Author: Nartay Ualikhan

Before watching this video, I was among those who only knew about origami in terms of its aesthetics. In our day-to-day existence, we tend to associate the Japanese art of paper folding with decorative elements or perhaps in my case as an Art & Craft project. However, this documentary has broaden my horizons on the medical applications of origami. It is fascinating how engineers use origami techniques on a nano scale to design tools and microscopic devices.

While we often think that traditional inventions of the past are outdated and irrelevant to the modern world, in reality, the knowledge and technologies used by our ancestors can become the foundation for new technological advancements. Origami serves as a vivid example of this and has sparked my interest in researching past technologies from a new perspective.

Origami has had a significant impact on my life as well. A family member of mine underwent surgery that required cleansing of the blood vessels in the body. I was amazed to learn that origami is an essential part of the foldable device that minimizes invasive procedures and allows for maneuvering within the blood canals. This technology is truly one of the most innovative solutions of modern designers of our lives, the engineers, that positively impact them.

1.   Concept & Story

I and Alice were focusing on the mental state of solitude while being located in the dynamic city. The story captures the life of two characters living in the megapolis, who are exhausted by the rhythm of the city.

We selected two works of art for this project, and if the first one is only used fragmentarily, the second one is very closely associated with the story. It is the part from the poem about the duality of Shanghai, of how the city can be glamorous for one layer of the population, and dirty & exhausting for the other. We interpreted this story of New York City’s life, as our plot is based there.

“By now the room was dark. Yi-sai lay silently in bed, her head spinning, her spirit exhausted. She wasn’t thinking of anything. She was just listening to the many different sounds of the city that came to her from near and far. Shortly afterwards she fell into  a deep sleep,

    Tomorrow the cycle would be repeated once again.” (A Day, Ding Ling)

In a visual manner, I was inspired by the Wong Kar Wai. As we had to complete the video part individually, I was doing my research on his older works, and primarily used Chungking Express as the visual reference. One of the earliest movies by Kar Wai was also focused to show the essence of Hong Kong, with his unusual yet fresh portrayal of the city. 

We were thinking a lot about our own experience in the city, analyzing it, because the story from life, is the most natural and touching one. My friends from NYUSH are also locked down in Shanghai right now, and hearing their experiences contributed to developing the concept of feeling empty and lonely in the city.

Because for the most part cities such as New York City and Shanghai are highly romanticized, while overshadowing the fact that day-to-day existence in the city is not as saturated as people usually imagine. That it can be so much lonelier than the small village which you might have been living at.

1.   Creation Process & Execution

• Share your storyboard and describe how it helped you in your project. 

The storyboard was helpful in a sense of concluding my ideas rather than the visual part, however, it also helped me to navigate during the shooting process and not forget all of the frames I had in my mind.

• Describe the process of choosing a setting, shooting, sourcing materials, lighting, and directing (if applicable). 

I think colors were extremely important to represent the emotional state of the characters, and for that, I was looking out for a blue hour. Some of my shots were done just on my mobile phone, while some of them were on my DSLR camera. For the setting, I was looking for a bathroom that I could use, and for the actress who would be able to take a participation in an intimate setting.

It was a little hard to explain to the actress the emotional state that I was going for on a full scale, however, after calm and constructive dialogue we were able to communicate, and reached the result we were aiming for.

Using my acquired skills in the Adobe Audition, I finally learned how to design the sound in the Adobe Premiere Pro.

1. Collaboration

I was responsible for recording the sounds of the city, and the shots of it as well. Alice did a really great job in recording the natural sounds, especially reading the poem by Ding Ling. Her intonation helped to set up the right atmosphere in the work. We were having zoom calls to discuss global ideas, and messenger to inform each other about small details. It is essential to have compromises and be flexible about your working schedule. In that way, you can collaborate more efficiently.

1. Aesthetics & Results

Consider the aesthetics you choose to pursue your concept and story such as the following, tell us why do you think it is effective and you may also share your inspirations and references:

• Camera language (e.g., long-shot, different camera angles)

Wide angles of the city. Close-ups of the actress, and tracking techniques in the shot.

Long exposure – low shutter speed to give a sense of dizziness.

• Color correction/adjustment

We adjusted some lighting settings of the video and did not have significant changes to the color, because we were initially going for blue hour shots.

For the indoor setting, we adjusted frames to warm temperature to avoid the fluorescent effect.

• Tone/Pace of video 

I was experimenting a lot with the sequence of the project, which is why some of the viewers might perceive it as chaotic. However,  the concept was to represent breakdown and overwhelming feelings while being isolated in the dynamic city.

