What’s the Score

What’s the Score, a panel talk hosted by David Barker and Pacho Velez, was held on November 13th at 5pm in Hunter College’s Third Work Symposium. In this discussion panel, Barker and Velez presented their view on sound design in the score. The presenters defined the three standard sound elements in film to be; foley, ambience, and the score. They then compared these elements to the ambience in short clips that they played for the audience. In every clip Barker and Velez would show examples of how ambience was heard, and in every clip they were stressing the importance of there being a new element in sound design. In their words this new sound design element was based on making the ambience and the sound in the picture very close to the viewer of the film. They stressed that this created a sense that everything outside of the frame becomes more present than is usually seen in contemporary day films. What I believe they were going for was to have the stereo levels and equalization of the ambient noises, which were not seen in the frame, to be very amplified, panned very close in front, and made very present. From what I understood, this was supposed to bring the onlookers of the film not only into the frame’s direct setting, while making them feel as though they were there, but was supposed to almost force the onlookers be present in the frame cognitively. An example of what I mean is that when I watch a movie, read a book, or listen to someone, I can be listening to them, and then I can realize that my thoughts have wandered off to some tangents. This wandering off can result in me not knowing the material of the last two pages of a book, and will force me to reread them. This is due to the fact that I was mechanically reading and looking at words written in the book, but my mind became tired and jumped to some other thoughts that were of bigger interest to me. From what I understood, Barker and Velez were trying to make the background noises more present, so as to engage and keep the attention of the onlookers in the frame to be more present. They were trying to get their message across to the public by showing many clips with the background ambient noise being almost too loud and present, but towards the end of their showing were met with a lot of skepticism and criticism, because the topic was a on a very confusing matter.

What's Wrong?

Here's a video that a group of student's from Hunter College, including me, participated in.
Enjoy! ;)

What's Wrong? from Michael Kuznetsov on Vimeo.

At the Museum of Moving Image (MOMI)

Today is November 25th, 2015. We have gathered at MOMI at 11a.m., and were toured through various exhibits and demonstrations relating to media production. Some demonstrations that had to do with audio editing were of particular interest to me, since I'm a musician interested in audio engineering. Primarily, the demonstration on automatic dialogue replacement (ADR), really struck me, because it turned out to be so much easier to replace synced dialogue in post production than I expected it to be. Our group of twenty Hunter college students entered a small 4 by 4 yard audio isolated soundproof room, in which there was a large tv screen, a microphone, and headphones. We picked a scene from the classic film "Some Like it Hot," and replaced a thirty second snippet of Marilyn Monroe's voice with our own voices by following a karaoke like procedure. Firstly we played back the 30 seconds of the movie with subtitles lighting up as the actors spoke. While observing the actor's lip movement and the lighting up of the subtitles on the screen, we listened to the recording of the actors' voices, while trying to internalize the rhythmic, melodic, and intonation structure that the actors originally had in the scene. When we got the sense of what the dialogue was supposed to sound like, we clicked the record button, and after being counted in, recorded our voices over the original recording. The results were really close to being in sync with the images on screen, and with a little bit of post editing, could be made seamless. The whole process of a 30 second ADR took us only a couple of minutes, which struck me as being so fast and so accurately in sync with the original image. ADR created a whole new level of audio quality in the world of moving images, by creating an option to fix sound design bloopers in post production.

Music Video Concert Invitations

Music video invitations to concerts became rather popular in the rapping world. These clips let artists create fresh, raw video sketches that aren't subject to harsh criticism, since they are obviously sketches. However, when a invitation sketch is elaborate and beautiful, and not merely a quick "Hello. Come to my concert," it becomes almost like a a real work of the artist, and brings praise and respect to the musician.

Here's an example of what I consider an interesting video clip for a soundtrack. Noize MC -U! on youtube was created less than a month ago by Noize MC and Anacondaz as a video invitation to a November 1st 2015 concert in Moscow. The whole video is smoothly edited with obvious clear cuts made by a small handheld camera. The camera is probably a go-pro, since it's very mobile, which can be seen in the many shots, where it's clipped onto various instruments and band members. There are no transition effects between the cuts, it's just a sequence of clips following one another for the whole three minutes. The shots don't last more than four seconds per shot, and are usually about two seconds in length. These quick edits create a sense of pace and force the audience to fully engage what's going on in the clip before it changes creates an interactive aspect to the video, while giving constant food for thought to the onlooker. The shaking handheld shots create a sense of movement and of actually being amidst the action, in the same room with the performers. The jumping shots, (1:29) which break the 20mm/30 degree rule, create an even quicker pace and change about four times per second. Many shots have a Z-axis depth created by the perspective introduced by instruments as the trumpet, trombone, bass, and violin. The stationary high angle shots (1:06) create breathing space and balance through giving the viewer a sense of being on his or her feet again. Most of the shots can be categorized into three categories. The first category being a close up from the point of view of the instrumentalist or his or her instrument, the second being a close up or a medium close up shot from the point of view of the cameraman, and the third one being a medium shot of Noize Mc singing at concerts, which are obviously not taken at the room where the large majority of the action is taking place. Through the duration of the clip, Noize Mc is singing into the camera's lens, creating a sensation that he is interacting and talking directly one on one with the viewer. The feeling that his undivided attention is always dedicated to the listener can create interest for the listener, since it's so rare that in the default world someone dedicates three whole minutes just for you.

