Infographics narration

 

Do you still remember your childhood days wherein computers, gadgets and internet were still not a great importance in our life? I still do remember those days. Playing tumba lata, patintero and other filipino games during those times. Not only that, family time every dinner is really one thing that I really look forward in to. It's really the time were I hear and share a lot of stories with my family. The part were my father share me some stories about his life, about stories in his community during his days and others stuff. Those were the memories during my childhood. But in the present generation, the youths have come to another way of building up memories during their childhood. As what in the narration says, "Mas pamilyar d0in ang mga bata sa mga kwentong dayuhan at ang mga kwentong local ay unti-unting nakakalimutan. Nawawala ang kahalagahan ng interaksyon at kwentuhan." That is what presently is happening with the youths of this present generation. The culture of the filipino's starts to change in to a different level. So we have presented "Project Banig Zamboanga" to save and preserve the old yet very Filipino culture. We have come up with an infographics that we'll allow us to share to the people about our move in making the youths of this generation be more creative and widen their imaginations in creating stories especially stories of our own. As of the moment, we have made several characters and vectors for this video. Some of the characters included were Maria Makiling and some popular pinoy characters.

Here is a sample screen shot of our project:

Foley

The film "New Years Eve" staring Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac efron and others was our personal choice in creating a foley. This was really a fun and at the same time challenging experience for us because it was our first time to do a foley. I've been to music editing and adding sound effects but I've never tried recording your own sound effects that should match to the object that is presented in the film. I was assigned as one of the recorders for recording the sound effects.

We have assigned voice artist for each character that is present in the scene. Ezra Flores was assigned as Ingrid Withers(Michelle Pfeiffer), Roberto Oquias was Jonathan Cox(John Lithgow). Victor Ian as Ava(Sofia Vergara) and Hannah Jane Torres as Laura(Katherine Heighl).

The challenging part in doing this foley is how immitate the voices of the each character. It was really hard because you need to express your words like you are the person in the movie so you could immitate the voice properly and at the same time the timing for every word that the character says. We have made several drafts just to get the right timing and proper expressing of the voice. But the recording of the sound effects was better for me. Most of the sound effects were only recorded only ones. The eng that was been thrown to the wall was the hardest for me. I need to keep the timing and the right impact sound because I didn't want to waste an egg. Luckily, we have recorded it only ones. I was also disturbed with the noise or the hissing sound in the recording. I did not get the chance to remove the noise of the voice since it was recorded  directly to the software. We did not have much time to edit it one by one. But overall, I was really enjoying this experience. It was so much fun to do a foley and I'm looking forward to make another one. Ofcourse, I'd like to work with better equipments and materials on my hand.

Balats Productions - Ang Lihim(An Audio Drama)

Cast:
Ezra Flores - Ida and "kambal"
Anne Clarisse Fajardo - Portia
Hannah Jane Torres - Sally
Raphael Arquiza - Chimo
Kelvin Jay A. Olimba - Alfred
Roberto Oquias  - Rudolfo
Victor Ian Covarrubias - "Lola" and the british

Written by:

Hannah Jane Torres
Ann Clarisse Fajardo
Ezra Flores
Victor Ian Covarrubias

Directed and Edited by:
Kelvin Jay A. Olimba


"Ang Lihim" is an audio drama made by some group of students in Ateneo de Zamboanga University. It is a filipino inspired audio drama and it set in the modern world. Ida is the main cast of the story and is characterized as a demure woman. But then, Portia(ex-girlfriend of Rodolfo) along with her friends Sally and Chimo keeps on seeing her dancing in the club and flirting with some other boys in public. What could be the secret that Ida is hiding?

The story starts when Portia and her friends went into a club to have some quality time. Then surprisingly, Rodolfo's current girlfriend is also there dancing and partying. Ida is supposed to be demure and a filipino woman. Those were the qualities that Rodolfo liked her the most. Portia told Rodolfo about this but Rodolfo was hesistant to believe even though Portia already showed her some proofs. Rodolfo was not really convinced until one day, he already witnessed himself of what the girl of his life's other identity. Out of rage, he confronted her and she'd claim that she doesn't know Rudolfo. It broke Rudolfo's heart. He went to another bar and get himself drunk. He was too drunk that he'd go to Ida's placce and confront her. Ida was there and Ida claimed she stayed the whole day and night taking care of her sicked grand mother. But then again, Rudolfo is never really convinced since he has seen it with his two naked eyes and confronted her. Ida would still deny it and then her grandmother heard the commotion that is going on outside. She settled the kids and invited them to get inside for she has something very important story to share. It was that the perfect time to unveil the secret that she has been keeping ever since Ida was born. Ida had a twin sister whom her mother has sold due to poverty. The woman that they've been seeing lurking who is totally the opposite of Ida is her long lost twin sister. In the end, Rudolfo is guilty and ask for forgiveness from Ida.

