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Visual Metaphor: I Was Away From You During the Spring

1.   Concept & Story

For our audio we used the modern English version of Sonnet 98 from Shakespeare’s collection of sonnets (quoted below).

I was away from you during the spring when splendid April in all its finery made everything feel so young that even Saturn, the god of old age and gloominess laughed and leapt along with it. But neither the songs of birds nor the sweet smell of the various flowers could make me feel like it was summer or inspire me to go flower picking. I wasn’t amazed by how white the lily was nor did I praise the deep red of the roses. They were only sweet, only pictures of delight drawn in imitation of you, the archetype of spring. It seemed like it was still winter and, with you away, I  played with these flowers as if I were playing with your reflection.

The poem is about being away from a lover during the most beautiful and exciting time of year, the spring. The film uses rose petals to show the traces left behind of a person or place after it has left. We used rose petals because roses (and other flowers) are directly referenced in the poem as “imitations” of the person that the narrator talks about. 

I was inspired to create this project by the person who gave me the poem originally. Right now as a student who has been far from family and friends due to COVID and school, I relate to the poem. Life has been very different this semester as many of the important people to me are far away. While it was initially difficult to ensure a that the visual was metaphorical, because I was able to relate to the poem a bit I was able to come up with the concept for the metaphor 

1.   Creation Process & Execution

We created two storyboards. The first one was too literal and the second did not fit our project well enough. In the end, we worked very loosely off the storyboard and mostly off of ideas communicated through conversation. The settings chosen were intended to create a juxtaposition between the person that is away and the person missing them. All footage that alluded to the person who was away was outdoors, in the spring. The footage that alluded to missing them was typically indoors, less bright lighting, and less color. We chose to use rose petals because both of us had access and could create several scenes with them.

3. Collaboration

My role in the project was selecting the poem, filming clips, and contributing to ideation. My partner and I both worked on the audio and she filmed multiple clips as well. The collaborative process gave both of us the opportunity to take some freedom in our contributions to the project while having a basic idea of what needed to be filmed.

4. Aesthetics & Results

I enhanced the colors of the outside using color correction. Additionally, we took shots from several angles to show a focus on the petals or the people in the scene. For the last scenes, I used a dissolve effect to convey the direct connection between the rose in a dark setting to the person (who represents the person or place being longed for) in a bright summery setting. 

Visual Metaphor

Tina Lin & Deziree Harmon

 Concept | Storyline:    

       1). We will be using the No Fear Shakespeare modern translation of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 98. Deziree will read the audio because we want the narrator to be female and speak with the proper emotion.

       2). The sonnet which is written to a lover describes the beauty of spring and the youthful excitement and pleasure that comes with it. However, the narrator has a melacnholic tone as they are unable to enjoy the beautiful spring because their lover is away.

       3). We are focusing on conveying a juxtaposition between the beauty and excitement of spring and the loneliness that the narrator feels. 

       4). The film should be very warm and comfortable. It should move slowly and have a hint of deep longing. We definitely want the aesthetics of nature in spring time to be heavily present.

Execution Plan: 

       1). We will be using and iPhone to record both audio and video.

       2). Tina will shoot in a place with tall grass and beautiful natural scenery. She will film during a sunny day.

       3). The potential challenges which may occur include the weather and light fitting the aesthetic that we want. Also, filming and editing footage from a distance may be difficult.

       4). We can collaborate by regularly checking in and scheduling periodic zoom calls to show and discuss the progress we makeStoryboard Draft

Gantt Chart*

*Starts at 1:50*

Deziree

Concept

The memory I chose for my soundscape was during my time shortly after moving to a new place. I was very stressed with the process of adapting to a much busier lifestyle and the loudness that was constantly around me. One day, my boyfriend brought me to Washington Square Park and we laid in the grass. Despite still being right in the middle of the city and a busy park, I felt things around me got very quiet.

In my project I tried to convey (1) the way that my surroundings got quieter, (2) the way that time slowed down, (3) a detached and anxious feeling shifting to a present and tranquil one. I wanted to make the soundscape fairly universal as I think the experience of having difficulty adapting to somewhere new can be shared by many people.

 Process

To choose the sounds that I would use for my project I decided to make the sounds (mostly) things that I actually heard and use effects to convey the emotional shifts. More detailed information for each sound is listed below.

Clock

The clock consistently ticks throughout the soundscape until the ending seconds. The sound of a clock ticking creates a stressful presence. As a layer, the listener can hear it throughout the composition so when it finally becomes quiet they can feel the relaxation that comes from not feeling constantly pressed by time.

Subway

The train approaching the subway was a sound that I heard throughout the day quite often in my daily routine. I added effects to it to make it sound less realistic and which made the listener feel distant from the actual subway. This played in to the emotion of feeling detached. The subway was part of my routine but because of my stressed mindset I was not present in the moment. It was merely noise in my routine.

Voices

The voices play a similar role as the subway train sound. There is no distinct words or conversations. It is just background noise. Because I was in the city voices were constantly around me. However, I began to tune them out while still allowing them to bring me some sort of discomfort because they are not what I am used to.  After walking in the grass the voices get quiet just as they did when I laid in the park.

Walking in Grass

This sound is included very explicitly to convey a transition into what was before and what will be next. It is the moment that I stepped into the grass to lie down.

Birds

The birds slowly getting louder convey the gradual increase of relaxation that I experienced. All of the other noise gets quieter or disappears. Similar to my mental experience, the mood of the soundscape becomes very peaceful and the listener only has two soft sounds to focus on.

