Sound Walk - Joanne Mariano

Being that my blogpost is quite overdue and that I just arrived back to NY from The Dominican Republic, I decided to walk around my neighborhood in Elmhurst, Queens. I specifically chose my own neighborhood because I'm incredibly familiar with it, having grown up here since I was five years old. 

It's interesting to learn how distant we grow to the things and people we are most familiar/comfortable with. We forget the beauty and meaning that lies within what we are exposed to on a daily basis.

I began by walking out of my apartment. I heard the sound of the door intertwining with the hinges and locking itself without me having to twist any keys. I heard my sneakers grind against the gravel on my sidewalk, since I kind of drag my feet. Nothing was really calling for my attention, so I listened closely to the ambient noises. I live right across from a NYC public park, so the first thing I heard was yelling - a mixture of grown men and young boys calling for their teammates to pass them the ball, the dribbling, and the ball being shot against the backboard. Where I live, there are no basketball nets, so I couldn't hear a "swoosh" when someone scored. As I continued walking up the block, I heard the acceleration and deceleration of moving vehicles. I turned and was reminded that there is a stop sign on my block. At the same time, I could hear children running, playing soccer, and parents calling out children's names from afar or to be careful. I noticed that I could still hear my own footsteps, breathing, and even the wind. I could hear the 7 train running on its tracks since I live by 74th Street Train Station.

From the park block, I could also hear occasional sirens. I live 2 blocks away from Elmhurst Hospital. I could hear the piercing sounds of ambulances, firetrucks, and police cars. I continued to walk, and I would also hear the sound of cart wheels rolling on the ground quite often, which were usually holding laundry or groceries. 

I grew a great appreciation for my neighborhood in this way, especially because I'm in the center of various cultural enclaves. My block is full of Mexican Americans. A few blocks to my right can be found many Chinese American, Thai American, and Vietnamese American peoples. A few blocks to my left can be found many Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, as well as Middle Eastern American peoples. A few blocks forward are many Colombian Americans. It was interesting to listen to the changes of speech and language throughout my sound walk.

Sound Walk - Kristina Garcia

            I decided to walk around the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, where I currently live. It is very small, as it’s only about one square mile, but very densely populated, so there are an assortment of sounds to be heard.

As I left my apartment on the main street of the city, I was greeted with the sound of construction right outside my door. The pounding jackhammer attacked my ears, but I could still hear the construction workers speaking, the backing up of a truck, and the cars going by. This wasn’t unfamiliar, though, as there always seems to be a broken water main or something that needs to be fixed in front of my apartment. I decided I wanted to walk along the Hudson, so I started walking east. As I walked along, I heard the barking of dogs, the chatter of new moms as they pushed their strollers along, and the laughter of friends. As soon as I crossed my street, though, I remembered that I couldn’t walk directly east to the river because a college campus was in the way. As I heard my footsteps abruptly stop, I noticed the sound the wind was making as it blew past me. I started walking north to get around the campus. I heard chirping birds, conversations, cars, and the sound of my purse bouncing against my side. When I got to the Hudson the sounds of the cars ended and were replaced by the water splashing. My footsteps were overshadowed by the pounding steps of joggers. From behind me I heard the sound of wheels on the sidewalk, and a small child on a scooter soon followed.

As I started making my way home, I cut through a park. The grass muffled my footsteps, but birds, dogs, and kids playing on a nearby playground filled the silence. As I walked up to my apartment, I felt refreshed and relaxed after only paying attention to the sounds around me. 

Sound Walk- Diaka

     I decided for my sound blog I would roam the streets of Inwood, NY. A neighborhood at the tip of uptown Manhattan where I live.  I thought this assignment was a cool opportunity for me to explore my neighborhood differently than I've ever done before in the 5 years I have been there.  So I began my exploration by making sure my phone was shut off and hidden deep inside my bag so that I couldn't constantly peek at it from the top of my bag where I always keep it for instant reach.  I started walking from my building on 204th Street and Seaman Avenue in the direction of the train station on 207th Street and Broadway.  

