Sydney Hlavaty - Digital Studio

adobe after effects : demo assignment

embers

sydney hlavaty

artist's statement

The goal of this piece is to draw attention to not only the severity of wildfires, but also to the frequency of wildfires in California. These fires may be caused by a number of things, including (but not limited to) electrical accidents, lightning, dry winds, bright sun, as well as civilian carelessness. I hope that this piece will give those who did not grow up around these constant wildfire battles both an understanding of how damaging they can be, as well as an understanding of how climate change is drastically affecting these kinds of natural disasters. The Thomas Fire in 2017-2018, about which Fire Chief David Endaya is speaking about in the majority of the audio clips used, was the biggest wildfire ever recorded in California history. This came about just after California had declared yet another period of drought, caused by rising temperatures and loss of rainfall. To those who grew up around this, fires have been integrated into our routines, and it's a bit terrifying to realize just how used to these disasters we are becoming.

adobe premiere - art appropriation project

proposal:

I would like to source videos that show the damage from California fires to honor first responders, particularly those who have geared up to fight the massive California wildfires that have occurred in the last decade. The "critique" that would come from this video would be towards those who are so careless in the environment and make mistakes that end up leading to so much damage.

adobe premiere demo: found footage

adobe audition project: self portrait

sounds were all self-recorded

song featured in the background:

out of reach by amplified

(written and professionally recorded by my band in 2019)

Responses to other students:

Natalie

I really enjoyed the pacing of your piece, and it was one of the strongest elements that immediately stood out to me. You did a great job of layering very common sounds that you encounter in your day to day life into an interesting and easy to follow sequence. There was a nice buildup in the middle, where the text tones got faster and faster, and it helped give a sense of urgency without feeling too alarming. I also really enjoyed how you started and ended the piece with running water; it gave it a nice continuity and I could imagine it playing on a loop. I really loved the very distant sounds of laughter in the background at the beginning — you edited them in such a way that they drift in nicely and fade away without feeling too jarring or out of place considering they were the only use of dialogue in your piece. Overall, I do feel like I got a good glimpse into what may be day to day life for you, and I definitely think you accomplished the task of giving a listener a sense of what goes on around you. I wonder how certain sounds could’ve been strengthened with other effects besides reverb / echo, as it seemed like almost everything had some kind of delayed effect placed on. Overall, the reverb adds a nice touch, but it did feel a bit repetitive at times. Otherwise, I think this was a great take on this assignment and you did a great job!

Angela

I was very pleased with the way you used your professor's lectures and dialogue from your classes as the foundation of the piece. I think it's a really interesting take on the idea of a self portrait; that we are what we experience around us every day. I think the dialogue you chose was particularly powerful, especially the section on depression, and you overlapped it all very well. I definitely didn’t see (or hear, I guess?) the loud bang coming, and it certainly had a very jarring effect. However, I really liked that you included something so harsh to break up the almost melodic lecture sounds. I also think the way that you transitioned out of the jumpscare (not sure the best way to describe it) was incredibly successful, as you let the listener get a moment of peace before slowly bringing up the softer, ambient noises again. As I mentioned with Natalie’s, I wonder how certain sounds could’ve been strengthened with other effects besides reverb / echo, as it seemed like almost everything had some kind of delayed effect placed on it. The reverb adds a nice touch in many places, but it did feel a bit repetitive at times. But overall, even though you seemed pretty stressed about how this project would be received, I really think you did a great job and created an engaging and dynamic piece. Great job!

Sydney Hlavaty

Digital Studio

Written Response

Adobe Audition Unit

One observation, question or concern about the Susan Philipsz Art 21 feature you were assigned. This question / observation should be 2-3 sentences in length and should be something the group can discuss.

I was very interested in Susan’s work overall and I found myself wondering how she might have interpreted the COVID-19 crisis — often I find myself attributing silence to the long months of quarantine, especially in big cities such as NYC where everything seemed to slow down. I am very interested in how Susan’s approach to this kind of work might apply to COVID-19; how might one combine various sounds from quarantine into a soundscape that captured the haunting emptiness of those early months of the pandemic?

A 150 word response regarding one of the pieces which was shown and discussed in the Sound Art Lecture (what did you like, what moved you, and why?, what did you get, not get, and why?, etc.).

AQurld HEARding Cats Collective, swimming pool performance

I was particularly interested in the technical aspects of a performance like this, especially when listeners are able to submerge themselves underwater and ear the sounds as they move throughout the pool. I grew up swimming all my life, and often played call and response games with my friends in the pool, and I was always fascinated by the way sound moved through water. When it comes to installing instruments, microphones, and speakers underwater, there are so many aspects that you have to be aware of to simply not damage the technology. I am curious about the costs for finding waterproofed materials, as well as the setup — how did they assemble the performance prior to putting it in the pool? Was it always tested underwater, or were sounds examined first in the air and then submerged? I am also curious how they recorded the performance and if they were able to compare what it sounded like above water to below. Seems like a really fascinating project to witness and I think it would be really fun to explore the relationship between sound and water further.