1.   Project Title: Taint 
2. Team Members: Nartay and Alice 

III.  Concept | Storyline:

       1). Who are you going to interview? Or What is the piece (article, poem, story) for the narrative voice over?  

      We are going to mostly use natural & cityscape sounds to represent the state of solitude, and have some fragments from 1964 Man On-The-Street Interviews by David Hoffman.

      A day by Ding Ling – story

       2). What’s the story about?  

      A brief history of Ding Ling’s life, and the internal monologue greatly reflects her struggles. Shanghai became a big, bustling city for the rich, and how dancing and going to the movies was popular, Ding Ling however describes the dirty waters and the people crowded into living quarters and into factories that are dirty. Even though it’s short, it’s quite an emotional story – seeing the not so glorious side of Shanghai, the people who don’t get to live the fanciful life of dancing and diamond rings.

                   The interview is about unanswered questions, and from a general scale it does not make sense, but people are answering a lot about bonds with people, which comes as contradictory to our plot.

       3). Which part of the story are you going to focus on? 

      The feeling of isolation even though people are surrounded by so many things to do in the city. However, it is still easy to feels as if their life is just a repetition of the same tasks everyday. We are going to emphasis on the emotional state of the characters.  Our story is about the person that relocated to one of the most crowded city seeking for social life, however, realizing after that they felt the loneliest as they moved there. The story revolves around two different characters (female & male) living their life individually, but going through the same emotions no matter the setting.

       4). What kind of style/aesthetics are you going to pursue?

      First of all, static frames to represent a really calm and lonely life. The frames are mostly going to be shot in the evening or the night meaning the low exposure. Noisy but stable frames. Also, some inspiration comes from the movie Chungking Express by Wong Kar Wai, as we would like to mix some long exposure frames in the movie.

      Secondly, we are going to use shaky shots with long exposure, to represent uncertainty.

1. Execution Plan: 

       1). What equipment are you going to use when shooting the movie? (cell phone, DSLR camera, sound recorder, stabilizer..)

DSLR Camera

Handycam Camcorder

iPhone Sound Recorder

Tripod 

       2). Which locations will it be shot at? When is it? Day time/night/unknown? Why?

New York – Evening & Night: twilight, city lights and gloomy weather (no direct sunlight)

 But also include sounds recorded of the waves, sand, and wind (which will be in the middle of the day). 

       3). What are some challenges you might encounter and how will you prepare?

Probably some of the shootings since we are not at the same place right now, but we will work out the schedule and timing.

       4). How will you collaborate? How will you divide work? (Gantt Chart)

Split each task

1.   Storyboard Draft

1. Gantt Chart*

Alice

• Record sounds of waves, wind, water, leaves
• Find a monologue that is compatible to the plot

Nartay 

• Record sounds of car traffic, sirens, and A/C

• 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 fiction? How might fiction inform the truth?

By “unbroken belief”, Steyerl refers to the fact that even if documentaries seem to be stating credible facts and stories from life, they can have an “uncanny” effect on people. It is a common picture for us to ask so many questions while we watching the film and our brain auto-fills them with our assumptions, meaning these movies play with our emotions and let us freely interpret them.

There is a saying that “creativity comes from combination”, and I agree with that statement. I think that creative plots and scenarios come from the combination of various images from our life, different people, sounds, and stories. This all sums up the fact that fiction has the roots of truth as it comes from life. And even if fiction might create an effect of ” uncanny” in us, it gifts a new definition of truth to us. A lot of mythical creatures become vital parts of our “real life”, meaning that it is true as well.

• 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 role of a live broadcast is to share breaking news, and create the effect that the narration is going on at the exact same second to be on the same wave with the audience. I believe that visual content today is too artificial and overly edited which creates an illusion in the media verse. Even a lot of the “on-air” programs are pre-recorded and edited. This is why I think live broadcast still has an important role as it is not fabricated. For instance, during the broadcast on one of the Russian-state channels, one of the reporters interrupted the program and started to reveal the truth. Everyone heard her out because it was on-live, and in case it would be pre-recorded they would not add it to the program.

concept

After being isolated in quarantine, I have become so aware of my audial space, and there were just some sounds stuck in my mind. My project is a throwback to the period of the 2020 quarantine. To be more specific, I remember having breakfast every morning with my family.  It was like a loop on a daily basis, how my grandmother was preparing breakfast, then dad entering the kitchen, watching tv, and repeat and repeat. 

process & editing

It was late 2 am the night, as the concept was focused on the memory that was happening in the interior, I did not have to leave my room. I recorded some instruments that I found on my table like jewelry, hand sanitizer, and as well as curtains. After that, I recalled that the door was really squeaky so I went to the bathroom, and recorded that. And the main sound resource was my dorm kitchen, I turned my kettle on, and started experimenting with the pan, oven, and straws.

