The Nature of the City: Final Sound Video

This is my final two-minute sound video documenting my drift area on the east side of Milwaukee. With this video I hoped to show the different ways in which the city and nature conflicted as I observed in on my drift walk. It was a prevalent theme I noticed time and time again along my journey and I hoped to lead the viewer into a conflict of the nature and the industrial aspects of the city of Milwaukee through my video. I hope you enjoy.

A Work in Progress: Rough Sketch #3

This is my third rough-sketch sound video in which I hoped to document the interaction between the city and nature and how they conflict with one another, which would lead the way to me observing and exploring this theme further on my final sound video. This rough sketch is to serve as the stepping stone to get me to my final sound video in which I can experiment with interesting ways to lead the viewer through my video by the way in which I edit and juxtapose different clips and images together.

Follow the Red Brick Road: Rough Sketch #2

This is my second rough sketch video documenting a red brick road intercut with some railroad tracks I ran into on my drift journey. I found both to be very interesting subjects and by following these linear and straight pathways it led me to think about further ways in which I could visually and metaphorically lead the viewer through my videos.

The Statue: Rough Sketch #1

This is my first rough-sketch video documenting a wonderful statue I found at a church along my way. I was able to get some great shots of the huge, beautiful church but my favorite part was the statue outside of the church standing in a flower bed. This was the first site on my drift experience that got me excited and allowed me to experiment with finding interesting images and video.

Production Strategy for My Third and Final Drift

1. While attempting to narrow down the area in which I would investigate through my third and final drift, I knew there were certain things I would like to explore. I wanted a area that was not too large but would provide a variety of both natural and industrial or urban environments, and I decided to go with a small section of the area I trekked on my first drift. On the East Side of Milwukee it provided a variety of parks, the university atmosphere, the lake front and some beaches, and some factories and warehouses.

To see a GoogleMap of my designated drift area click here. The shaded area within the circle represents the general area I was interested in for my drift.

2. While on my drift, I also had used two strategies to help me look at the surrounding area in a new way and find interesting images. It was important for me to come up with two image capturing strategies that I would try to stick to throughout my drift to ensure a variety of images that will have some kind on commonality. My first strategy was to count to ten over and over again as I was walking and to take a picture on every number 10 and whenever I felt like it to take ten or more rapid photos or video with the camera addressing one item. My second strategy was to stand in one spot and shoot everything in my view for five minutes. I would switch off between these two strategies to ensure a variety of images, but tried not to let these strategies restrain my artistic vision too much, exploring certain subjects more in depth when they interested me.

3. To try and narrow down my sound recordings into a loose but clear focus, I needed to try and limit somewhat what I would record. I decided that a prominent theme I have discovered while on my drifts is the conflict between the city and nature and it is one I would like to possible explore further. Therefore I will record only sounds I can classify as either natural sounds (coming from some kind of living thing or environmental event) or industrial (coming from some kind of machine or man-made object). This should already head me into the direction of having a good juxtaposition to work with and think about while going through the drift process.

Ten Questions to Consider Prior to Drift

In order to help narrow down the area that I will cover on my third and final drift and to ensure that I will come across interesting landscapes/soundscapes, I compiled this list of ten questions to take under consideration while trying to determine what my drift region will be.

1.) Is there an area that has a variety of both city/industrial and natural environments interspersed within it?
2.) What day of the week would be the best to go out, in terms of offering a variety of experiences? What will the weather be like? (check weather reports)
3.) Is there newer and/or older parts of the city, in terms of differing building architecture?
4.) Where are there any large hills, cliffs, or tall buildings with access that will provide me a
high point of view overlooking the region?
5.) How can I experience a location multiple times and each time gain a different perspective or point of view?
6.) Are there any parks, trails, or picnic areas that could provide some interesting scenery to
check out?
7.) Aside from Lake Michigan, where could I find some interesting natural or animal activity?
8.) Where could I find a factory, warehouse, construction zone, shipping yard, or some other industrial location?
9.) What time of the day will offer a wide range of encounters while still being calm enough to capture clear and direct audio?
10.) What are the unique landmarks, monuments, architectural designs, or artwork that define certain areas?

Drift Delights-Assesment 4

While the drifts themselves were an interesting and eye-opening experience, for me the best part of the process was coming home after my second drift with my newly collected material and starting the process of reviewing, organizing, and analyzing the images for possible connections, themes, or narrative potential. Some times I would already have some idea of how I would want to edit together some of the stills or movie clips and other times I wouldn’t find a connection until I was sitting in front of my computer reviewing what I found. Sometimes this would inspire me to try and find more material that related and also to go back out to parts of my drift area to collect more relevant material. It was like there was a mystery somewhere in all of my collected materials and I had to find the pieces and put them together like a puzzle. In the beginning of the process no matter how much I thought about it there was no way to know what kind of findings I would discover on my way, but by the end I was always happy with my finished product I was able to piece together and the process as a whole.