Category: COLLABORATING

This collaboration is the first in a series of mixed media animations that my sister and I are creating together. Centred around our family ancestry and heritage, we want to research and represent each individual element that makes up our lineage. For this first piece we decided to explore the roots of our Norse heritage.

Scandinavia, specifically Norway, is relevant to our family on both our mother and father’s side and so we felt it most natural to begin this project series with such a prominent aspect of our history, one that previously, neither me nor my sister knew much about.

ERLUND

Erlund, the maiden name of our grandmother on our father’s side, has its historical roots in Scandinavia, particularly Norway, where it is believed to have originated as a patronymic surname. The name derives from Old Norse – a north Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements during the Viking Age and early Middle Ages (roughly 800–1350 AD).

The ER from Erlund comes from the Old Norse word erlendr, which translates to ‘foreigner’ or ‘from a foreign land.’ In the Viking Age, this was a very common name for someone who had traveled across the seas, if a man left Norway to settle in a new place, he was often nicknamed Erlendr.

The LUND derives from the Old Norse word lundr, meaning a grove, or small wood, often associated with sacred, worshipped, or holy places. These were locations where rituals were performed and spirits were said to dwell. The name may have originally been associated with individuals who lived near a grove or forest, or perhaps those who were seen as outsiders in a community.

• Erl: foreigner or stranger
• Lund: grove or wood.

Erlund literally translates to “The Grove of the Man from a Far Land.”

Over time, the surname Erlund evolved, with its bearers often taking on roles related to agriculture, forestry, or trade, reflecting the natural resources of the regions they inhabited.

Cumbrian Norse

Our other relation to Nordic roots links to the norse settlers of North West England, specially Cumbria.

The specific group of Norsemen associated with Cumbria are known as the ‘Hiberno-Norse’. Unlike the Danes who settled in Eastern England, the Cumbrian settlers were Norwegian, and weren’t usually direct raiders from Scandinavia. Instead, they were Norwegians who had lived in Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Hebrides for generations before moving into Cumbria around 900–950 AD.

DNA studies in towns across the Lake District show some of the highest concentrations of Norwegian genetic markers in the UK.

Timney, our mother’s last name is originally an Irish name, the anglicized form of the Gaelic name Ó Tiománaigh, meaning ‘driver’, the cattle driver or the horse driver. The name was heavily associated to Southern County Donegal and the neighbouring parts of County Tyrone and County Fermanagh (in the province of Ulster).

The name comes from the people in Ireland who fought off the very Norse invaders who took over and found a permanent home in Cumbria, the ‘Erlendrs‘.

Although originally deriving from Ireland, the Timney family has been settled in West Cumbria for the last two centuries having immigrated from Ireland in the early 1800s. Having been firmly based in Cumbria since, our Timney family is very aware of the history and heritage of the area, therefore the norse impact.

Aspects of the Cumbrian dialect are actually phrases and words left over from norse invasions, resulting in many words showing closer links to Danish and Norwegian than to standard English. The dialect has distinct vocabulary for landscapes, farming, and daily life, such as beck (stream), fell (mountain), laik (play), and lowp (jump) – all of which are from the Norse influence.

My sister and I know our Timney side to be Cumbrian, proudly, and so we feel this connection to the Norse impact of the area, making it feel most uniting of the two separate sides of our lineage.

For the narrative aspect of this project we wanted to creative a visual work that held a depth of personal meaning to us both, which through the themes of ancestry we have been able to achieve. However we decided thus to focus on one element of our research in order to make the final outcome interpretable, meaningful for both us and the viewer, as well as being visually beautiful and interesting. We realised it would be easy to quickly get lost in the vast depths of our lineage, ending up with a less defined piece. And so for this work we decided to centre it around folklore stories from Nordic culture, specially Norwegian folklore.

HULDRA

A Huldra, or Huldre (plural), is a female forest spirit who appears human at first, known for her immense beauty, long hair, and irresistibly alluring presence, however as you look closer you’ll see hidden, her cow’s tail (or fox’s tail) and hollowed out, tree-like back. All carefully disguised under long clothing.

An incredibly protective creature, the Huldra can be benevolent, offering protection or good luck, but often becomes malevolent if scorned, cursing men or causing them to vanish. Huldra could charm anyone who crossed her path, particularly men, her beauty was magical, capable of clouding the minds of the people who engaged with her. Huldra’s powers were strongest in the forest, she could guide people to safety or lead them astray, whichever she pleased, in some tales, she helped hunters find game or cursed them if they disrespected the woods. However, she wasn’t malicious by default, her doings regarded the morals of the being.

She is both compassionate and merciless.