     I was immediately struck by the sound of birds chirping around me.  This really caught me by surprise because I don't remember hearing them in the background among the street noise.   And while I waited for the light to change, I heard the humming sound of several cars also waiting to make their turn.  When I crossed the street, a delivery guy from my favorite Chinese restaurant zoomed pass me on a motor bike speaking Chinese into his Bluetooth.  The birds are still chirping away while I hear hammering noise coming from a building's construction site.  My heels made a knocking thumping sound as I was walking. This made me question how loud I must sound to other people on the street.  Several people passed me by and I could hear their fading footsteps.  Two very animated women speaking Spanish who appear to be mother and daughter are having an argument.  A young guy on the phone is walking towards me then stops to yell at the person on the other end.  And just when I'm almost at the train station, a Fed-Ex truck cruised by and an older Latin man screamed after it, "Hey Yo!"  Well I don't know for a fact that he was screaming at the truck because he was speaking in Spanish and the only thing I could make out was "Hey Yo!"  People are always shouting on the street at something or someone in this neighborhood.

     Now I am at the corner of 207th Street and Broadway, but I couldn't hear the birds chirping in the background anymore.  This made me sad but glad that I started my walk on the side of the neighborhood where birds chirping can be the sweet background noise until they get drowned out by the loud sounds of cars, trucks, people on cellphones, or people talking over each other in another languages.   On this side of Inwood, it is street noise galore.  Broadway is a very busy avenue with bus lanes on both sides.  The sound of the buses lowering closer to the ground so that passengers can get on.  People signaling for taxis cabs by whistling or yelling, "Taxis!" Parents rushing their kids along after school and I heard this little girl say to her mom, "I wanna go potty."  There were so many different sounds coming out of this area that after a while it started to become one noise.  So I decided to leave and walk up Broadway towards the park.  Interesting development, as I got closer to the park, the noise started to fade.  Inside Isham Park, I heard birds chirping, dogs barking, and the rustling sound of squirrels playing in the grass.  As I sat there listening, I was grateful for this experience.  It made me realize how often I don't take the time to listen to the sounds of my neighborhood.    

   

  

"What I hear" - Keiko Yara

I took the opportunity to do the listening exercise while I was waiting for my bus at gate 224 in port authority. There weren't many people surrounding me, yet the environment was full of sound and movement. There was the rumble of the busses shaking the floor. The swosh of air being violently pushed though the ventilation system. The clunking of the escalators as they move. Murmur of people sighing and yawning as they wait for their bus. The low and constant growl of the buses' engines. Suddenly the place was not as still as I once thought it was. The violent swinging of doors followed by footsteps of eager people. Candy wrappers being manipulated, pulled, ripped and crinkled. The obnoxiously loud chewing that followed. The sound of a man fighting with his newspaper and folding it over once the battle was over. The mumbles of another man who could not form a cohesive sentence. The heavy release of brakes that sounded like a sigh, a sound that resembles a long pssstsss. It was something like a snake hissing. There was a loud plunk of a bag being dropped.

The sound of people’s phones ringing and buzzing. The sound of clicking and tapping as they type away on their iPhones. The trumpet like blow that came from a man blowing his nose. Quick footsteps shuffling along the terminal running after buses. The faint voice on the announcement system that never seems loud or clear enough. A place part of my daily routine is now seen in a different light. 

Blog #3 Saraa Elkhaloui

I was quite impressed by the Museum of Moving Images. The most memorable part of the visit was the exhibit for the special effects for a Freddy Kruegar movie. This big red shirt was used to get actors inside of it to reenact a scene where souls are being ripped out of Freddy with the use of a spandex like material. The use of video editing in that scene really shows how proper editing of video clips can make something seem more realistic while being esthetically and functionally astonishing. The use of close ups was perfectly complemented by medium close ups of the actor, expression emotions of distress and panic perfectly complementary to previous scenes. 