Audio Drama

Audio Dramas are forms of entertainment when televisions weren’t invented before. They were famous during the old times. Although audio dramas only produce sounds to communicate and express their ideas, you could still easily understood and identify the situation and every idea that the author is trying to portray. The different sounds and voices that are present to every audio drama will create the mood and allow the listeners to understand very well about what the story is all about. Since sounds are one of the best ways to communicate, then audio dramas aren’t hard to understand and it only makes a little difference with what the videos in televisions are offering right now. Still the videos we see in TV still use sound to communicate and set the mood per every scene.

I’ve searched the audio drama entitled “Ovidiu introduces her girlfriend.” It’s a two minute audio drama that is all about how a young man who came from a prestigious family introduces his girlfriend to his parents. His girlfriend was unfortunate to have all of those riches that he has.  The story begins with the couple walking towards the young man’s house. They were welcomed by his father and directly attacked the girl with questions that is meant to degrade the girl because the girl was less fortunate. Although she was asked in civil kind of way by his father but it meant to degrade the other girl. In the middle part of the audio drama, the mother of the man included herself to do some questioning with the woman with the same intention. The boy tries to protect her girlfriend by trying to control her mother’s tone of voice but he’s father would also stop his son by saying to the boy that its not appropriate to talk to her mother in that kind of way. Obviously, both of his parents hate the girl. In the end, the girl confesses that she is pregnant and that’s how the story ends.

The sound design of the audio drama really gave me the idea about what the story is really all about. Each sound was really approriate in the scene. The voices were kind of blurred though and I needed to amplify my speakers in order to hear it properly. I guess the treble of the voices were really high. When it comes to the story telling part, I love how each character did their part. By the tone of their voices and they way they said their lines, you could really see the scenes and showed what kind of character they have. They also gave me the idea about the problem they are facing in the story. Its about the guys family who hates the less fortunate girl because the she doesn't pass their standard for their boy.

SoundScape

"Soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment." 

In my own understanding, soundscape is about blending of all sounds that are formed by any objects that produces in a certain setting or situation. Soundscape can be produced in any kind of situation whether it is natural or manmade. It can be produced anywhere whether is indoor or outdoor.

So we were given an requirement that is all about soundscape. We need to produce a soundscape and it should be an indoor soundscape, outdoor(natural) soundscape and outdoor(man-made) soundscape. It was hard to decide at first if what kind of setting and situation to choose for each category. I was having a hard time to decide since it must fit the elements that a soundscape requires. It must have the soundmark, sound signal and the keynote.

Luckily, I got the best site for getting sound effects although there is sometimes a voice over that endorses the website. I got my sound effects at pond5.com and its really a helpful site especially for the animators.

So for the indoor setting, I chose the coffee shop. In a coffee shop, I included the sound of the coffee machine, cash register sound, coffee being poured to the cup, the small crowd and the blender. The coffee machine, cash register sound and the pouring coffee sound is considered to be the sound signal because it is consciously heard and its really the focus of the soundscape. I consider the crowd to be the keynot. The soundmark could be the coffee machine and the pouring coffee into the cup because they are unique to the setting and it describes to what kind of place the soundscape is.

For the oudoor(natural) settings, I chose the sea gulls in the beach. I added the sound of the sea gulls playing around, the calm waves and the sound of the sea breeze. Its really a relaxing combinations of sounds that is why I chose this setting. The soundsignal are the sea gulls because you could really hear their voices. The keynote would be the sound of the waves and the sea breeze. The soundmark could be the sea gulls because  it makes it unique and it says what setting the soundscape is trying to portray.

And lastly, I chose the seaport station for the oudoor(man-made) sounds. The ship horns are the soundmark.  It actually tells you if what place the soundmark is. It is unique among all and the first time you would hear it, you would really say that the place is in the seaport. The sound signal would be the passing forklift truck and the truck reversing. The keynote would be the busy people over the streets and it could be the passing trucks.

Importance of Sound/Audio in the Animation

Sound is one of the significant things that we need in our lives. We produce and at the same time use sound in a different kinds of situation. Music is the greatest sound that humans have ever made. Each movement produces a sound and even silence has one. With every action that we do, there is a particular sound that tells us that we are doing this particular action. So why are sounds or audios significant for animation?

We all know that animations are inspired based from what we see in reality and imaginations. With our imaginations and the things that we see in reality, we can apply this into several drawings that are later then produces an action. Animations are a form of entertainment and are being used in different ways. So when actions are based from reality, we add up sounds to make it more realistic and at the same time entertaining. Sounds are essential in animations because it has several uses just like in reality. We communicate using sounds; we bring out emotions with the use of sounds. Emotions can be felt wholeheartedly with the help of music. Sound is really important in animations because it creates the mood and the atmosphere. Without it, the emotions and the mood that you want to express to your audience will be hard to feel.