Gaming Interview

Interview of Johnothan Dietrez by Misha Kuznetsov, for Media 160 at Hunter College.

Soundwalk at Hunter Colege near the Entrance to Kale Playhouse Tuesday October 20th, 3pm

Constant sounds of squeaking doors, the pressed and depressed handlebars creeking like a rusty seesaw. Footsteps, beating in various tempos, some slow, some in a speeding allegro. The helicopter covers the ambient city sounds with its tremolo propellers. On my right a phone plays some prog rock, laughter, and the wind whispers into my ears like the soft petting of beach waves in a sandy bay. The young voices of New York Hunter students crescendo and decrescendo as they pass in front and behind me. Coughing and whistling, someone says "wait, so he's keeping that with his left hand while soloing!" A truck slowly accelerates with a snarl like a snore, two taxi beeps, and a constant background of idling vehicles. A plane flies overhead, sounding like a jug that is filling up to the brim with a liquid, the pitch getting higher and higher. Someone says "bagels," and the flying paper bag and cup lids scraping against the concrete create a high pitched sanding like quality. The voices, steps and vehicles create a symphony with expositions, developments and variations. The sounds of plastic, rubber, paper, metal, cloth, concrete, air, all clashing against each other create this city soundscape. The drastic contrasting layers of the low exhaust and the screeching brakes of the crawling bus are covered by far off firetruck's whaling siren. As if complaining and sighing from heaviness, a loose concrete step sobs as it rocks an inch up and down as it is trodden on. A small dog barks, and someone's headphones are amplifying everything in a ten foot radius. More laughing and coughing, more vehicles. A smiling girl in a black leather jacket on the phone says "such a bad ass! Ok, talk to you later bye!"

Define a Space

Define A Space_Michael Kuznetsov a video by Misha Kuznetsov. Created in Media 160, at Hunter College. 

I'm a musician, a multi instrumentalist and a songwriter. Every single day and moment shapes who I am. My actions and thoughts are derived from my past, and my influences, being everything that I have ever experienced,  i.e. saw, and heard, create and form my tastes. Some of my main musical influences are David Bowie, Manu Chao, Miles Davis, Led Zeppellin, Auktyon, Noize Mc, and Kino. I tend to gravite to all styles of music; from hiphop, surf, ska, reggae and rap, to jazz, classical and rock, because I feel that all forms of music have something that other musical genres lack. Something that is unique to them as; unique melodic, harmonic and rhythmic textures, which give off a certain feeling that is distinct to that specific genre or band. I'm hoping to find a balance between following the styles of my influences and my inner taste, so that I would be able to create new songs that are made with the knowledge of how the greats wrote their songs, but that at the same time are completely my own creations. I have a need to spill out the emotions that build up in me through music.
To create is a gift. I enjoy and am lucky to have the time and the opportunity to experiment with writing, playing, and creating music. The falls from the leaps that I take through taking chances create mistakes, which constantly bring me closer to success, because every fail becomes a valuable lesson that only I can teach myself. No one has the power to teach me what I can teach myself through failing and but not giving up. With persistent effort I'm sure that I'll reach the results that I'm looking for. So far I have not been afraid to ask and have gotten more than I could wish for, just because I knew that I have to take the step and wasn't afraid to fall. I have asked many of my favorite musicians if I can play with them and have gotten many gigs, which I could only dream of. We are all people and all of us have the ability to achieve something great if we try and don't give up. By asking I have been able to perform with musicians as ZAZ, Dub Fx, and the Gypsy Kings, Auktyon, 5'nizza, Noize Mc, as well as many others. Every time I get this chance I'm lucky, and every time I take my chance, I come closer to achieving my musical goals of becoming a professional musician and of being able to enjoy the sounds that I play and create from my instruments. I want to love the music that I create. I want to create music that I'll not be able to sit in my seat to, and will want to dance, and I want to create music that will make me feel both bitter and sweet from the inside. To create something beautiful is my goal, because with the creation of something beautiful I feel as though I'm giving to the world, which in turn makes me feel needed and happy.