I just put my feet in a bucket of water, in an attempt to cool down. It's 36 degrees Celsius here in Portugal, in the shadow. I guess the feet in cold water trick has some effect, although the water almost immediately starts to feel warm. I only feel some coolness if I move my feet or legs.
A while ago, I thought I started to adapt to these kind of temperatures. Although, I was struggling before... This post from a little over two weeks ago - when it was 5 degrees warmer - was the result of that struggle: Movies that make you forget the head --> heat
What I'm trying to say with the above is that - lately I can hardly get my brain into the creative thinking gear - due to ( still ) not being used to Portuguese temperatures. I am born and raised in The Netherlands, after all.
On days like this, the best thing I can do - this usually works - is to go for a brainstorm kind of post. So here we go...
In my last write up on Tunnels of the Shadow People; TotSP #9 I shared some of Ted's thoughts on the sound design of our film project with you all. The plan was to come up with a reply and then post that reply, thus sharing it with you. But, my mind though otherwise. Or should I say that my mind hardly didn't think at all, haha!
Let me repeat one of his thoughts:
... I did some creature sound mixing this morning - Sounds good, but I may just make my own noises and then distort them in post. Not too sure yet, but that decision can be made at a later date.
I thought about the above a little, earlier today, when my feet weren't in a bucket of water. I remember Ted and I talked about a hissing / snake like kind of sound. Today, don't ask me why, I thought of giving the shadow creatures a sound resembling that of a kettle on the fire, before it starts whistling. I also thought of the sound of a coffee machine / percolator, although the latter sounds a litte bubbly at times.
Another thought, that sprung to mind just now, is that I could probably make some pretty cool creature sounds myself. Just so you know, Ted, you're not the only creature out there ;>)
Here's another quote from Ted concerning sound:
More important is the sound that the humming stone makes, which is needed for Episode 1 - The sound I imagine will be impossible for me to recreate. Will try and explore other possibilities, sooner rather than later.
I've got a decent sound, which is disturbing when played at its normal pitch - it sounds a bit more soothing, with a vague unsettling feeling to it when the the pitch is raised - might be a good way to show the "mood" of the stone - might be best to give it an edge instead of making it all warm and fuzzy at the start. Will revisit this sound during the edit, but I do think it's worth trying. Ttys
Days ago, I was sitting in a chair, with a stone in my hands, with closed eyes, trying to meditate and really feel the stone. Not necessarily because that is how I think, but - if you've read my earlier posts on this project - you might remember that my character meditates and that the stone plays an important part in almost any scene.
While sitting there, holding the stone, I felt my hands heating up and heared the noise of a motorbike. I must say though that I don't imagine the stone sounding like a motorbike but I can enjoy the - smaller and bigger 0 surprises that life has in store for me / us. I also thought of the stone not just making noise but - perhaps - also changing in temperature. It being a living organism and such. Ted, how do yo feel about that?
Earlier this afternoon, I went on a little walk and found myself two different stones. One of them could be described as sand stone, literally breaking apart, slowly, when touched. The other stone is more solid and looks somewhat like marble. Both stones are depicted on the picture above this post. While holding and carrying these stones, I imagined rinsing them with water and meditating with them to see what it would lead to.
I then forgot about this, had lunch and started working on this post. I will probably do the aforementioned anyway and see what I come up with ( creatively ). I guess the sand stone won't really do the trick. It probably falls apart while being washed. The other stone isn't really the kind of stone that I resemble using as the humming stone either, but that doesn't mean that meditating with these two stones leads nowhere.
Anyhow, I will probably post about the result of this experiment tomorrow and hope to chat with Ted again - and hear what he has come up with creatively since our last talk ( last Thursday ) on Thursday.
Ted, can you Skype on Thursday, around the usual time?
TO BE CONTINUED
If you enjoyed this post, you might wanna check out my earlier Tunnels of the Shadow People write ups, starting here Tunnels of the Shadow People - Diary of a Filmmaker and continuing here Tunnels of the Shadow People - 2