BA Hons Sound Arts Y2 –
Second year is where I feel I was able to refine my interest and my practice, specifically the contemporary issues in sound arts module. I felt that I was able to investigate deeper into the subjects I touched on in first year, namely diegesis in film and the scores relation to this.
A highlight of my time in second year was the Gallery 46 installation assignment. This was the first introduction into exhibiting work in a gallery setting. Although the event was organised by the university, the independent venue and the freedom we experienced when creating installations made the process feel as though we were professionals collaborating post degree. The variety of work in that show was astounding, yet a lot of the works were thematically linked resulting in a comprehensive show. I exhibited in the garden space with two other people, my piece was an electroacoustic composition created through granular synthesis of recordings conducted in the space, specifically the gravel. My neighbour was exhibiting work of a similar nature, dealing with field recordings and manipulated environmental sound. Our pieces were divided by a piece that invited collaboration a multichannel delay system created in Max MSP. I feel this experience influenced my attitude towards collaborations, and sharing space in a gallery, and provided me with a sense of confidence about showing work to the public.
One of the most impactful assignments in terms of my specific practice was the sound for screen element, in which we had an introduction to the structure of post production sound, a short exposure to foley work, and had to produce a short piece of audiovisual work. I found this assignment very useful as it made me think about what specific area of post production sound I wanted to pursue. For my project, I decided to do a re-design of a music video. The music video had no diegetic sound, I attempted to assemble atmospheres, record foley and compose music to create an immersive short film, redirecting the focus of the video from music to narrative. During this project I got to experience a small amount of every role in post production, I also gained an understanding of how each separate part comes together as a whole. Not only did I have an informative time creating this work, but I received valuable and insightful feedback both during and after the project. I consider this time to be a particular formative part of my education.