Production Strategy for Trek 03

It's really all about the most picturesque places for me. I'm looking forward to compiling a compilation of sounds and stills that define the word "picturesque" or "scenic." Also, I always look to incorporate interesting angles of the pictures I take, maybe to make things seem bigger/smaller or more/less powerful than they really are. As far as sound goes, anything out of the ordinary. Most of my sound captures for trek 01 were very straight forward, point the mics at the object of sound and record. Now I'm looking to go beyond that, stretching out the two mics in different directions, experimenting with how I can explore the space of the area I am in by moving them farther apart or closer together. Of course, as always, I'm working toward making a final project that is original, creative, and very unique, something nobody has seen or maybe even thought about before. It'll be a test, but one that will bring great results I'm sure.

Ten Questions

1.) Although I'm planning on gathering more sounds at night, how much could the sounds change should I choose to go deeper into the Highland Woods?
2.) I love the game of golf so much and I always find myself going back to that golf course. How many other ways could I gather sounds from walking that course?
3.) Did that pond I discovered really have no sound or was I just not trying hard enough?
4.) With the leaves off the trees, what kind of sounds do the trees make in the wind?
5.) Are there any patterns in light near my house that I can capture?
6.) What kinds of new angles can I create to capture images?
7.) Should I create new angles when capturing images, what affect would the angle have on the object or scene captured in the image?
8.) There's a pretty wide field off the beaten path by the golf course I haven't explored yet. What other areas have I not explored that I might have missed on my first two treks?
9.) I'm always looking for natural sounds. What's so bad about man made sounds?
10.) Do I dare try a few spontaneous recordings in my house, like the recordings with my cat?

Trek Assessment #4

This was my favorite experience by far. NEVER in my lifetime have squirrels ever been as friendly as the one I met at the golf course while I was recording and exploring the space of a particular field next to the course. After making the recording I noticed this squirrel hopping up the tree line. He didn't notice me at first, I was sort of standing behind a tree so maybe he just didn't notice me. Suddenly it hit me that maybe I should catch him running up here before he takes off after he sees me. So I turned the mics toward the squirrel and started recording. I picked him up great on the track. There were leaves on the ground already so I could hear him shuffling through them. He got right up next to me, no more than six feet away and made an interesting chirp kind of low pitched scolding noise for about ten seconds. Then he booked it up a tree. The recording was a great success, but it definitely was a fun experience. Never before have I ever been able to get that up close and personal with a fellow squirrel.

Trek Assessment #3

The number one thing I've noticed from following through will all of these treks is that there is so much about the area in which you reside in that you miss by just driving your car everywhere. Even if your riding your bike, you still mist a ton. Walking in areas around my house helped me the realize the true beauty and definition of what home is. I know that should I ever leave this place, and it is bound to happen, that I will miss it terribly. It's these simple things that I noticed on my treks that I take for granted. Sometimes it's just nice to get away from all the technology, all the buildings and all the traffic and just get out in an area where you can feel separated from the rest of the world. I found that to be surprising I could feel that much from just taking a couple walks. Another surprising outcome, on my trek 01, I walked down by a pond off the path of the golf course. I figured with the presence of water and the fact that it was a somewhat windy day I could find a ton of sounds by this pond but I heard nothing through the mics. It wasn't because it was too windy to hear, I had my body blocking the wind. I'm not sure why that turned out that way but there was no sound coming from the water, not even animal life (sometimes you can pick up the sounds of bullfrogs jumping in the water that were before resting on the banks). A third surprising experience came to me when I decided, on a whim, to record my cat purring on my bed. He was very relaxed, but I know he hates anything black. So the purr quickly changed to a growl when he saw two big black microphones in his face. Normally just hearing my cat meow, it's just a meow in my ears. But listening to his meows through the stereo mics, I could pick up different pitches and different tones in his voice that were very very interesting. It was almost as if he went through every meow he had in him. I guess it just sounded very different up close. That's one of the main things I learned through all this. When your going through your everyday life, sounds are just sounds. But when you take the time to really focus in on something, like the time I took to really focus in on the sounds I recorded in trek 01, it becomes more than just a sound. It becomes somewhat of an artistic piece, something that can be used to create a work of art. It's hard to explain, but your perspective on everyday things changes dramatically when you begin to notice and focus on them.

Trek Assessment #2

No matter where I walk during my treks, I keep going back to an area that is very fond in my memory. I am an avid golfer and enjoy the game not only for its sporting challenges but for its picturesque sceneries and sounds. Walking eighteen holes of beauty can really separate you from the modernized world we live in. Up the road from my house is our home course, the golf course I grew up playing on since I was in the single digits of age. In both trek 01 and trek 02 I found myself coming back to that area, in both day, afternoon, evening, and night, gathering its sounds throughout the day throughout the back nine of the course where the driveway is. There are so many symbolic parts and areas of that course that bring back such memories for me: the looks, the smells, the feelings all rush back to me. It's a place of peace and ease for me. There's no doubt I will end up there once again for my trek 03.

Trek Assessment #1

During my first trek, there's an area just up the road for my house where a trail leads back into the deep woods of Mule Hill. Normally there aren't many people there at night since during the day it acts as a nice place for people to walk their dogs or get some exercise in. My first trek was really composed of two treks: one for which I gathered sounds during the day and the other for which I gathered sounds at night. Collecting the sounds in that area of the woods at night got pretty scary. Without much traffic on the roads, being so deep in the woods and so far away from help if I needed it just gave me shivers. So I recorded sounds in those woods as quickly as I could before booking it back out to the main road. Then again, during my first trek while collecting sounds during the day, what really bothered me was when I was trying to gather all natural sounds, blocking out as much of anything man made as I could. But during the day there's so much traffic and so many cars driving by it was so hard to get sounds that way. Only in a select few spots could I be so far away from main roads where I could get some natural sounds of the wind through the trees, the birds, and the true environment I was surrounded by.