The Battle (Final Edit)

( Click on player to view video)

Rough Edit #3

( Click on player to view video)




This was footage that I lost all my sound to while writing to disk. Unfortunately, I was unable to go back and recover any of the previous audio material.

Rough Edit #2

( Click on the player to view video)




Examining the idea of space.

Rough Edit #1

( Click on player to view video)





This clip tries to examine the powerful state of the sky and its presence over everything.

Production Strategy

An area that I really wanted to explore in more detail was this large field that stretches a good portion of the park. It’s located to the left of the welcome path if you follow it down for a bit. It’s all tall grass and lots of elevation changes. I had a feeling the grass blowing in the breeze would make for a very calming sound, and that’s what I want to convey. I want to take lots of wide shots to examine the idea of space, using lots of foreground and background juxtaposition. For sound I want to amplify the swimming sound of the grass and the insects that live in the habitat I will explore.

Ten Questions

1. How many acres is Pleasant Valley park?
2. Are there any rare forms of wildlife there?
3. How many creeks or rivers are there?
4. How many camp ground are in the area?
5. Has there ever been any wolf or coyote sightings?
6. Where is the highest point in the park?
7. Where is the lowest point?
8. Are there any ponds?
9. How many different trails are there?
10. Are there any man-made elements?

Trek Assessment # 4

One of my favorite experiences was the whole I was at Pleasant Valley Park on my first trek. Only and solemn, I was able to sit a top the grassy hills and record the most peaceful sounds I have ever heard. They calmed my mind and body, lulling me into a state of euphoria. It was very soothing to be out alone with nature and then have the audio equipment I have built myself aid me in heightening my experience. I will never forget it.

Trek Assessment # 3

The day I first set out on my trek 3 voyage, the sky was very overcast and gloomy. There didn’t appear to be much life out and about. But after arriving at Pleasant Valley Park, the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds and the atmosphere and feel of my surrounding area changed completely. Because of this occurrence I felt it necessary to capture the essence of the sky and the power it had. Though i was very surprised by subtle turn of events, I was pleased with how it turned out in the end.


I was also surprised when I came across one of the largest gaggle of geese I have ever. With that in mind, I felt it only fair to myself to try and stir them up and be able to get some footage of all these geese taking off. So I mentally prepared myself for all the geese “droppings.” Camera rolling, I began to run full force at the naive flock. They flew off in all directions towards the creek. They all settled in the water except for two geese that began to fight vigorously in the middle of the water. They other geese seemed to be circling up around the two. It was some very exciting footage of video. Like I had caught these geese off guard by running at them, they had returned the favor by giving me this rare sight.

Trek Assessment #2

A time when I felt most peaceful over the duration of these past treks, was when I was standing next to a cornfield on the side of the road and there were no cars to be seen for sometime now. The wind was blowing softly, but briskly through the air. As the wind passed by it paused to take hold of the cornfield, moving it about, controlling it like the current of a river, with waves like calming tide. I moved the camera back and forth and around slowly, capturing a serene moment that could only be appreciated when alone and solitary.

A sense of peace and content came to me another time when I was off recording sounds on my first trek, out in the wilderness of Pleasant Valley Park. Standing in the middle of a dry field on top a large hill, I was grace with a euphoric calmness from the soft chirping of crickets and other woodland insects. The white noise of their song filled my ears and cast my body into comfortable lull.

Trek Assessment #1

During my first trek I headed out to my starting point, Pleasant Valley Park. This park stretches a couple of miles across peaceful wildlife, with a couple of campgrounds and endless grassy fields. I had thought it would be a great place to pick out a wide variety of sounds from the rural life in my surroundings. As I started to walk and pause when inspired by sound, but soon began to realize many of the recordings were starting to sound much a like. The noise around me was made up of mostly insects chirping and an occasional twitter of a bird. I found I had to search very hard for the sounds I wanted to find.
Another time on my first trek while in town to record the contrasting noise of the rural and urban environments I came across a familiar bridge and a waterfall that ran into it. I stopped to record the water rushing down the eroded ledge, but found the sounds mashed together too much and didn’t seem to sound like a waterfall at all. Something that when listen to and view in person, like this waterfall I was in front of, can seem to be peaceful and surreal, was made to sound angry and uncomfortable to listen to. This upset me some, because I wanted to be able to bring this special sound home with me the way I experienced it there.