Development: Task 1 Audio-Only

For the audio-only brief of Task 1, we are required to create a soundtrack that captures a sense of place. I intended to use a classic, Renaissance-era painting such as Sandro Botticelli's Nascita di Venere, and create the sounds I imagined would be heard within the fictional scene of the painting. I was interested in this idea as it brought the sense of hearing to an image, which is usually only intended for the eyes.

Venus is born from the ocean in Sandro Botticelli's Nascita di Venere

Unfortunately for me, my partner was less enthusiastic about the idea. She wanted to create something darker and more hard-hitting, whereas my idea was more orientated towards beauty and concept. Preferring to have both of us onboard for the project than to force her into creating something she was not passionate about, I opted to go with her idea despite my reservations, as I was confident I could bring my own experimental touch to it.

My partner has since left the course, leaving me with total creative control over the project. However, due to the impractical timing of her departure, I feel it would be counter-productive to revert to my initial idea. As such, I am continuing with the theme of Hell for my Task 1 project. However, after hearing the song Poetry In Motion on a TV advert, I was inspired to explore the possibilities of using classic Renaissance poetry for inspiration as opposed to the paintings I had considered earlier.

This was the defining moment at which the previously ambiguous concept began to take a definitive shape. I was naturally drawn to Dante Alighieri's Inferno segment from his epic poem Divine Comedy, as it is arguably the most frequently alluded-to depiction of Hell in popular culture, so it seemed like a good place to begin. I began to explore to idea of 'the nine circles of Hell' that Dante visits in the poem and the potential to capture a sense of each of these very different environments. The task was somewhat daunting given my limited timescale, but after discovering that the poem had inspired Botticelli himself to paint Dante's vision of Hell, it felt as though I had connected the last dot, and to discard the idea would be an injustice to the project and my initial vision.

Dante Alighieri's Inferno as imagined by Sandro Botticelli

Tomorrow I am going home for the weekend. I have booked out the necessary recording equipment with the intention of recording the necessary sounds I will need to create my sonic interpretation of Dante's Inferno. I have chosen to take a more surreal approach to representing each circle - as a result, I will use sounds that are representative not only of the environment, but also the sins that its inhabitants committed to get there.

I have decided on taking a structuralist approach to my soundtrack and subsequently my film. I have made this decision as I wish for my piece to reflect its poetic inspiration, and I feel that structuralist experimentation would provide an array of opportunities to experience with rhythm and verse-like segments. I intend on splitting my three minute piece into nine twenty-second segments, each one representing a different circle and comprising of various sounds listed below. The following list is relative and not definitive.

SOUNDS NEEDED

Circle 1: river, birds

Circle 2: strong winds, thunder, sexual moaning

Circle 3: rain, squelching mud, chewing, burping

Circle 4: rock dragged along ground, grunting, coins jingling

Circle 5: splashing, shouting, gurgling, thumping

Circle 6: muffled screaming, muffled fire, banging, religious preacher

Circle 7: screaming in pain, fire, boiling liquid

Circle 8: whipping, knives, fire, screaming

Circle 9: shivering, beating of wings, general iciness