Robert Baugh- Reflection

A look back.

After we got ourselves into a group, myself, Reece and Callum quickly set about coming up with an idea for the soundscape. We wanted to do something that was not strictly ‘conventional’. After doing some quick research, it seemed as though a lot of soundscapes were based on a journey or the sound associated with a specific location. This gave us the basis for our soundscape as we knew to move away from these conventions. It did not take long for us to land on the theme of horror. We thought that it suited us best as we wanted to create a soundscape that isn’t necessarily easy to develop. Unlike other soundscapes, it takes sound from multiple locations and combines them to put the listener in one terrifying position.

When it came to the recording process of the ‘Scarescape’, we had to spend a lot of time as a group considering what and where we wanted to record. As the desired location in our soundscape didn’t exist on its own, we had to use an amalgamation of locations with the sonic properties being carefully considered. We wanted a broad spectrum of acoustics, so we recorded in very reverberant locations like the cathedral as well as comparatively quiet rooms. Not only did we consider what raw sounds are thought of as scary such as creaky doors and heavy breathing (tropes commonly seen in horror), but also relatively normal or everyday sounds which could be manipulated during the editing phase to create disturbing and unnatural sounds.

Next up in the process of creating our soundscape was the editing. Once we had gathered all of our audio, we needed to filter through what we had and construct a solid script. We knew we wanted to have the listener leaving one location and ending up locked in another. This led us to consider a kidnapping and torture situation. We wanted the viewer to be disturbed by knowing exactly what these strangers are doing and when listening back to the soundscape it is not very difficult to understand what is happening. This is made easier by the fact that these characters cannot actually be seen, making the listener rely solely on their auditory senses. As we used stereo, we found the best experience was achieved while wearing headphones as it is easier to distinguish location and direction of the sounds. One aspect we wanted to play with was the use of silence which is commonly used in horror as a way of building tension and this appeared regularly in our research and presentation, though we had to be careful not to make the soundscape seem empty. Moreover, most of the sounds were raw and untouched other than panning and volume automation. However, we did use some Varispeed track stretching to create some horrifying and unnatural sounds, the most obvious being the low rumble at the end. The sound was originally a phone vibrating on a wooden desk, though when stretched it became unrecognisable.

Overall I feel the soundscape was a success. We constructing this terrifying and dark environment, throwing the listener into the fray with these mysterious captors, preparing to torture you. Combining a range of editing techniques and horror tropes, the ‘Scarescape’ gave us and all who listened to it some genuine chills. The process of creating this has taught me about how to carefully consider location, recording and editing techniques dependent on the intended effect.