February 4, 2009

Today, we continued with the “Recap Scavenger Hunt” we worked on last class. Our group got together and imported the footage into Final Cut Pro so we could edit our film. We used the fire wire to connect the camera to the computer in order to transfer the film into the computer. We then assigned jobs as we still had two sound recordings to work on. Louise and I took on the Sounds while Ashley and Medora did the editing. As we have to finish it in the double lesson, Louise and I immediately started thinking of ideas to convey the meaning of the three themes we picked for Sounds. They are “work”, “time” and “destruction”. In this case, we were “communicators” in the IB learner profile as we had to collaborate with each other and work effectively in order to reach our goal. After we collected our equipment (the microphone, camera and headphones), we brainstormed different possible sounds for the themes.

Firstly, Louise and I decided to record the sound of a clock ticking. So we decided to go to the library as it is relatively quiet there and there is a clock there. When we recorded the sound, we put the microphone right on top of the clock so we could capture the “tick-tock” sounds. We thought it was quite good so we jumped to our next idea for the theme (time). I used my phone and switched on the alarm clock so we could record the sounds coming from it. We recorded it in the bathroom as there are not any other background noises. We thought if we combine the tick-tock sounds and the alarm clock sound, it represents the theme pretty well. It has continuity in the sound so the audience would know what was going on. We were bouncing ideas everywhere and we had a lot in mind, however, as time limited us, we hurried to the next theme.

“Destruction” was not very difficult for us because we immediately linked it to damage. So we recorded sounds outside the Multi-media lab on the sixth floor. We kicked the railings so it sounded as if something was undergoing a process of “destruction”. Then we hit the rubbish bin as it sounded a like drums and it made loud noises. We were trying to knock everywhere, such as doors, walls…to see whether they sounded loud and “destructive” and violent. In the end, we ended up in the bathroom, this time, we recorded the sounds of stepping on the toilet seat repetitively to make a noisy, disruptive sound. Then we stomped on the ground to sound mad as to help contribute to the theme. We strived to be “Risk-takers” throughout this scene and explored possibilities to express the theme.

For the last theme, Louise and I thought “Work” involves a lot of paperwork, pens and writing. However, we recorded Louise walking back and forth as her school shoes sounded like high heels when walking on the hard floor in the girls’ bathroom. I thought it was a good idea. Then, we took a pile of worksheets, and recorded the sound of paper flipping page after page. We took our ball pens and recorded the sounds of the clicking sounds of them to show people using tools to “work”. Afterwards, Louise wrote on the toilet paper so the writing sound could be processed through the recording. We went back to the classroom and uploaded our footage from the tape in order to edit our sound effects as soon as possible. I thought we were quick when we recorded the sounds as we were careful not to waste time.

Medora and Ashley were still working on the editing on Final Cut Pro. So, Louise and I decided to work on Sounds so we could work efficiently as a group. We had a little trouble importing our film as we rewound our tape a little too much so we had to wait a long time before we could see where our film was. It was some time wasted but we made sure we cut our footage immediately and started to edit it. We thought the sound of the clock was too soft so we will have to adjust the tick-tock sounds. However, I thought we did pretty well for the other sound effects as it was clear and conveyed all three themes. We did not have enough time but we will finish it and export it before the next film class. We strived to be “Reflective” in this situation and we learnt from our footage. As a group, I thought we were cooperative and we made decisions quickly and precisely as to make use of our precious time. But in order to meet the deadlines, I feel we have to be careful with our time management as the topics later may be intense.