Cathedral Song

The sound played in the cathedral was one I recorded in passing because I felt that the song I heard sounded like an emotional release. I made it play 3 times. The first two it comes in and quickly fades out to build to the eventual breakthrough, the final time it plays and resonates. The song pairs with the sound of birds in the end for a layer of tranquility and release.

When Recording all of my sounds I had the most difficulty trying to get good experimental sounds. The wind was be overpowering outside and my phone mic was very sensitive. I ended up dealing with this by making long recordings and cutting very small pieces to make them sound how I want. In addition, I worked with editing to make the sounds more balanced.

My editing involved a lot of experimenting which is my biggest takeaway. Because audio editing is new to me, I did not start with a specific vision of how to balance different effects. That meant that I had to go through A LOT of trial and error. I enjoyed playing with different effects but was mostly attempting to create the balance that I wanted with.

Conclusion

If I had more time I would experiment more with recordings to potentially make even more creative sound combinations.

 Soundscape

Discussion Questions

• Steyerl talks about how the “unbroken belief” of the documentary form is challenged. What does Steyerl mean by this? Certain movies and films are based on a true story.  How does truth inform the fiction? How might fiction inform the truth?

Documentaries, despite being believed to be factual or objective, can create a false sense of reality because they play with human emotion to share a message. Some facts and images may not be completely clear. Addressing the emotional focus of documentarism Steyerl writes, “In this affective mode, documentary forms create false intimacy and even false presence.” What this means is that portrayals of real events can be presented in a way that creates a fictitious setting due to the emotion they build. At the same time, such fictitious connection to an event, place, or time can sometimes be such an accurate portrayal of reality so that it is somehow true.

• What is the significance of the authenticity and representation of the truth in the media that you consume on a daily basis? What is the role of a live broadcast?

The media that I consume impacts the way that I perceive the world. Media can quickly and easily create subconscious biases so it is important to be aware of that as I absorb messages given in the media. A live broadcast can create a stronger sense of authenticity because it is raw and present in a moment. However, producers can take advantage of the belief that live broadcast seems more real. The emotional experience of feeling a part of the event which is being broadcasted live may be manufactured and not objectively real.

Memory Soundscape Memory

Deziree Joy Harmon

The memory I am choosing for this project is from a few months ago when I was feeling that life was chaotic and stressful after moving away from my family to New York. I was having trouble adapting to many changes occurring in my life. To help me relax, my boyfriend took me to Washington Square Park, in the middle of New York City. We laid down in the grass and as we looked up into the trees the sounds of the city’s chaos seemed to disappear. I could hear the birds and the air. Voices, car honks, and other city noises became quiet.

I want to convey both the way that my ears changed focus and the relaxing spirit that came over me while we laid there. I know I can use the sounds that were present and alter volume balance to convey the real sensory experience. As far as the emotional experience, I am not sure yet what I will use for the sounds. Perhaps more ambient noise or sounds that remind me of childhood or family. My boyfriend was also very encouraging while speaking to me which I want to convey without words or dialogue.

Compared to the early stages of photography, photos now have more potential to show what is there as well as what isn’t and objectivity or subjectivity. As a result, photos today can move much more between themes, moods, and styles because of a growing lack of restriction. This freedom is what Ritchin intends to portray by calling the digital, fluid in contrast to the “fidelity of the mechanical age.” Photographs are no longer limited to a present and tangible reality. Digital means make it possible to convey much more. An example is the photo shown below titled “The died for Freedom” This photo uses photographic and digital editing elements together to convey a message. It is clearly not a photo taken of a real event.

“They died for Freedom” by Sylvian Rouvier

Photography has become a culmination of multiple other means of capturing reality. It can tell a story without words. Photos have the ability to show a real situation, tangible and visible in the world. They can also, because of the progression of technology, show non-tangible, non-visible realities. They can convey emotions, thoughts, and fantasies. Furthermore, photos can show moments of reality that cannot be replicated for the eye to see.

Along with the development of technology came the ability for photos to have movement like a video and engage in dialogue like text. The difference is that photos can be more up to interpretation. At times, in the case of photos, what is presented at the surface must be pieced together with context to understand the meaning, story, and even what is conveyed in the photo. This brings the capabilities of photography closer to those of other forms of media. There can now be that which is present and that which must be understood in a photo.

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CURRENCY EXCHANGE PIONEER PLAQUE

Currency Exchange by Deziree

To convey that currency exchange requires two things, (a) a desire on at least one member’s part (hence the colored shapes in the head) (b) a common currency necessary for exchange (the green circles), I created multiple simplified examples to show the processes of exchange.

Catering specificically to the aliens of Ted Chiang’s Story of Your Life, I emulated the description that the narrator of the story gives to the alien’s writing style. Lousie Banks, the narrator, describes the heptapods writings stating, “Then I noticed that some of the logograms looked like the logogram for ‘heptapod’ with some extra strokes added to one side or another” (10). In my drawing, I made each character look like a human with additional characteristics indicating possession, exchange, and want/need. 

“Humans had developed a sequential mode of awareness, while heptapods had

developed a simultaneous mode of awareness. We experienced events in an order, and

perceived their relationship as cause and effect. They experienced all events at once,

and perceived a purpose underlying them all.” (31)

Adhering to the heptapod’s idea that there is not any sort of sequence in how the exchanges occur as long as they occur in a minimizing/maximizing way, I did not make my image ordered. Those not exchanging do not want to exchange. Those that have something they want may go through one or multiple steps of exchange depending on whether they have currency. Because of the heptapod’s concurrent thinking, I wanted to create a sense of finality after each person has what they want. An endpoint of exchange may be less realistic in human life where we experience constant demand and fulfillment cycles. In that way, I am appealing more to the heptapods than to human reality. If they were to perceive the way humans exchange money, they would perceive an endpoint.