Final Sound Cut

This is [probably] the final cut of my piece...I hope you enjoy it.

I would rather you go back and read over my previous posts, so that - rather than presenting lengthy amounts of exposition - you might get a better grasp at what I've been striving for (in these drifts).

I will say that this video is much more visually diverse than than Sound Rough Cut - due to both a stylistic choice and because it's longer.

When you feel prepared...watch my Final Drift by clicking on the bridge.

Sound Cut

This is a much more full realization of my idea (people and nature, together).

Though the video is fairly self-explanatory, some exposition couldn't hurt:

For instance, notice how I try to separate man and the surroundings he's built himself into entirely.
The suburbs have conveniently geometrical streets sculpted scrupulously by city planners over half a century ago, yet parts of the environment remain relatively unchanged. Each street sing I show is followed by some 'natural' area that I captured on video nearby.

Make sure you take note of the nominal irony of these suburban streets. It's a real hoot!

As for the sound, I decided to use two of my favorite sounds from drift 2, on repeat (perhaps a bit ad nauseum, admittedly). For the 'man-made' shots, I have the sound of a police siren, the sort of elegant wail contrasting with the cold, geometric metal. For the 'natural' shots, I have a woodpecker that I managed to get up close to without disrupting, it's harsh rhythm in contrast with the calm fluidity of these native environments. Aural irony!

Click on the long, suburban road to see/hear my Rough Sound Cut.

Silent Rough Cut

For this, my Silent Rough Cut, I chose to do the same thing, twice; once using still photography and once using video. This was great, because not only is there a huge contrast in rhythm between the two noticeable halves of this video, but it shows how two different forms can drastically change how one sees an area on-screen. It's not just what's in the lens, but how that information is presented (the power of editing!)

This area also is a very basic example of what I intended to capture on this, my second 'derive'. You have a rough tangled wood, a calm stream and...a small bridge. And where was all of this. Why, in a backyard, near the railroad tracks! Right in the middle of suburbia!

See some middle-class backyard magic by clicking on the bridge below.

Production Strategy

For this Drift, I will use the following protocol:

1)I will start at the corner of Jean Nicolet Rd. and W. Fairfield Ct.
2)I will walk West down Fairfield Ct.
3)From then on, I will walk until I find a sound to record/picture to take
4) Every time I record a sound/take a picture, I will employ my 'direction device'

Direction Device: I will take the 4 jacks from a standard deck of playing cards. Each time I take a picture/record a sound, I will shuffle up the cards then pick one from the four (randomly, of course). Spade: Stay on the same road, go forwards
Club: Stay on the same road, go backwards
Heart: Go onto the next Road on the right
Diamond: Go onto the next Road on the Left


Picture Takin': 1) I will try to create a mix of land and sky and water in an inviting and interesting fashion
2) I will use both video and 'animated' photography to show different views of the same space

Drift 2 Starting Point

Looking back, I feel as though there was a flaw in choosing the Third Ward as a starting point for my first drift: it was too familiar a space. I live there one half of the time, and am fairly familiar with the area. This immediately would imply a bias, at least to me, in how I see the third ward - or, even, how I don't see it.

Therefore, for Drift 2, I will begin my derive at the corner of Jean Nicolet Rd. and W. Fairfield Court, near Nicolet High School. Given the general tendancy for Milwaukee's suburban children to be kept away from the other side of the highway, this is an area that is almost totally foreign to me - an odd thing, I feel. I live, relatively speaking, close to it; why should I not be familiar with the area?

To see where Daniel will become a poor reincarnation Lewis (or Clark), click here.