For Element one I have done a demo audio of the Kitchen along with the audio played at all time, consisting of a mix of underwater samples.
What’s Next:
In the next stage, the structure will be combined together along with the rest of the installation. As part of completing the kitchen, the window and a chandelier will be added to include the element of interaction by lowering. since the person towers above each part of the installation, it will trigger lights and sound for the specific area.
the process started with referring to the pictures I have kept as a reference for this section of project, as shown below:
Mood board
These pictures were acquired from Pinterest as part of my mood board for the installation of the kitchen. I wanted the theme to be delicate and open therefore planned to make gigantic windows a main component of the design.
After going through various collections of pictures I made a rough sketch of the ideal kitchen scene for my project. I kept the window as a main component because I want the whole structure including all four of the scenes to be without boundary. The best solution was to make windows a main component so I can skip the issue of walls or veiling being a block for the view. through all of them will be kept at lower than eye level I wanted audience to have a complete vision of the structures and forth to feel its all a part of the life. This idea contributes to incorporating the concept of life cycle into the project without an arrow showing its one after another.
The cycle may not have arrow to navigate the cycle but it does have a road or a path around a lake according to the scene.
The rough sketch of final product
The ground plan was made using the scale of 1:25 and they are done while considering if they are blown up to the scale of 1:1 it will be true to size and will be comfortable to be considered as a a regular kitchen. The sizing might slightly vary depending on the material and how the hinges work with he design of the material.
The measurements for the washing area, cooking range the refrigerator were left according to a general measurement, enough to accommodate in the design.
Ground plan in 1:25 scale
For trying to find the components for the kitchen I started with understanding how will the house feel like or what kind equipment would that family probably prefer to purchase according to the mood board. This lead me to further researching my options and did take opinions from my father who has expertise in the field of construction and decorating houses according his clients preferences.
I wanted to include many more interesting detailing such as toasters and a Mixing machine to give more liveliness to the scene
After measuring and calculating the precise measuring of the main elements (refrigerator, cupboard, the island table and the walls) in the kitchen on a white card, all of them were cut out using a 10A surgical knife.
Right now after completing the painting and texturing of all the elements, it doesn’t look empty but it miss the liveliness it needs for it to seem like an active kitchen where people are living their daily life, rather than a showcase kitchen.
I started the structural making with the base board then continued with the island table and the bar stool since they are the most detailed structures in the whole kitchen. All the measurements were drawn beforehand to make the process easier.
As mentioned before, most of the structures are made using white card , which are supported using toothpicks, thin wooden dowel, different threads etc. Once they are glued together a layer of gesso is applied to make the structure sturdy, later it is textured using putty od painted accordingly.
After completing the table, I started with the appliance by collecting the information for each model. For the refrigerator, rather than using paint a thin steel sheet was was used to give authenticity,
Due to time constrain, I had to skip the French window as well as the oven, but they will be completed for the main installation.
Later all of them were assembled together to form the final structure. While assembling, the hardest part was to make the bar stool be intact. due to slight error, it lost its balance and was not able to handle the weight of the dried clay. Later I glued them to the base card and it successfully stayed intact.
Mixing started right after firing out the concept in beginning of January 2025. The process began with understanding the number of characters and what are they doing. It consists of two parents and a baby. I wanted to give a happier baby for this scene because babies are always seen as a crying mess or with an unrealistic expectation of babies who never cries. If possible I would like to experiment with baby crying to happy.
I started by compiling the files I have already collected and few from Soundly. the process started but soon it showed the license of the iLok I got from uni had expired, leaving me with little time to do anything. This made me panic and astray from my work and I was able to create a basic structure using tracks from Soundly and free sound. The structure is based on the story line of a parent’s and a toddlers breakfast routine.
Initial stages:
As part of trying to figuring out the possible ways to rectify the situation, I did try to contact all possible person related to getting the contract renewed but was out of their hands since there was no possibility of renewing the contract in the limited time. These series of unfortunate events took place in the last minute therefore my next best idea was to bounce the maximum number of tracks and to use them again while adding more detailing with reduced number of treatment.
fortunately, later I was able to book studio for few hours where I was able to mix additional tracks and was able to work with better precision for the timings such as the closing of the door. These tiny detailings with better panning
Since I was able to book the studio, I was able to adjust the EQ better to give the feeling of distance. Though reverb is the most used to give the spacial feeling I fest they were best used when there was an object movement. Also, find the track such as room tone was a game changer for me because, previously due to my lack of experience in finding the right library, I used to record various rooms from different locations for my project which are later mixed together asa base layer.
the trouble I experienced while panning was when I started to get confused with the storyline, especially when I was trying to improvise the on my feet. this was easily solved when I whole down each sound which might be apt for the parent one and parent who, including the pressure of closing doors.