Another impressive exhibit was the sound analysis of the movie the Titanic. The use of animal sound in the track was shocking and only slightly noticeable when the audio is completely isolated and examined closely.  The fact that a lion’s roar and the sound of an elephant were used to make a scene seem more dramatic was quite shocking. It made absolutely no scene that animal sounds would be used for water warp hole and metal falling. It was impressive to see how the manipulations of sounds actually worked with the film to make it the dramatic exclamation of events become expressed to the audience members. I will definitely like to analyze sounds used in blockbuster films more closely because it is an impressive skill to be able to inset animal sounds to footage and go unnoticed. 

Blog #2 Saraa Elkhaloui

I chose to take my walk around my neighborhood in Bensonhurst. I have always enjoyed my walks around the area because it is quite but not completely silent. As I was walking I paid attention to the sounds and realized that the neighborhood may have an infestation of birds. The chirping of the birds continued throughout my whole walk. Honestly, most of the time I ignore the chirping and it zones out as I make my way to my house. However, as I paid more attention I realized that THEY NEVER STOP! Interestingly dogs that are being walked by their owner are much quitter than the birds.  I didn’t actually hear any dogs bark while I walked around. 

         Other sounds that I found to be interesting as I took my walk, was the sound of heels on placement. I realized that it agitates me more than the non-stop chirping of birds. However, there was also a house with wind chimes outside, and it produced a beautiful melody. The wind was strong on that day and very hectic, making some tree branches shake. As the cars passed by in the wind at high speeds, the swooshing of the wind would be interrupted. Overall, the area was quite, with the occasional conversation of a girl and her father on a bike or a woman on the phone. 

 

This walk made me realize just how many sounds I ignore on a daily bases. It became apparent that even soundmarks of an area can be bypassed because of the frequency of which I am exposed to them.

Jose Blog 3 - MoMI

     It's been years since I've last been in the Museum of Moving Image. When I lived in Astoria a decade ago, I went there every once in a while with my mother and sister during our summer break. It was nice to go there today with classmates and friends to experience a space that is as new as it is familiar; which also describes that elements of media production we explored in the tour as well, specifically the demo on sound.
     Watching a short clip from Titanic, we listened to it with full sound, then just with the dialogue, then with both the foley sound effects and the digital effect tracks. The full mix of all the elements, along with the picture served to give a sense of tension and excitement as all the passengers scrambled off the sinking ship to any safety they could find. Afterwards, listening to just the dialogue and the sound effects made it very clear how important the role of music plays in establishing that mood and tension.
     Interestingly, it was noted that when we were listening to the dialogue, some of it seemed a bit off-sync with the actors mouth movements. This wasn't noticeable in the final mix when all the sounds were playing, but when it was only the dialogue tracks, the effect was immediately noticable. Our tour guide explained that this was due to the necessity of capturing the actors' vocals outside the busy set in a process called dubbing, or ADR (automated dialogue replacement). After shooting the actual scene, actors are called into a recording studio to watch their scenes and voice over their lip movements in a more isolated sound environment than where the scene itself was actually recorded. Considering all the busyness of the particular scene we were watching, where actors were made to swim through wreckage or run through panicked passengers, it made sense to take this extra step to procure clean, isolated vocals for the final mix.

Jose Blog 2 - Sound Walk

     When I have the time, I like to walk around the city, tourist-style, looking up at every tall building, every curious sight, even if I've already seen it a hundred times. Walking from Hunter College to China Town where I take the J train home, I allowed myself to enjoy the wealth of sounds I would've otherwise muted with my headphones. From the rushed chatter and hurried footsteps of midtown to the gusty serenity of Madison Square Park, where the repeated soft crunch of gravel beneath my foot was punctuated by barking coming from the dog park, I found that even the terribly chilly weather could not deter the infamously steely New Yorkers from making their trek through the city (and lining up for Shake Shack).
     Union Square, usually bustling with farmers market vendors and shoppers, beggars and people working for some charity, fighting to get the attention of passersby, is remarkably hushed this day. Only the dull screech of the trains below and the hum of traffic spiraling the park fill the atmosphere. A little further down, I stop to rest at the base of the Silver Towers on Houston where I hear the dim crash of truck sounds as I close my eyes beneath the shadow of the residential skyscrapers. I hear the sound of footsteps approach and I snap up, wondering if it's a security guard telling me I'm trespassing (I am), but it's just a young woman, probably from NYU. I think my springing-up startled her and she walks past me in a hurry. I take that as a sign to move on so I continue southward, avoiding SoHo.
     In China Town, there's the constant drone of conversation surrounding me. The cadence of the foreign speech energizes me as I make my way to the Canal street train station. But before I dip underground, I walk through Mott street, where many of my favorite restaurants are. I hear what sounds like bells, coming from the outside of one of the gift shops there. At the risk of sounding ignorant, it sounds like an instrumental Chinese song. The sound of the chimes reminds me of Christmas, my favorite time of year. My tired heart fills with warmth as I make my way home.