This duality of behaviours reflects the way ancient Norse cultures viewed the natural world, life and death, the ever giving and the complete soul destroying aspects of our life. A rather beautiful interpretation of existence in a being, encouraging us to look beyond initial appearances, to consider and comprehend the consequences of our actions, and to approach the world around us with a certain care.

In contemporary times, forests cover vast areas of the Nordic countries; roughly 75% of Finland, 70% of Sweden, more than 30 % of Norway, and 15 % of Denmark. Therefore it makes sense that the narratives of Nordic folklore often revolve around the forest and the spirits they contain. Confrontations with supernatural forest spirits are old and belong to a popular tradition of pre-Christian origin in Scandinavia, going back at least to the Viking Age.

In Scandinavian tradition, the Huldra is a Skogsrå, a forest spirit, she resides in the ‘lunds’, the patches of ancient trees where the light filters through the leaves in strange ways. The same ‘lund’ from the name Erlund.

As mentioned, these groves were often considered sacred or taboo, and were the places where the land between our world and the Huldrefolk (the hidden people) wore thinnest.

In Norway, the word Huldra, Hulder & Huldrefolk derived from the Old Norse ‘huldr’ meaning hidden, used for all kinds of supernatural beings, sighted and talked about by the locals. Folklore suggests that there is an entire Hulder race, who are one of several ‘rå’ (keepers/ wardens).

A Huldra’s appearance and environment were rich with symbolic meaning. Reflecting her deep connection to nature and the idea that beauty conceals hidden aspects.

• Cow’s Tail: The most iconic, distinguishable feature of a Huldra, separating her from human, the tail connects her to the animal kingdom, showing that she’s a creature of the wild, not bound by human rules or culture.

• Hollow Back: Huldra’s hollow back is a powerful symbol of deception and the unknown, suggesting that initial perceptions of appearing perfect may hide a dark or empty truth.

• Forests and Trees: Associated with deep, dark woodland, birch and pine trees are often linked to her presence. She is hidden away from the rest of society, safe in the unfamiliar territory of the forest.

• Sounds of Nature: The voice of a Huldra is said to be heard through songs or distant laughter, symbolising both enchantment and warning, an invitation to follow, or a trap to be avoided. Whispers in the wind or a sudden stillness in the forest may signal that she’s close.

The Huldra is the ultimate outsider she is someone from a far land or another realm entirely. The understanding and perception of the Huldra relates closely to the defining elements of my family name Erlund. There is a recurring theme in Scandinavian tales of a foreigner (an Erlund) wandering into a strange grove and being taken by the Huldra. He then becomes an elf-shot or bergtatt (taken into the mountains). -This can also link to being taken to the fells (the mountains) of Cumbria, creating this connection to the other side of our family.

When the Norse settled in Cumbria, they moved from the fjords of Norway to the fells of the Lake District. In folklore, it was believed that when a family migrated, their ‘land-spirits’ (Landvættir) followed them along the journey.

Unlike mythological Norse figures like Odin or Freya, Huldra doesn’t appear in the Poetic or Prose Edda- the two primary, 13th-century sources for Norse mythology. Instead, she lives in the realm of folktale, where everyday people encounter magical, spirit-like beings. Her role is closer to that of a forest guardian, protecting her domain while interacting with humans in ways that are both enchanting and fearsome.

When deciding which folklore story best depicts our relation to norse roots, I was particularly attracted to the Huldra for a number of reasons. I liked the polarity of her existence, the meaning given to her presence in the woods. I also felt this strong relation to Erlund being a ‘foreigner in a grove’, which is essentially what the Huldra is, on a basic level. We come from the same environment.

For this collaboration project I have chosen to work with my sister, Mimi Braddell, she is a multi-media fine artist who, for the last few years has been specialising in textile work. Creating in-depth pictorial quilts, her practice involves a rich process of naturally dying all the fabrics used to create the quilts, often sourcing the dying materials herself, and hand sewing large portions of the quilts, making for an ethically and environmentally conscious practice.

My sister’s work has always inspired me, from a young age she has been my creative influence and because of this I feel very enthusiastic to collaborate with her.

Below are some of her recent textile works:

Link to her Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mimirose_art?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

The reason I chose to collaborate with Mimi is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, we have been wanting to create a piece of collaborative work together for a while now, as she graduated last year and has since been eager to keep producing work, I have also been wanting to make visual work again. Secondly, both Mimi and myself have been wanting to explore more around animation, herself the illustrative aspects and myself, the digital-visual and sonic aspects. Therefore we thought this shared inspiration would feed excellently into a combined project, dedicating certain roles to one another to ensure we both explore the elements that interest us.

