, thundering explosions, but definitely fits the underlying satire theme of the movie. Some might find it disturbing to hear such a cheery song play as bombs that can kill millions of people go off, but it provides a deep sound/image relationship that delivers a message. It reflects the insanity of nuclear warfare.

Human Beings At prestine, Italy

Chris Mosca
Sound Clip from Soundtransit. Human Beings at Prestine, IT

My original inspiration for choosing this particular place is because of a family tree that I've been working on. My grandfather was born in italy so I've been doing research about it. What I like about the particular sound its the layers of different sounds it has, you can hear the background with little kids playing, in the foreground you can hear the two older men and women talking and in the middle ground you can hear these bells ringing. I'm not really sure but you can hear water in the beginning? We are able to get a sense of depth and stereo sound when the voices move from right to left. Hearing the cow the first time made me jump a little since I wasn't expecting it. From the research that I've been doing I could almost imagined this being around the time of when my grandfather lived in Italy, I could almost imagined the smell, the people and how it would have been to live in the 1900's in Italy. You can imagine someone's entire life just by listening to this clip, I wish that I knew Italian so that I would know what they were saying.

Play clip here

Trainspotting Intro

Opening Scene from the feature film Trainspotting
Directed By: Danny Boyle
Written By: Irvine Welsh & John Hodge
Released: July 19, 1996

Post By: Derrick Markowski

Why did I choose this film? I chose because it is one of the best and most meaningful examples of contradiction through sound and image that I know of. How, you might ask? Ewan McGregor's character Renton is the narrator of this scene and he is basically stating what is expected of a person's life in society today. The picture shows exactly what his lines are and by the exaggeration of some of the examples near the end you can already see that those are not ideals that he lives by. The tone he uses and the upbeat music playing in the background along with the words make it so you do not even need the video to back him up. If you can imagine anything, how can you not imagine something close to the video? It's almost exactly what I imagine. A group of friends that live in apartments out of the suburbs, possibly together, who do pretty much everything and anything together. You may say that it all seems well and good except that the video itself shows them breaking the law. They are running from the police and at the end he advocates drug use! That wouldn't be something that most people would like to see. They both may seem rather extreme when compared to the game of soccer(football) that is also shown, but as I said before; the wording that he uses also gets a bit extreme, which is what made it easier for me to imagine something like that. While I don't promote either, I still think those are just more choices that we all have the opportunity to make in our lives, for bad or for worse.

Sound and Image as One Element

Jen Gilbert

The article that I focused on entitled “On Sound and Image as a Single Entity” by Barry Spinello analyzes the relationship between sound and image and purposes that we begin thinking about this two elements as one single entity. Spinello notes that “there is a huge interconnectivity possible between these two areas and it is this interconnectivity that should be of interest to artists making audiovisual work” (1). Spinello explores the relationship of sound and image as a “single entity” (1) that can function as one form of artwork. He reflects the way the mood of images can be enhanced with sound, and notes that “when that happens they reinforce each other” (3). When these elements work together, “our powerful drive to seek associations between sound and image forces a certain measure of audiovisual synchronization” (3). Spinello proposes that because this “connectivity” (1) between sound and image exists, we should create art that is formed out of the connection. Spinello believes that when sound and images are combined with the intent of it being a single entity, it “could result in a broader range of audiovisual exploration than exists” (1) currently.

I was drawn to this article because it is so closely linked with our final project. For our first two treks, we were allowed to explore sound and images as single elements, but Trek 03 encourages us to make connections between these two elements. I recently went out on my final trek and have begun compiling rough clips. I have approached this final project as Spinello outlines as a single entity. I think it opens the “connectivity” (1) that exists between sound and images in a creative way. Spinello notes, “positioning the making of sound and the making of image as aspects of the same process yields valuable insight into compositional practices for the creation of audio-visual art” (1). I think he proposes an interesting method of compiling art by utilizing sound and image as a single entity.


To view the article click here.

Article: On Sound and Image as a Single Entity
by Barry Spinello, 2007.

American Beauty Scenes

Click on the picture to learn more about this movie, click on the two links on the side to watch the clips I talk about in my post.