Blog #3- MOMI Reflection by Maya Shor

I would like to start off by saying that the museum was actually very fun and interesting. There were many interesting and interactive exhibits that made me realize and understand things about motion picture that I never knew before. The demo I thought really opened my eyes to a small section of motion pictures that I gave very little credit to is sound editing. The educator we had demoed how important sound editing is with a scene from titanic. At first he only allowed the actor’s dialogue to be heard which sound so unnatural and odd because the video was devoid of background noise. Then he proceeded to add the sounds of water and splashing which began to sound better but something was still missing. Then the final step was to add the orchestral music arrangement which gave the scene the emotional impact which it lacked without the layers of sound.

In all honesty, I never knew how many layers of sound are needed to make a scene sound real. There needs to be background noise, but we have to hear the actors clearly and the weather plays a part as well. We also discussed how the noises in the scene were created. Obviously James Cameron did not have the actual size of a Titanic pipe splitting in half, so the sound engineers had to make up believable sounds. The sounds of ropes snapping were actually silenced gunshots, and the sound that the pipe made as it fell over was a whale sound. Incredible how the image and the sound sync up in our head because of the hard work and effort of the sound editors. The audience is able to experience the chaos of the Titanic sinking because the sound is built up of numerous layers. There needs to be splashing, and yelling, and running, and orchestral music to really get the feeling of trauma and danger and urgency. It is incredible how they put together the sound of this scene. I now look at sound editing in a whole new way and have respect for those who have mastered it and bring the audience to the emotional climax with sounds and music.

Blog 2 - 'Sound Walk'

I decided to take my sound walk on my way to work in Soho on a Friday afternoon which, I know, is probably a bad idea. If you don’t know why then good, you should probably continue to read the post so I can tell you. It was a bad idea because it was at an hour when students have been let out of school, so I had the benefit of listening to after school conversations. From a sociological point of view this was awesome cause social interaction is great and we need it, but - I heard a lot of things from a lot of mediocre people. The details of which involved personal drivers and cursing in other languages (yeah out of state NYU students, you’re obviously so smart and cool. I’m glad their parents are funneling in that fifty grand a year so that native new yorkers like myself get to listen to those oh so smart and humble children talk about the important things in life like knowing how to curse in Korean or French). Going on the sound walk reminded me of why I don’t like to walk around the city and listen to other people because of my patience and how vexing people can be. It also makes me actively aware of the things that get said in day to day life, it makes me contentious of the things I say and it makes for great material in stories. So A+ NYU, thank you for providing characters for my writing. 

MOMI Reminder!

This Wednesday March 26th we are meeting at MOMI in Astoria, Queens for a FIELD TRIP INSTEAD OF LECTURE YAY!!!!

Place - https://www.google.com/maps/preview?ie=UTF-8&q=museum+of+the+moving+image&fb=1&gl=us&hq=momi+astoria&cid=6402875693772074051&ei=8WkwU7XPBMrX0QHOrYGACQ&ved=0CJcBEPwS

Time - 11:15am

You need to bring $6.50 (Please remember to bring quarters because unfortunately I am not a real life change machine)

See you then!

