Proposal: Task 1 Audio-Only

Today my partner and I pitched our idea for our Task 1 Audio-Only project to Debbie Ballin in an informal environment. Although the idea we chose was a far cry from my original vision, I had agreed to proceed in support of my partner so that we were both "on-board" with the project, as she was completely unenthused by my own idea. Below is a copy of the information we presented to Debbie.

                                                
Sense of Place: Hell

Purpose

We chose to use 'Hell' as the place we would represent because we were interested in creating sounds that were not necessarily 'normal'. We wanted to experiment as much as possible whilst still sticking to the brief and are excited by the challenge of representing a place that audiences may not be familiar with.

Method

For this brief we were inspired more by feelings and themes than by other works. For example, we are interested in channelling feelings of pain, suffering, entrapment and also a sense of eternity. Although we plan on distorting the sounds we record to give them a more paranormal feel, we want to base our final sounds on real recordings of nature to add a sense of reality and 'belonging' to the piece and allowing the audience to identify with certain sounds.

Inspirations

We primarily drew inspiration from typically Hellish representations of otherworldly planes from films we both enjoyed, such as Silent Hill and Insidious. However, we are more focussed on creating a surrealist environment than the more physical depictions in films. Sonically, we are inspired by metallic sounds such as knives and chains, fiery sounds and distorted voices. 

Examples of sounds we may record

• Fire
• Knives
• Chains
• Screaming
• Shouting
• Water
• Footsteps
• Banging
• Wind
• Thunder
• Doors
• Scratching
• Scraping

                                                

Debbie shared my view that my original concept was perhaps more unique than the somewhat cliche route we had taken, but seemed confident that we could put our own twist on it. She offered some criticism by saying that we were thinking too literally about the piece as a narrative and that we should be considering more abstract approaches to conveying meaning and sense of place. This was very helpful as I had been feeling the same way and it was a relief to hear it from a professional. She also gave us some suggestions of experimental filmmakers whose work she thought may inspire us when creating our own film, as well as discussing with us the idea of representing the seven deadly sins or Dante's nine circles. Debbie's critique was incredibly useful and I feel she has put us on the right path to creating a piece that avoids the cliche associated with our theme. 

The filmmakers Debbie suggested we research are:

Jan Svankmajer 

Sally Potter 

Derek Jarman 

Stan Brakhaje 

Peter Greenaway