nicco miranda

This sound essay attempts to communicate the words Space, Elevate, & Escape in order to convey a sense of escapism into one one's imagination through isolating one's surroundings. The first segment of the sound essay is compiled with various found sounds and soft subtle voices. This portion of the essay is meant to signify all of the ambient noise that is found while traversing reality. The essay then builds and elevates in tempo to represent the desire to separate one's self from the surrounding space. The last segment is void of all the found sounds and noises and concentrates on the music's slower tempo. This final stage signifies the point in which one escapes from reality and is free to explore the limitless possibilities of their own imagination.

1. I noticed a wide variety of voices, and even more variety in terms of the enthusiasm at which people were expressing themselves. There was a wide range of male and female voices, some of the more distinct voices were those at each polar end of the 'spectrum'. In other words, those with really deep voices were distinct as well as those with very high voices. 

Other sounds that I heard included the footsteps of passerby's, a skateboard, people laughing, keys, typing on a laptop, and the rustling of chip bags. 

An interesting pattern I noticed was with regards to the overall volume of the conversations. I was sitting in the hallway of Central Square, and it seemed as if the overall volume of conversations would rise and fall at the same time. So it was as if everyone in the hall collectively spoke louder at the same time, and would be quieter in the same way. 

2. In the two to three separate conversations, there was usually one louder more extraverted person leading the conversations. This person seemed to be the most confident within the group, as even if they may not have necessarily been loudest, their voices were the most distinct. 

What helped me to hear what people were saying was to really focus on listening to that persons particular voice. If the conversation was happening from further away, looking at the people would help, as I could correlate what they were saying to how their mouths were moving. The focus was very directional, and helped to filter out all the noise from elsewhere.

3. While trying to listen to all the conversations at once, the sounds of voices seemed to blend together. I was still evident that people were speaking, but it was very hard to determine what anyone was actually saying. 

I'm not sure if these would be considered to be adjoining sounds, but during laughter, people would usually laugh together. Some people would also be speaking while fiddling with their keys, or making some other noise. 

The space was a long hallway, so sounds could be faintly heard from far away, as they would be carried through the corridor. Sounds were condensed in a way, whereas attempting to listen to people outside or in large spaces like Vari Hall proved to be more difficult.

4. I was sitting in a hallway in Central Square around lunch time. Due to the nature of the setting, there were a lot of people walking by and thus a lot of snippets of conversations that would increase in volume as people walked closer, and decreased as they walked away.

Overall I learned that it is quite difficult to focus in on a conversation when in a fairly busy public space, especially when many people are talking. An active initiative is needed in order to be able to actually listen intently to particular conversations. Also some of these conversations made me uncomfortable, not because of the content, but rather in how callus some people spoke. Some people can be really obnoxious which made me want to distance myself from them. 

w/ Shayna Lauer & Leopold Lenzgeiger

Individual reflection:
The project proved to be significantly more challenging than expected. Even with the idea worked out, the camera in place, and files ready to print, the actual printer proved to be the biggest problem. Firstly, the prints would come out of the printer face down, so the images wouldn't be visible. To solve this problem we pre-printed the images, and fed them through tray 1 face down in order to have the pre printed images face up upon exit. This was compounded by the constant jamming and errors that were being picked up by the printer.

http://digital-locker.design.yorku.ca/3006Af12/niccom/

In Class Exercise

http://digital-locker.design.yorku.ca/3006Af12/niccom/02/exercise1/ 

w/ Shayna Lauer & Leopold Lenzgeiger

This commercial for the Ford Fiesta demonstrates flawless and clever transitions through positioning and theme. The edit is beautifully paced and encompasses such a wide variety of experiences and lifestyles into such a short period of time. It also does this seamlessly, as the transitions are so well aligned and in sync with the music. The alignment and pacing allow for the smooth transition of otherwise very jarringly different scenes. 

I feel that this is an example of a piece where video and audio work in harmony to evoke such a powerful sense of adventure. I thought this entry would be especially relevant given that our assignment is based on experimenting with transitions.

Attempt to sort the images based on common-ness, disposability, novelty, maleability and sentimental value. Images that are circiled more than once fall into more than one of these categories. The caution tape for example is common and malleable.
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Attempting to sort the images in terms of which of the five senses the particular object interacts with first. The second image expands on this categorization by sorting the images based on which part of the body the particular object interacts with first.

CHDK aka Canon Hack Development Kit allows for added functionality of Canon point and shoot cameras. Features include the ability to shoot in RAW, HDR, and Time Lapse (through the use of scripts). Other notable features are motion detection and using the USB port to operate the camera remotely.  CHDK lives on the SD card so no changes are actually made to the camera itself.
Check it out here: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

Time Lapse / Intervalometer Scripts:

• Drivelapse
• Ultra_Intervalometer
• HDR_Time_Lapse