Currently these mixes are in a demo stage therefore, most of the tracks are from library other than the once I have collected beforehand. few of the inspirations I used were the pattern and movement of the subject in the India movie, English Vinglish intro scene. Another one was from, the cracking of the egg from Ratatouille and few other movies which specifically made cracking an egg interesting. Similarly I would like to experiment a bit more further with the cooking sounds for the next part.
For the base layer consisting of the underwater sounds which will be common for the whole installation, are all sourced by myself and will be further edited in the next stage of the project.
Haven’t been able to much of recording other than few regarding birds and sea shore. Though I am not sure how to use the sea shore recording I got from Beachy Head, Brighton, It has turned out well. I did use the method of multiple direction and distances from the waves to get a good wholesome mix later while I am mixing them together.
I read in a book (can’t remember which one) that I should record them at different altitude to give it better specialising. I tried this method by recording them from the stair and on the ground level on the beach. This was later mixed, some of them turned out well but had to delete few of them due to the sound of wind.
(picture of me recording)
For rest of the rest of the samples of cooking were made of which some of them can be used according to the story line I come up with. Most of the sounds recorded were of chopping by using a wooden cutting board and a cucumber with a knife. I did try the sound of frying an egg but did not have as much clarity as thought it might. better option would be to prepare bacons on a pan to get much more louder crackling of the boiling oil. If its not possible I might resort to the track I found on Soundly.
Storyline:
Towards the end the storyline I though with was perfect to showcase the movement of sound in a room is through a pair of parents who enter the kitchen at different times and the toddler/ baby along with one of them. Soon after the entrance of the first parent they start cooking which is represented by movement of pans and utensils which are apt for a breakfast chaos.
This chaos included sounds of a laptop to show the working life of the parents. the base layer to create the atmosphere for a cozy morning, can be done with adding wind chimes chiming and birds chirping in the distance.
Not sure how to bring a windy morning into the space but would like to try wind hitting the window or the tree branches brushing on the window. these movements can be an each scenario, as an example trees can be a violent element if the scene is raining (camping). This can be useful to showcase my skills in making the same sound different in different scenarios.
After going through the process of multiple iteration of the concept and recognising the lack of narration to explain the main concept, because I wanted to include the idea of meal together among family but most of my topics were either complicated or wasn’t appealing for me. Later, during of my final tutorial we found the idea of applying the most basic topic “cycle of life” and connecting it to meals together while adding interesting twists into it. Though a meal is a part of human it is not necessarily the directly give. concrete concept to explain why a baby growing around food is not a regular concept and it can be interesting while I try to explain to my tutor.
During my research I found that life of parents are not highlighted as much as it should be. Therefore, I wanted to try bringing the audio in the perspective of parents with the sounds in relation to the child as a part go it. The life cycle starts as a couple/ dates later, in long term it gradually changes to a family where a child’s growth begins. The most common stages in the growth of a child to an adult is divided into five stages as shown below:
Theses stages were found in a journal, from which I selected toddler, childhood and Adulthood as the stages I wanted to represent through y work. though these stages were selected, it doesn’t mean that at all stages the child has to be present, an example being in adulthood the parents might be in the stage of empty nester with their kids moving out in many situations.
With these thoughts, the next step was to find different occasions where a family can have meal together, some of the ideas as shown below. Most of the scenarios can be a good one but I had to think about the bringing uniqueness and variety along with a continuous storyline.
Thought process of deciding the final four scenarios
its these ideas of scenarios which can be used for different stages, I was able to design a cycle where the couple starts as a date in a restaurant and then ends at the restaurant once when their kids become and adult and moves out. The cycle is as shown below:
Each of the locations were chosen due to the difference from each other, where I will be able to develop my skills with ambience in multiple styles.
