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Final Project Proposal

Idea:

I want to revisit narration a bit. However, it won't be a literal narration like project 2. I want to explore the trash talking, taunting, and overall competitive nature that comes when a bunch of guys play video game together.

Timeline:

The piece will start off with the group of guys getting ready to start the game. The beginning will be calmer without much talking. As the game progresses, the yelling and taunting will increase. Only one can be the winner which means one will be screaming in victory at the end.

Materials:

A group of guys (no more than 4 participating in the game itself. There could be more as onlookers)

Video game

Concerns:

I'm not sure how to start the piece strong enough. To me, just having the piece start off with the group of guys waiting for the game to start isn't as strong as I hope it can be. Another idea is having them knock and come in to play video games. Also, variation?

In-class Suggestions:

Narration

Practicing alone

*Intro: Console starting, video game music

*Outro: Video game music

Plot, development

Winner that the audience can root for

Project 3: Coca-Cola

Project 3: Coca-Cola by Shuanged

Project Description and Reflection:

This piece focused more on the social aspects of a Coca-Cola. Many times, especially as we are growing up, soda is the social drink that binds most you

th together. It's often seen that it will later be replaced by alcohol as the drink of choice in social settings, but Coca-Cola has a carefree feel to it that is often accompanied by youth. So I wanted to have a little playfulness to the piece.

The piece opens up outside the house of a social event and the door being opened to you. You are immediately invited in and offered a drink, which would be the Coca-Cola. The first part just focuses on the refreshing aspect of Coca-Cola, the thing that you would think of most and is commonly represented in their commercials. The second half of the piece delves a little bit more into the playful nature. The biggest differentiation between soda and any other non-carbonated drinks is, of course, the carbonated water. Carbonated water has properties that can allow anyone to burp. I tried to use the burping

to ease the character in at the end. The sounds throughout the piece show no indication of the audience being in with the crowd. After the belch, a few people from the "crowd" finally take notice and give off some laughter. It ends with a can being crushed and just tossed aside. Throughout the piece, the audience has to deal with just drinking the soda while not being a part of the crowd. As the can is being tossed at the end, it is in hopes that the character is no longer not a part of the crowd.

The project posed the greatest difficulty in the gathering of the sounds. I didn't want to have the generic sounds everyone would think of, but in the end had to resort to some of those sounds like the opening of cans. I wanted to focus on the "fizz" in the Coke cans, but they were overpowered by the background noise and barely

audible at all with the static from the mic. That caused me to change my concept to the one I have now with the social aspects.

The creation of the body to hold the speakers wasn't as difficult. The only problems were that the box still looked empty. I fixed that with more reinforcements out of foam core.

Sources:

My recordings

Supplementary materials:

Project 3 Draft

My project has over-gone a few revisions, but holds a few similar characteristics. Instead of a water bottle, my project now focuses on a can of soda. There is normally soda at parties, especially for those under the drinking age. I wanted to use beer at first, but soda is more readily available and legal for me to buy. I want to capture the essence of fun and parties popped into my head. The next drink in terms of usage in parties aside from alcohol is soda. I want to get sounds of the when a can of soda is first opened with the metal tab being pushed in and the fizz of the carbonated liquid fizzing. Sounds of it being poured into a cup can be used. I'm going to have background noise incorporated into the piece. It'll be sounds of people clinking their cans together and having a good time. I plan to end it similar to how it started with one last can being opened.

One problem that quickly arose was the actual object I was using. I wanted to use a two liter bottle of Coca-Cola at first. However, the problem was that I couldn't envision how the speakers would be incorporate

d into the item. The width of the bottle is pretty much the same width of the speakers, but the bottle rounds out unlike the speakers. There would be a big gap between where the bottle begins to round and the actual speakers.

Wanting to avoid this problem, I decided to focus of soda cans. The main difference between soda cans that can solve this issue is that they come in boxes. I can turn the box into the speakers with a speaker on each side. Aesthetically, I don't know if I should include a can or not. I was thinking of attaching cans onto the top of the box, but I don't know if that would help at all.

