Soundwalk

Doing the soundwalk was a very interesting experience; normally, when I walk, I would be immersed in my earphones. I did not realize how much of an effect that had on my surroundings, it caused me to separate myself from the world around me. While I was in the walk i noticed what it meant to have my ears “closed” and I noticed what it was like to have them “open” for the first time. You ignore a lot of the nuances in the background. It definitely changes the perspective someone would have trying to actively hear out all the noises in the city.

My soundwalk was my travel to school, I normally take the bus and train but I got off earlier and walked farther to school. Manhattan has so many keynotes: cars, stores, people in conversations. They all blend together and it sounds like acoustic static. It is hard to understand what is going unless you take the time to slowly process each individual sound. I noticed how much longer my walk felt, I thought that would happen. It makes sense that when people listen to music time moves faster kind of. Walking felt like it took longer and the streets themselves felt like they were longer. It was weird after the exercise my ears were actually a bit tired. I guess it is similar to when someone exercises a muscle and then it gets fatigued. I walked from school and to school partially and the time difference differently changes the soundmarks.  

Assignment 1

Ordinary World from Julia Agostino on Vimeo.

Netherlands meets New York

           Netherlands meets New York show cased many interesting pieces of work from students from both countries. The videos ranged from documentaries to personal novels. All of the videos had stunning shots and turned out, over all, very well. There were many that I found interesting such as, one of the students combined footage she had taken with animation she had made. It was innovative and made me realize that I would like take a similar approach in one of my videos one day. What I liked the most of this event was the wide shift of genera, every video was radically different than the last. A documentary from one of the students from the Netherlands was about a convent in her home town, it was an interesting glimpse into a world I knew next to nothing. It was interesting to see because of how isolated the nuns live; it was mentioned in the video that the last person to go into the convent was over 40 years ago. There was one film that really stood out to me; it was the personal story of how the filmmaker dealt with the death of her mother. It was interesting because, like a documentary it told us about a situation many might know little about but it was also a narrative into the filmmakers mind. The script she had wrote for the film was very engrossing, the images of her house were strong but overall what had captured her audience was they narration. It was also very intimate, I probably know her better than any of the other filmmakers; it created a lasting impression that is very haunting. The event, like expected, really combined the culture of two different parts of the world.