Ideation for the miniature:
The idea is to have all scenarios on the same circular plane but at different altitude, similar to architectural miniature models of an upcoming city, but this will contain different parts of the world including wildlife and city. All of them will be made using the scale of 1:25 which is a common scale for miniature with more detailing. this will be a better option since the other scales can be comparatively smaller making it nearly impossible to do as much detailing as I would like to, in the given time period.
They will be interconnected by the gradual change in the nature and through a pound as the centrepiece since water connects all parts of land together. The placement/ order of the structures will be according to the cycle of scenarios.
At a later date, I was still not able to convince myself with the idea of the roof or the rooms being completely present, since it would block the view and the interconnection between all four of them. While mind storming different methods which can be used, the idea of completely avoiding the roof and walls emerged to the surface. This doesn’t mean there won’t be any walls present but will avoid any unnecessary tall walls and will implement more dome shaped windows into structure. This will help in completing the structure without the need of a wall and will keep everything open from all directions.
At a later point the whole stallion will be made touch or pressure sensitive to activate small lights such as campfire or the tiny lick std in the kitchen along with the audio track for each of them. In case of this not being possible, then the lights and speakers will be synced together.
References
since I am interested in underwater sounds I started with it , something I am more familiar with rather than a complete new concept to start trying out. I knew if I want any movement of the nature underwater it should be away from London. This lead me to Strout river and the river side walk. It is a 2 hour walk on a sunny day but die to my poor planning and unexpected weather it was raining and impossible to walk by. But I did manage to get some great recording especially some phenomenal one when the rain started to pour. I will be able to use it as my base layer, as part of my transition.
The walking route I chose
The experience of using Sound Device interface along with hydrophone was interesting was interesting. It was my first time to use the combination outdoor while on a track. I did have back up of Zoom H5, which was useful when my plan one stopped recording midway.
As a trial to get access to deeper part of the river, I used a Boom and to fling the hydrophone as a fishing hook.
I mixed audio from different places and countries because there is no specific place set for the project. It is an ideal place where the opportunity for people to be be together is a possible scenario. In our world many times slightest matters can trigger issues leading to distance between people who are meant to stick together. Similarly, this place and the concept of the different scenes together is fiction and hopefully possible in this world.
Some of the other recording done from Kashmir, India are as shown as below. It doesn’t have enough clarity therefore it has to cleaned up as much as possible and can only be used as a layer in the background
A concept which occurred during one of my tutorial is to play a radio in the background and for one of the character to hum along with it. This was a suggestion because I wanted to have human interactions such as talking as part of daily chores in the kitchen, but it seems not possible with the time contrail. I wanted to have human interaction through the sound because there won’t be any evidence of human in the physical miniature other than certain remains, such as pan on the kitchen counter top with fried eggs on it or other detailing.
As part of it I did try humming along with the sound but wasn’t successful, and don’t think I can use it, but I would like to give it a better try afterwards while I am doing my whole project in detail.
Reference:
https://www.walkinginthewild.co.uk/long-distance-trails/stour-valley-path
https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/walk-river-stour-suffolk
Session % with Cathy Kane was an a session which helped me to reflect on the real reason for me to work on the topic I did chose previously. Though I knew I am interested in the topics of sound for motion media, I didn’t know how will I be able to connect my future to my current project idea.
What I recognised from the session was that ambience of any place is important in the field of entertainment regardless of what kind. It can vary from theatre to movies to games, it will always remain important, therefore getting expertises in the field is a key point for my future career.
This lead me to understand that I will have to work with different scenarios with different characteristics, otherwise I automatically stay in my comfort zone and neglect the vast variety audience are interested in or I can explore.
Though it made me recognise that I will have to explore more reference and styles, I do want to work with my go to or most preferred feel ‘underwater’ along with the project. Another part of the session was when we were discussion our project with our course mates and us trying to guess the keywords, I felt my idea was clear and understandable but I do need to work more on it to make it extraordinary.
The spark of concept was while going through a showcase of David Hockey works at a gallery in Bond Street. It was also right after I visited my family for the Summer break and I was going through my homesickness. This brought me to the idea of narration in relation to around the table at different places, since it would give me opportunity to work with areas which are both loud and quite with specification of the spaces.
