Play and Sound

For my Play and Sound project; I decided to tackle Artificial Synesthesia which is the process of deliberately evoking or induced sensory joining in which the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense through the use of a cross-modal mapping device. In this model, the senses involved are sight and sound. Apart from the beats, a good night should also provide visual stimulation along with an audible one. The often forgotten people who control these visuals – the visual jockey- are the artists that create a harmonized, visual component to further the audio-performance of the DJ. This type of work is used as projections in concerts and it made me have the assurance that if called upon on such a project, I would be able to materialize it. This made me examine the relationship we have with sound and light and how we can create different outcomes within a visual system. By playing with particles in Blender and sampling different sounds; I was able to create a sphere that breaks into shards and moves to the beats of the sound. Experimentation using different sounds was fun and I truly enjoyed creating this work as I expanded my knowledge.

METHOD:

Creating an Audio-Reactive Visual using Blender

REFLECTION:

The development of this was an uphill task as I was experimenting with Touch Designer to create an audio-reactive particles GPU. I had completed my work and unfortunately as I was doing the render; the application crashed and I had no way of recovering the file. Learning Touch Designer has a a steep learning curve and it was disappointing to go through that; however, now I am aware of it's unpredictability. I forged on and decided to use Blender instead . Within Blender I learned so many new tricks which broadened my understanding of the application and encouraged me to use it more. Sound enhances visual perception which makes Audio- reactive visuals a great tool for enhancing sensory experiences

REFERENCES

Article title: Extending Live: How Three Different Artists Approach Visuals for Live Performance

Website title: Ableton.com

URL: https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/extending-live-how-three-different-artists-approach-visuals-live-performance/

Article title: Audio Reactive Visuals with Code

Website title: Awwwards.com

Article title: Brief History of Visual Music

Website title: Overprocessedthinking.com

URL: https://overprocessedthinking.com/brief-history-of-visual-music/

URL: https://www.awwwards.com/academy/course/audio-reactive-visuals-with-code

Reflective Text 

This work examines ideas of how design and aesthetic can impact narrative. 

By using Procreate on my iPad, I was able to sketch up designs for both my character and an example of the character setting (a desktop). The cartoon style, messy aesthetic enhances the humorous and lighthearted themes throughout my animation. 

This work is similar to the work of Ties (2019), a short film by Dina Velikovskaya. Ties is about a young woman who leaves her parents to travel overseas, the animation is created by using 3d printed materials to create stop motion work. 

However, the 3d printed materials create a ‘scribbled’ look, making the animation appear 2d. I want to emulate a similar effect in my animation, however I will be using a 2d method.   

By examining how design and aesthetic can impact narrative, I discovered the importance of carefully selecting a medium and style that supports the themes I am exploring in my work. For example, if I would like my animation to be humorous and light hearted, I could use a loose and messy style to help support that tone. 

Velikovskaya, D 2019, Ties, viewed April 22 2022, <https://youtu.be/ocfvvXP1KSQ>. 

Reflective Text 

These works examine themes of character and movement (in my stop motion) and themes of dialogue and sound (in the mind map). 

By using stop motion, I am able to explore how my character will move. In my test example the Airpod almost looks as though it is limping or stumbling, giving it a vulnerable presence. 

This work is similar to the work of Fokion Xenos’ Heat Wave (2019), who’s stop motion short film examines how music can be used to progress the storyline. As the music gets faster, the movements of the characters also speed up, enhancing the mechanical, repetitive motions portrayed.    

By examining both sound and stop motion techniques, I reflected that sound is an integral part of narrative, and that patterns and rhythms in music can be a useful way to create suspense and to build on themes within an animation. Therefore, I plan to utilise sound as a key feature in my animation, the Airpods are the perfect characters to experiment on audio with, as their main purpose is to produce sound. 

Xenos, F 2019, Heat Wave, September 2020, viewed April 15 2022, <https://youtu.be/4nU_QcjVu9A>.