Sounds about right...

plip,plop.plip,plop

         Woosh Woosh Woosh; Yap, Yap,Yap 'sniffles'; meow 'scratch, scratch, scratch'; drip, drip, drip;  and a clatter. For my sound blog I choose to meditate in the comfort of my apartment in West Harlem instead of deliberately going on a walk. I thought being in a quiet space would force me to pick up on the details surrounding me. I live in the interior part of the building facing away from the street, removed from the constant noise of the city below me; it's quite nice. I am not a big fan of television and most often you can find me listening to music if I am at home. I live mostly alone with my Yorkie, Bella, and my Black Cat, Osiris. The three of us sat and absorbed the comforting sounds of home, the whirl of the washer as it wrung my towels clean,  the steam which forced its way out of radiator, the drip from the faucet which desperately needs to be tightened.
          At one point, perhaps Bella grew bored of the silence, contributing to the mediation with a few barks at Osiris who stalked by, paws gently patting the floor. I recall vividly when I reached up to scratch my head when my attention was suddenly diverted to the loud spanish language conversation some neighbors where having in the hallway.  At one point I heard the faint nuisance of sirens blaring in the distance which caused me to ponder where they might be headed; ever wonder that? To the outsider its merely another annoyance but for one of our fellow New Yorkers its a family dispute, a fire, a heart attack all the terrible things we hope to evade every single day. These profundities were interrupted by the clinking of bottles in the alleyway behind me followed by the

(Not my cat, just a cool cat giving a thumbs up)

squeak of the rats which I have become accustomed to. At the tail end of my meditation the neighbors above me proceeded with there nightly ritual of what could easily be mistaken for furniture rearrangement. To this day I am not sure what goes on in apartment 18 just above my head. I am sure however, that this is my life and these are the sounds of home; the noises I am annoyed to hear at times, indifferent towards at others but overall comforted by in my little corner of New York City.

Sound Blog

I decided to ‘listen’ to my surroundings whilst walking home from work one night. I live and work in the same neighborhood, but the distance between my apartment and job is about 20 minutes when walking. Since I work on Third Avenue, it’s always unfailingly noisy. The first thing I heard after exiting the store was the unfailing siren of an ambulance, which is a given since I work basically in eyesight of Lenox Hill Hospital. It happened to be a very windy night, so I could catch the whistling sound from the gusts of overpowering wind sporadically. I could hear the noises of my own phone periodically going off in my pocket, having ignored its obtrusiveness. As I continued to walk down Third I heard the ‘swooshing’ sound of cars and taxis driving past, with their drivers regularly beeping at each other, which can easily become unobtrusive to some one who lives in Manhattan. I heard the noise of my shoes hitting the sidewalk, of other people’s footsteps. I overheard bits and glimpses of people’s conversations and laughs as we walked past each other. I could hear the echoes of people talking loudly from the restaurants I was walking past, their voices collectively making their way outside to the sidewalk as one loud voice. I could hear the music blaring from some people’s headphones or from cars driving past with their windows open. I could hear the sounds of the Uptown Bus’ doors opening and closing. Hearing all the noise made me miss the quietness of my hometown.

What I hear- stand clear

As I sit on the wooden benches darkened from dirt in the 42nd street train station I was irked by a woman to my left popping her gum. Over and over again the smacking noise persisted joining the loud, sensual beat of the 90's best r&b love songs coming from the man sitting on my right as he blasted tunes on his headphones. Announcements ring through the dingy subway walls: " due to construction, the A train will not be going to Brooklyn. We are sorry for the inconvenience." "FUCK, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW", yells an angry deep voiced man. I hear his footsteps pitter patter faster. He runs out of the station. "Clunk"-what sounds like a metal can is kicked into the train tracks. "Hey man, what's up I haven't seen you in so long! Whatcha Doin here at this time? Think the last time we chilled was at jack's party. We got so wasted bro!" "Yeah man I miss you let's walk and talk." Their voices began to fade. I heard a "haaaaaay mami, ju lookin right tonight!"directed towards me. I proceed to ignore him and he says to his friend: "wassssss wrong with girls man. Act like ju not even there." As he proceeded to complain The Slow, faint rumbling occurs-the train. Wheels screech in an intimidating sound as the train moves toward the station and comes to a stop. My shoes obnoxiously clank from the sound of my heels as I step in. "Stand clear or the closing doors please."