Director: Sam Mendes

Writer: Alan Ball

Release Date: Oct 1, 1999

"The most beautiful thing I've ever filmed"

"My stupid little life"(ending scene)

I chose this film because this is one of my favorite films. Everytime I watch it, I'm amazed by how interesting and artistic it is. I chose two scenes because they both use the same song, which is "Any other name" by Thomas Newman. I like the first scene because the song makes the boy who is talking seem completely vulnerable. It adds to the feeling of the scene because it's like he's letting the girl into his world and sharing these personal things about his life and the music seems to carry that feeling. In the ending scene, the song is used again after Kevin Spacey was shot and he's reflecting on his life and all his memories. The song has a feeling of sadness in it, yet it also has a feeling of hope to it. The song that's used makes me feel sorry for this man because he's going to miss out on things like seeing his daughter get older. The first clip I posted, reminds me of this video I recorded while on my trek 02. I was lying in the grass recording a leaf blow around for about two minutes, and I kept thinking about this scene. The song is really relaxing, it kind of makes you feel really calm and serene, as if you're dreaming. I think another reason why it works so well with the ending scene because it has this part in the song that repeats over and over a few times, it fits while he is remembering his life and his memories. It feels like he is going through his life over and over, like the song.

-Sarah Myszewski

Six Feet Under: Sound & Image

LINK TO VIDEO

by Sean Harrison

This clip is an excerpt from the HBO series Six Feet Under, created by Alan Ball in 2001. I chose this segment for a few reasons. First off, Six Feet Under is my personal favorite piece of film or television - it really is a work of art. Secondly, this particular scene has some really interesting sound and image correlations. The relationship between these two creates a very hallucinogenic atmosphere. This scene is basically shot from the perspective of the main character, Nate, as he becomes increasingly paranoid and his state of mind is further altered. Starting off with the sound, there is a music track that plays throughout most of the scene. It's kind of a weird atmospheric, chilled-out song to begin with. As Nate enters the room, the camera looks like it was attached to his body, giving the image an odd movement. It looks as though he's gliding across the floor, almost in a ghostly manner. This works well with the music - the sound and the image are both kind of smoothly flowing; there's no jagged movements in either one. Also, to increase the sense of otherworldly paranoia, the dialogue that you hear (and also what Nate hears) is jumbled and in some sort of Australian unintelligible slang. This further removes Nate from reality and goes along with his ethereal movement. Also note that the song begins to change; now you can hear some strange, almost animal-like sounds and moans in the background. When Nate takes the bong, the camera movement becomes even more bizarre - it's like he's rotating from side to side. The sound, in correlation, also gets more bizarre. The once calm, chilled-out music now has some jagged movement in it - you can hear a didgeridoo-like instrument begin sounding off. Nate also hallucinates; he imagines his girlfriend and her brother making out. I think all of this really takes me along with Nate into this place outside of reality; I feel like I'm right there with him. The reason for this has to be because the scene is structure solely around his POV, whether it's first or third person. The viewer becomes disoriented along with Nate. Now, once the song changes and the didgeridoo is more pronounced, the image and the scene in general becomes more intense. The image really stays on Nate's face, showing his paranoia and altered consciousness - he isn't totally aware of what he's doing or saying. This comes out with the sound again, more specifically, the dialogue. He begins yelling even though the people he's talking to are right in front of him. There are a lot of very close-up shots in this scene, especially towards the end. This gives the viewer a sense of claustrophobia and anxiety - much of what Nate is feeling; he is overly paranoid that his girlfriend, Brenda, is sleeping with her old friend from Australia. Compared to the beginning, the sound now is much wilder than it ever was. The song is faster, the animal sounds are more frequent, and the didgeridoo-type instrument is louder. With the strange movement of the image, and the unruliness of the sound, you can now see that Nate is fully in another place, whether it was through his jealous paranoia or his drug use, or a combination of both. He begins throwing insults probably without being aware that he's doing so. The sound climaxes when Billy, Brenda's brother, asks Nate if he's ever slept with a woman and not had sex with her. At this point, you can hear some odd tribal sounds in the music now. It is almost like a explosion of sound and intensity of image when Nate yells "NO!" to Billy's question. The image of his face is highly exaggerated while the music is peaking and his voice is booming. Once Nate is told to go outside, you can very clearly hear the sounds and the music begin to taper off. The sound gets quieter as Nate goes outside. The image still gives a ghostly movement to Nate as he "floats" backwards out the door. But once the door closes, the sound almost dies out as Nate yells his final insults. I personally feel that once the door is shut, I am brought back into the real world, as is Nate for a split second before the scene ends. Perhaps part of that is not being able to hear the otherworldly sounds anymore, but it just feels like I can take a deep breath, free of the weird energy and claustrophobia that existed in almost all of the scene.