Tylor Dining Room by David Hockney (Tate, no date)
Some of the around the table scenarios were:
>Meeting/ office conference- for the silence and detailing
>Camp site- nature
>Kitchen table- the clutter of cooking and the warmth of a family
>Gambling- very loud place with extreme scattered layering
>Hospital Room- patient care with the sounds of the beeping and distant chaos
The concept is to place the scenarios in a cycle where all of them are connected to each other through the nature though all of them are different. They will have a common connection in the centre using a lake or a waterbody. I prefer to give some kind of connection to underwater since I want to improve my techniques of working with hydrophone.
Iteration to the concept:
my concept evolved from different spaces around a table back to family meals and their variations. One of the reason being concentrating on family meals or having meal with loved ones and their emotional impact on us. Some of my researched lead me to understand the decline of family meals per week in UK. The reasons varying from having meals in front of a screen to the discomfort of being with their own family due to multiple reasons (‘Why Aren’t Families Eating Together? Too Much Work’, 2022). According to the data collected from a group in 2022, some of the reasons for avoiding family dinners being discomfort with family, concern with eating habits of others on the table or concern about their own eating habits (‘Why Aren’t Families Eating Together? Too Much Work’, 2022).
The reason to promote meals with loved ones were explored by a group of scientists and some of the
Some of the benefits found during my research (‘We’re Better Together – Benefits of Eating Meals Together | First Coast YMCA’, no date)
Reference:
Tate (no date) ‘Tyler Dining Room‘, David Hockney, 1984, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hockney-tyler-dining-room-p20122 (Accessed: 11 January 2025).
‘We’re Better Together – Benefits of Eating Meals Together | First Coast YMCA’ (no date). Available at: https://fcymca.org/your-stories/blog/were-better-together-benefits-of-eating-meals-together/ (Accessed: 11 January 2025).
‘Why Aren’t Families Eating Together? Too Much Work’ (2022), 23 November. Available at: https://ccpulse.org/2022/11/23/why-arent-families-eating-together-too-much-work/ (Accessed: 11 January 2025).
The process started with listing downing all the possible ideas which can be expanded into a much more elaborate projects. They are as shown in the picture below.
Picture of the list
Some of them were eliminated during the personal tutorial due to them being over used methods or it potentially not being practical due to the need of excessive time and voice actors (radio drama). The ideas were not as appealing as the ambience through a miniature world. Therefore the most ideal main project is to present a scenario in a miniature world with voices and ambience design. An option was to include a bit of scientific research since I have a backup future plan to enter research based post grad for design but can’t decide about it until I have a fixed concept to work with.
The second potential idea is to collaborate with an animation group, since I am still in the process of understanding live recording and working with dialogue editing for the post production. Though I will be using foley for the production for the animation, I want to work with something which needs loads of different skills rather than one particular aspect.
In case of not being able to find a collaboration I will have to expand my search to different kinds of entertainment and screen courses. As a backup idea or the third option is to work with materials and experiment its transfer through them, I would like to work with water as main subject since its been one of my main interest in my recent projects. though I have used underwater sounds from different resources, this time I would like to include more hydrophone recording while trying to find the differences between different sources and the area. Though they might be the differences might be detailed and will need more reproach, as well as learning to differentiate them, but this might be an opportunity for developing personal skills.
As part of portfolio I have to do two project but I have selected my options according to the career option I would like to choose. The first one is a combination of both my first year in theatre design and sound design. I would like to showcase the skills I attained during my first year such as miniature model making with extreme precision. It consists of planning the structure and understating the space in respect to its measurements. They will be useful for understanding the volume of the room and visualising the possible reflective surfaces for the sound.
Along with the miniature making I will be using my skills of storytelling, to explain the concepts using the different scenarios through the audio for each miniature set. It is considered as my main project since I am interested in sound installation and ambience design for screen.
My previous project: miniature structure
The option for my second work is to concentrate on sound effects for screen or theatre. One of the option being collaboration with other UAL courses, radio drama, novel game design or in case of an impossibility of a collaboration is to make an experimental material based sound installation. As a start, I have reached out to other courses, mainly BA Animation through the course leader. Hopefully it will be a stepping stone for bigger projects.
Link for my previous foley work
Another option I would like to keep as a backup project is to work with materials while manipulating them according to the sound produced by each of them.it will be a continuation of my previous project, where I was trying to work with string. This time it will be much more well researched with better
Picture of the instrument