Carolina Londono- Defining a Space

defining a space from Carolina Londono on Vimeo.

Blog #2 "What I hear" Upper east Side- Rebecca wang

I live in Upper East Side so I walk to school every day. Every Tuesday morning I have a 7am class, and on the way to school I heard various of sounds.  I heard myself breathing and the wind that was blowing across my hair and tree, also my footsteps panting as the background sound. I heard bird tweeting, cars’ engine sound, and truck that carried/squeezing trash, building construction sound, cars passing by potholes, cars horning, and the NYPD police car siren sound as foreground sounds. The soundmarks that represent the particular community will be the people who walked their dog and the dogs were barking, also the food truck around the neighborhood flipping the food on the iron pan. Because there is a subway station at Hunter college stop, so I heard the train passing by from the drain covers. Also there were a lot of buses near Hunter, so I heard the sounds that door open and close, and the sound of lowering and rising up sound of entire bus. But everything sounds peacefully, not that noisily. Since Upper East Side is a living community, known for residences areas, which compare to downtown is more quiet and peace. But once it gets later in the day, the traffic sounds really annoyed me. Otherwise it’s pretty quiet area in my opinion.   

It is interesting that people in the early morning don't really talk on the phone while walking, and I did not see a lot of conversation either. Sounds were all from cars, constructions, the outside environment, instead of people. Sometimes we are just use to the way it is to be noisy, but once in the while you feel peach and quiet in the city.

"What I Hear" - Hunter Stone

I actually did my "soundwalk" not walking at all--I did it in a restaurant instead. I thought it was really interesting that when I began this task I had trouble focusing on the sounds around me. I kept being distracted by the visual stimuli around me, noticing the art on the walls and the dim lighting rather than what I heard. In this way, it really was a meditation; I had to become hyper-aware of my consciousness in order to pull out one of my senses from the complex mix of the others.

I was in a fancy Brazilian restaurant called "The Circus." The key sound I heard was the lively Brazilian music playing overhead. Beyond the music, I heard my grandmother's spoon scraping against the bottom of her bowl; the loud pop of a wine bottle being opened; plates crashing into a bus-bin behind the doors of the kitchen; footsteps up the stairs, the door closing. Then, I tuned in to the voices of the other diners around me. At first it just sounded like an inaudible, low-level din. However, once I began to pull out certain voices from the mass, I could make out small portions of individual conversations: uninhibited laughter (surely facilitated by the free flowing caipirinhas); an older woman saying, "Things didn't change in terms of perception..."; a group of Brazilian friends speaking in Portuguese to each other; a young (and, seemingly, already unhappily-married) couple--the man asking, "Should I sit here?" (next to her), the woman replying with annoyance in her voice, "Whatever you want."

Blog #2 "What I Hear" Stevie Borrello

As the weather gets nicer by the day I become more and more giddy, because it means I can walk from class back to my apartment without freezing to death. Most of the time I’m plugged up listening to music while I make the 75-block trek back home, but this last time I wanted to just enjoy my surroundings. At first I mostly heard the passing traffic, consisting of honking horns and speeding cars, as well as the typical hustle and bustle of passerbys. But then I paused and heard the footsteps of people walking behind me, which became louder and louder the closer they got. Some sounded quicker than others, and those people passed me at quick pace. There was also the constant clicking of my boots every time they hit the sidewalk. At first it sounded very obnoxious, but after a few minutes it became a background noise to me and it almost put me in a hypnotic state. I also think people don’t realize how loud they are when they talk on the phone or have a conversation with someone they’re walking with, because I heard a lot of different conversations of people passing by. But I think the sound that struck me the most were the moments when I was walking uptown on 5th Avenue and there was silence. It was the moments when not many people are around to hear constant footsteps, or the drone of traffic in the distance. It was at those times I could hear the children playing in Central Park or hear the air pass through the streets. The walk reminded me that the city does have its peaceful moments of solitude amidst all the chaos.