Se7en Opening Titles

PLAY SE7EN OPENING

I chose to listen to the opening titles for the film "Se7en", one of my favorite films. As I listened to it, I noticed how dark the music really was, which seemed to fit the movie quite well. I felt like the background noises were very razor sharp and scratchy, like cutting into something. It worked with the visual aspect because you see a razor blade being cut into someone's fingers. The creeking noises gave it a bigger sense of erieness. As the credits went on, the song gets more involved and more sounds come into play in the background. It sounds very un-human or alien like. It made me feel like I was going into another world. If you have seen the movie, it really fits because the film very much like Dante's Inferno which takes place in Hell. The sounds in the music really make you feel like you are crossing into some other world. The sounds also work with the pictures that are being shown during the credits. There are gruesome pictures that are being shown and the music makes them feel much more real. You can get a sense of what the movie is going to be like by simply watching the opening credits. When I watch I listen to this, I imagine going into some dark unknown casm. Towards the end of the credits, when the sounds get more pronounced, I imagine something like torture. The soudns give off this saw-like feeling. In the end, the sounds and give off a sense of brutality, torture and darkness, which is exactly what the movie gives off.

Sounds of Australia

Erly Morning Bees

I used the Sound Transit site and searched sounds from Australia. I have never been to Australia before, but would very much like to one day. I chose the Erly Morning Bees Sound #10. Animals were created long before Humans were so I figured listening to Australian animals would give me a better sense of what Australia would be like. Throughout the recording I hear the droning of bees and many different birds making noises. The birds sound as if they are having conversations with one another. Some birds seem pissed off at others, some seem to respect other opinions and offer their own. The sounds they make seem to build off each other creating a song. One bird providing a melody, one the rhythm, and one the chorus. Some birds sound like flutes, others sound like cell phone ringtones, others sound like alarm clocks, others sound like whistles. These birds obviously don't sound like the birds around here. It's as if they have their own language. These birds provided me with the image of a misty amazon jungle covered with dark green monstrous trees, dark green plants and leaves with water droplets hanging off their edges. I see vibrant, multicolored birds flying above on the tree tops. I also see a swamp ahead of me with dark green plants exploding out from underneath. I see thick moss growing alongside the trees providing ladders to the top of them.

Assignment

Each student will create and add a post to this blog. Please choose a piece of art (from one of the resources listed on the blog, a source that you have discovered, or your own work) and respond to the sound/image relationship present or imagined within the piece. In this assignment, you may use personal reflection, memory, imagination, formal connection and comparison to other works to express your ideas. Answer "how" and "why" as often as possible. Post at least one picture link on your post. This link can lead to sound, video, websites or resources that you are responding to with your text. Be sure that both your name and the artist's name and work title and date are clearly indicated in the format of your blog post.

You may write in a non-traditional format.

Resources

Cinegraphic: the avant-garde film and video blog

View Articles on sound and image relationships from Cinegraphic.net. (on this link you can find the following: "Visual Music as Performing Art" by Fred Collopy; "Synchronous Form In Visual Music" by Michael Betancourt; "On Sound and Image as a Single Entity" by Barry Spinello.)









SoundTransit: Field Audio Recordings from around the world.












University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee Multimedia Library: student resource to film and video.













Toshio Matsumoto: View Films and work













YouTube: Videos of everything.











Panix.com: List of Experimental Film and Video Websites