When I finally started editing my project, I realized that there are so many connecting sounds missing like steps sound, sounds of eating and drinking. As I did not have any food at that point, I took a leaf from my dead and dry flowers. I squished and crushed them which imitated the sound of chewing something crunchy.

I also realized that there was no feeling of space in my project, so I opened the latest news from our national tv broadcast. I did not have to get far away from my laptop to recreate the audial space effect. I researched reverb techniques, and by that, I got the result I wanted. 

One more important fact during my editing is that there is no space or any quiet fragments in my project, I have a strong sense that this is due to the fact that I captured the breakfast in my mind as a repetitive routine, and as I have mentioned all of a sudden it seemed like a loop for me, which is why there is a slight presence of a beat in it.

conclusion

I realized that we should restrict ourselves if we think that it is really hard to the sound design. This assignment will definitely be a lesson for me that you can recreate a certain setting just with your phone and a laptop. In a general sense, I feel quite satisfied with what I have done in this project, although I believe that there is so much you could work on like transitions in-between sounds, and the sequence itself.

screenshot of the adobe audition project

Enlarge

Solitude is what the main concept is on. In the modern world, almost every individual has been through isolation and being stuck in one space. After being closed from reality, people’s attention starts to focus on what is inside, both sounds and energy. You start to notice what is going on outside, in the different rooms of your place, and with neighbors. Even though I have an access to the outside world today, I did not lose that attentive skill that I gained through quarantine in 2020. 

My project will focus on how you can manipulate the sound of metal and water just in one space. Especially when your family is getting ready for dinner. Using the different tools starting from the straws in your kitchen and finishing with the water going down the drains of your sink tub. While paying attention to this plethora of sounds that I was hearing, I also was listening to and trying new genres of music. Those were the sounds that were around me all the time, and sometimes I could notice sort of a beat in them. In my Solitude – Memory Soundscape project, I want to create a specific frequency in them so that they could create an illusion of music, but at the same time be just noises of your day-to-day existence.

1. What does Ritchin mean with the “fluidity of the digital”? Give an example of digital imaging/digital photography that exemplifies this.

In the text, the author was mentioning how with the development of technologies, and the digitalization of photography to be more specific, it entered into its “the post-photographic age”. The age of accessible and no-censorship photography, when it was more about the conversation between the author and viewer and losing its objectivity. The author mentioned The 1990 Persian Gulf War as a great example of media manipulation. Alongside pictures of independent photographers, official news broadcasts were using simulation of battles. The U.S. Government tried to minimize the media that they did not want the audience to see by banning them, but since people were having the access to all of the media sources, it reframed the reality. The same agenda can be seen in the war conflict between Russia and Ukraine, where Ukrainian people are sharing their stories through cell phones, while Russia bans all of the open social media platforms.

1. Reflect on the extent to which photography is capable of capturing reality; and compare it to other media (technology) (e.g. text, video, virtual reality, books). 

It captures the reality for certain audiences. Even if pictures are not about objectivity, pictures suggest a specific idea through the prism of the author. We are in an interesting era when it is possible to manipulate us with different types of media. Radio broadcasting in contrast to photography in terms of delivering truthful information includes aspects like graphs that make us believe and allow us to visualize the ideas. Consequently, to experience our own reality with the imagination. Even if pictures are not about objectivity, pictures suggest a specific idea through the prism of the author.

The idea of my photo diptych wants to emphasize the connection between human beings and our environment. Both people and animals live in an environment full of buildings, but I want to capture how closely connected we were back in the previous times and eras. That we are part of the same “ecosystem”.

My room decoration consists of postcards from spiritual stores that include floral and faunal elements. Looking at them from a distorted perspective makes them seem like abstract subjects and objects. I have an idea of creating these abstract elements in Photoshop and combining them as the main elements of a human body. To be more specific, I want to replace them with eyes, shoulders, and fragments of a body silhouette. If my first picture is going to be designed artificially containing different figures, I visualize my second picture in the natural habitat or either clean architecture. By the word clean, I refer to architecture that avoids distracting elements and is focused on minimalistic or brutalism type of design.