Up, Up, and Away
Up, Up, and Away
Life Story
A biography with an identity crisis.
Recorded voice: Train platform operator warning people not to leave their luggage on the platform www.freesound.iua.upf.edu by user the_bloke33
Rhythmic noise: footsteps on concrete www.freesound.iua.upf.edu by user swuing
Exclamation: Train whistle www.freesound.iua.upf.edu by user Dalibor
Background: Background train station noise www.freesound.iua.upf.edu by user Audiactiva
Running time: 2:34
When I began the pod cast I began by searching randomly for the required sounds. I then came across the announcement about leaving luggage on a train platform. This led me to wonder what would happen to a package that was left there by accident. What sort of inner dialogue would that package have? How would it impact its identity? I knew from the beginning that the luggage announcement had to stay. From there I constructed my narrative. I tried to think of other emotions that a package would have. The packaging process in and of itself is something that could cause confusion in how the package perceived itself. A package could be confused about which identity is its true identity. Is a package the thing inside of it, the box, the colored wrapping paper, or the brown paper and tape that it is mailed in? The package’s problem is not that it is left behind on the train platform, but that it has no clue what it is actually is. From the beginning its selves did not get along. With more time in the pod cast I would have hoped to show people interacting with the package that have the same problem to drive this point home better.
I also found it very important that the sounds in the pod cast reflected only the experience of the package. I could not include voices of those walking about the train platform, because these voices would not be understandable to the package. Instead I chose to include sounds such as footsteps and train vibrations that would be closest to the experience a package under a bench would have.
In this pod cast my lack of expertise with pod-casting technology did hamper the way I decided to present my ideas. With every single aspect of the pod cast requiring so much effort, it became preferable to go for the simpler route. With more experience with pod casting technology I could see myself becoming more adventurous in my presentation. I have learned a lot through this pod casting experience and I could see myself using it in the future.
December 4th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Apologies, This is Ann Gevock’s podcast.
December 9th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Ann,
I love the specificity you use in describing the package, and the way those details contribute to the package’s overall sense of its purpose–quite lyrical really. Interestingly, before I read your evaluation, I interpreted this podcast much more darkly, hearing in the description of galaxies and rocket launchers, the makings of an IED. I must admit the orthopedic shoes threw me off, but still, in this day an age, a terrorist might dress like an elderly person or, who knows, might even be an elderly person (Gray Panthers unite!). Having read your eval, I now see that you’re describing the making of the package //around// the soccer ball rather than within–no bomb here. The dual possibilities are compelling though.
In terms of constraints, I might be able to hear “To begin with they never got along” as figuratively interpreted in the voice-over about packages–she does sound a bit stern, but then that doesn’t quite match with what you intended for the identity conflict being located within the package. Also, if I take your rhythmic noise to be the feet walking, then you’ve got some of your sounds out of order. Luckily, the sounds of the subway have a rhythmic sound to them, so you met that constraint in spite of yourself!