"What I Hear"(soundwalk)blog assignment--Zehui Liu

      When starting this soundwalk, Initially I was having a bit of hard time choosing the ideal place. Midtown was my top one choice since I could absorb the variety of sounds but I ended up with choosing the area near my place(uptown, east side) which is quieter than midtown of course plus I thought I could pay more attention on detailing the sound maybe.
      As I was slowly walking down the street, I could hear some high school students yelling and laughing at each other even though they were half block away from me. Various sound of cars crossing by, through the blare of wheels, horns, engine hums. Then there was the sound came from far away, it was a great tooting and clanging and sooner a fire engine was rumbling. But when its getting closer to me, I covered my ears a bit since the fire engine sound is too loud that I couldn't be able to handle. As I kept walking, there was a man carrying his spinner suitcase slowly walking ahead, the fricative sound between the wheels and the ground was constant till I heard the beeping sound of the truck is reversing. Then, the clip-clop like sound came closer and closer, as I turned around, it was the sound of horse hooves making unusual sound on the road full of vehicles. People were cheering at the bar, the wind-blowing sound, woman’s high heels crunching on the ground...After all, even though each sound was normal and typical, what makes it unique is the different combination of all those various sounds and one can absorb differently as they are walking under the same atmosphere.

Soundwalk Blog #2- Maya Shor

After an opportunely cancelled class, I decided to roam the streets of the Upper East Side and focus on the sounds of the city. I put my headphones away, I put my phone away and tried to solely focus my attention on what I heard. 

I remember hearing the harsh sound my heavy boots made as they hit the pavement. Then my attention was focused on the tourist Israeli family who were running across the street. Their luggage wheels making a very irritating scratching sound as it hit the sidewalk. The parents speaking with phlegmy vowels, urging their children to hurry up.

I heard a plethora of beeping, and sirens and car engines but I tried to focus away from the typical city sounds. I continued to walk down the street and heard a woman loudly cursing on the phone, and another older woman giving her a dirty look as she listened in to the conversation. I heard the harsh wind blowing in and out of the busy streets. It was loud and quiet at the same time. The honking and speeding made harsh sounds but at the same time I heard a pigeon’s wings flap and a girl’s chewing gum make a soft pop. 

To stop and listen is to close your eyes and focus on the noise. The city’s distinct rhythm is one to be cherished.

Bathroom Graffiti

Video Here

Define Space: The Stairwell

Project 1

Define A Space- Holes of Hunter

FLOOR 14 - Deleta Smith

Project 1: Define Space 

FLOOR 14 

Deleta Smith 

We Could Pretend

We Could Pretend

Define a space project by Natasha Pearson. Enjoy

FInished Before You Know It

http://youtu.be/KxWS12_hF-U

Project 1

Project 1 from Pamela Pastercyk on Vimeo.

DEFINE A SPACE!!! Melissa Romagnuolo

Define a Space - Leticia Infante

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U8wwzTxhBE

"The Gargoyles of Thomas Hunter" Quentin Jackson

Defining Space

Define Space from Eduardo Barrera on Vimeo.

Defining Space

Assignment 1 from av lush on Vimeo.

Define a Space: Art Library

Reader from Lauren Li on Vimeo.

Extra Video -Theadora Hadzi

So I actually intern at a dance organization, where I handle their photography, video, and advertising. This is a music video that I did for them (its still in the editing process/needs to be redone.) I figured it would be cool to share this because it defines a dance in itself.

Thanks for viewing! :)

"Pay What You Owe" - Defining A Space by Theadora Hadzi

Define a Space Suspense/Horror - Jacob Cintron

*loud, sudden, sharp noises
*all sound effects can be found at freesound.org

Link to original video

A Hunter Experience

Korina Serrano - Define a Space

The Bridge - Define a Space from Korina Serrano on Vimeo.

Defining a Space: Keiko Yara

I'll meet you at three....ISH! by Saraa Elkhaloui

Kristina Garcia - Define A Space

)

Define a space---Zehui Liu

Define a space--Zehui Liu from Corrine Liu on Vimeo.

Joanne Mariano - Define a Space (Project 1)

"Define a Space - New York City" MEDIA 160 from Joanne Mariano on Vimeo.