Project 3: Proposal

The object I would like to use in my next project is a water bottle or any kind of plastic container that contains liquid in it like a jug of apple juice or anything similar. There is a multitude of sounds that can be heard through a water bottle. These sounds are, but not limited to, the following:

• The sound of water sloshing around inside the bottle.
• The sound of water being splashed around as the bottle is being shaken.
• The sound of the plastic bottle being pressed by fingers.
• The sound of the cap being twisted on and off.
• The sound of water being poured out of the bottle.

The mood I am aiming to start this piece with is a calm and soothing one. The sloshing of the water inside the bottle sounds kind of like the water in a bath or a pool. I want to try and imitate the feel you get by hearing the calming waters of either a bath or a pool by gently rolling the water inside the bottle around. The mood of the piece can change when the plastic on the bottle is being pressed by together or when the cap is being twisted off. This sudden interruption can happen in the middle of the piece. It can then be soothed back in with the movements of the water. Overall, it will give the feeling of a storm passing by. It will be calm and serene at first, then transition into a harsh and thunderous part, and finally back into being calm and serene.

Example Sounds:

http://www.freesound.org/people/RHumphries/sounds/1944/

http://www.freesound.org/people/Churd-Tzu/sounds/8835/

http://www.freesound.org/people/fogma/sounds/19873/

http://www.freesound.org/people/FreqMan/sounds/42958/

http://www.freesound.org/people/TwistedLemon/sounds/6110/

http://www.freesound.org/people/sandyrb/sounds/93165/

http://www.freesound.org/people/Razzvio/sounds/79145/

http://www.freesound.org/people/jennypendel/sounds/53496/

Project 2: Final

The Rockbottoms of Relationships by Shuanged

Project Description and Reflection:

The piece starts off where every relationship shouldn’t. It’s first downfall. The characters depicted in this piece are a couple that has just gone through what many would call the “honeymoon phase” of a relationship. After all the glitz and glamor of the initial perks of a relationship vanishes, we are left with ugly arguments and disagreements. The male character in this piece goes to a friend to pour out his frustration over the first bumps of his relationship. The friend, the listener, is then brought into the middle of the battlefield (which is the arguments by the couple) through the male friend’s narration. The project centers on the arguments that are being retold by the friend. As more arguments stem out from the original, the more layered the arguments become. They all become muddled together into one confusing and irritating aspect for the male friend who, keep in mind, is retelling the story.

The project was a bit of challenge to just set up. It was my first time working with others to be voice actors. Scheduling a time when both were free to partake in my project was rather difficult. Once that was taken care of, I had a minor mishap with my recording device. It just wouldn’t record the first time around. Thus, the argument section was recorded with my laptop. It turned out pretty crisp except the door slamming early on in the arguments. I didn’t have as much difficulty recording the second time around for the narrations. However, once I put the files onto my laptop, I realized that there was a lot of white noise in the background of each take. The challenge there was to take out as much white noise as possible without interfering with the voices from the recordings. Then it was a matter of blending it in with the rest of the piece without those harsh transitions. Overall, the project was a joy to do and I feel pretty confident about my final version of the piece.

Sources:

My own recordings

Supplementary Materials:

The Rockbottom of Relationships Draft by Shuanged

The version I had in class on October 18. The EQ on the narrations were a bit off and transitions were a bit harder.

Project 2 Proposal

Idea:

Straight out of their "honeymoon" phase, a couple is having an argument. This one argument spawns more that happen throughout the same night. While the arguments are going on, the story is being narrated by one of them.

Execution:

It will begin with the guy in the relationship approaching a "friend" outside of Starbucks (location can be changed) to rant about his relationship problems. It will then fade into the arguments as a flashback.

Multiple "arguments" are going to be recorded. They will be layered over each other but not at a volume that can differentiate between the arguments. Only the beginnings of each argument will be heard. The narration will signal a transition from one argument to another.

Afterwards, it will fade back into the present. The guy in the relationship will conclude his rant and then ask his "friend" how he's doing with the audio ending before a response can be given.