Project 1: Define a Space - Diaka & Jose Double Feature

The view from the third floor.

Jose: Bird's Eye View

Diaka: Closing of the Doors

Both songs are from Roisin Murphy's Ruby Blue, now available on iTunes.

Define a Space Project - Starr Rochelle

https://vimeo.com/88660751

Extra Credit - Hunter Stone

Extra Credit - Short Takes on Health and Justice

          Though I unfortunately couldn't stay for the commentary/discussion panel at the end of the screening, I thoroughly enjoyed the Short Takes on Health and Justice films. I thought that all the films dealt with topics that are extremely relevant and in need of exploring. For example, many people think the horrors of the Vietnam War are unfortunate events of the past. However, Silent Exposure illustrated just how much the reverberations of the war still effect the families of Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese people today. Not only are veterans and their families not compensated financially, but the U.S. government continues to deny the severity of the effects of Agent Orange for both U.S. veterans and Vietnamese people living in areas where Agent Orange was sprayed. Similarly, while many view the AIDS epidemic as something of the '80s and '90s, The Stigma Continues showed that there are many still suffering from AIDS and that the stigmas attached to the illness continue to be propagated. 

          Although all the films were well-researched and contained important messages, some of them stood out to me from the perspective of a film critic. For example, those that had better cinematography, higher resolution, and edited more seamlessly were easier to watch aesthetically and therefore left more of an impact on me because I was not distracted from the content by the technical shortcomings. Furthermore, little things like the personal nature of Silent Exposure and the inclusion of humor and horror (namely, the graphic Cesarean section footage) in I Speak Birth made them more compelling than some of the other films. Overall, all of the films were great learning examples of how to (and how not to) use interviews, voice-over narration, and music to effectively create a riveting documentary. 

Project 1 - Hunter Stone

Project 1 Final from Hunter Stone on Vimeo.

Take a Walk in the Hunter Park

http://vimeo.com/88464690

Define Space Project- Rebecca Wang

http://youtu.be/n45CvPrIH_o

Project 1- Bathroom Suicide by Maya Shor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb6hSn3Ppi4&feature=youtu.be

EXPORTING & UPLOADING

Converting Your Final Cut Express Project Into A Blog Post

1) Once you have completed your final cut express project, place an 'In' point at the very beginning of your project in your sequence window and an 'Out' point at the very end of your project.

NOTE: It's a good idea to include three seconds of black slug at the very beginning and end of your sequence.

2) Go to FILE / EXPORT / USING QUICKTIME CONVERSION.

3) Give your project file a title, choose a destination folder for the project on your usb drive, and then click on the 'options' button at the bottom of your window.

4) Click on the Settings button in the video tab, and match your settings to the image below. Then click OK.

4) Then Click on the Sound Settings button, and make sure that your settings match the window below, and then click OK.

5) Then Click Save, and wait for your project to export.

6) Once your project has exported, login to your Vimeo account, and click on the upload link at the top of the page.

7) Click on Choose a Video to Upload, and select the video you just exported out of Final Cut.

8) On the next page, give your video a title and a short description.

9) Once this is finished, click on “Go to Your Video.” Once the video finishes encoding, you will see an icon of a paper airplane in the top right corner of your video screen. Click on this, and copy the EMBED Code.

10) In blogspot, create a new post, and choose to work in HTML mode.

11) Paste the embed code into your html window, and then publish your post!

Creative Common Music Sites

http://audionautix.com/

http://www.danosongs.com/

http://freemusicarchive.org/  (must check licenses here)

http://incompetech.com/

http://www.jimmyg.us/ (free sign up to download)

freesound.org (free sign up to download) (sound effects & ambient tracks)

With Credit Given (Creative Commons) - Free!

 By default, they are licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. To use this license, simply attribute the music in your piece (website, film, phone system, etc.) as is reasonable to the medium.

There is no cost to use music under the Creative Commons License.

Step 1: Give Credit

Short example:

Title Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

If you'd like to include the full license for legal reasons, you can do the following:

Title Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It is important that you replace the word Title with the Actual Title of the piece that you are using!