When it came to the theme of our project, we wanted to delve into an area that is unique to this sibling collaboration, something that only we share with one another, consequently we thought heritage would be very fitting. The lineage that my sister and I share is specially unique to us, there is no one else in the world who shares the specific family ancestry as us. We also thought, as we know we want to continue this work beyond this project, that delving into the theme of heritage gives us huge potentials in creating a series of work. With each line of our ancestry, we aim to create an animation piece exploring one specific culture and history.

In regards to the communication element of this project, I feel confident that my sister and I are able to share our honest opinions with each other, making our individual creative choices open and explorative. Because of the sibling relationship, I don’t feel nervous to confront her or be truthful about what doesn’t work for me, and vice versa. This is definitely something I have found harder in the past, as when working in a group I often used to keep my thoughts quiet in risk of coming across as too controlling. Because of this I have definitely preferred to work independently rather than with others, although I now recognise the strengths that come with working collaboratively.

However, I will say, in the last 2 years I feel I have grown a lot more confidence in defending my beliefs and expressing my opinions within a group context. I feel working with my sister will only improve this confidence more, allowing for communication in future collaborations to flow easily.

Mimi lives in Cumbria and so for the entirety of this project our communication will be done virtually, through phone calls, messages and video calls. This is a project I would have much preferred to do in person with her as I find much more inspiration through physically working with someone in the same room rather than separately. However, these are the circumstances for this project therefore I will have to accept this and become comfortable with this form of communication.

The potential of this project excites me. I am really looking forward to working visually again as this is something I have missed, having been focused on sound for the past 2 years. I feel my creative expression relies on both the input of sound and visuals to fully convey the emotional meaning. I also feel very motivated about this project being a series of work, as the idea of having an ongoing project inspires me and gives me a push to create. As well, I look forward to having a collection of work that displays my creative abilities in an interdisciplinary form that I can add to my portfolio.

Recently, I have been wanting to engage myself with more visually technical software, creating work to accompany my sonic exploration of PureData. Therefore, I thought Touch Designer would be the perfect tool to grasp an understanding of. I first went to the Touch Designer workshop at LCC to get a simple insight of the software layout as it was initially quite intimidating to use, mainly due to the fact it doesn’t follow the format that any other type of software I have used before does.

Since completing the workshop I have been watching tutorials that explain effects I have seen people use, like blobbing. These are layered visual effects that interact directly with the moving image. Seeing people use these effects online is what inspired me to want to learn Touch Designer in the first place.

Whilst watching these tutorials is incredibly useful for achieving a desired effect, I do feel that I am lacking in the understanding as to how and why that certain effect is caused. Because I am new to the software I know that this is part of the learning process, and with time will come a deeper understanding of its function. However, it does feel difficult to work with a software whilst having a kind of unawareness to it’s abilities.

Despite this, I am avidly carrying on, excited to continue learning the programme. I have chosen to implement it into this project as I thought it would be a good way to experiment with the different uses of the programme, in a relevant way. I aim to use Touch Designer to manipulate and change the visuals my sister sends over to me, making for a final piece that includes both natural and technical elements of animation, therefore combining our two styles.

So far, I have been playing around with using different effects on videos from my camera roll, and I hope to continue experimenting with the effects on some of the draft animations my sister has completed. This process has been key in understanding how I want to use Touch Designer in the final video and which effects work with the context of our project.

Below are some of these examples:

My intentions behind wanting to use Touch Designer references both, the desire to explore my own personal visual practical using digital formats, as well as wanting to use this digital interest of mine to contrasting the natural, organic approach my sister takes to her art. I wanted to have this contrast to show both of our involvements of the project in a distinct but cohesive way, making for a visually stimulating work. I feel through using the blobbing effect on Touch Designer makes for a good example of this balance, as well the lines and connections relating well to theme of ancestry. It attracted me because I saw the relevance between this constantly moving, connecting line effect and the subject of our only family lineage.

https://aporee.org/maps

When it comes to linking the theme of heritage to the composition of the sound for this project, I thought of including hints to Norwegian music and sounds. However I was initially unsure on how to execute this idea. It was actually during a group crit in one of my collaborating sessions that the concept of using Radio Aporee to source sounds from specific locations was mentioned to me. Although I was previously aware of the website, it was an idea I hadn’t thought to use before.

The exact location of where my family was from is a place called Bergen, Norways second largest city, a historic coastal hub known as the “Gateway to the Fjords”. When looking on the map of Radio Aporee, there were a number of recordings from different locations in Bergen.

Here is a list of recordings I thought would work well for this composition:

Although at this point in time I have not started the final composition of the audio, I have been experimenting with different sounds, wanting to create a balance between musical aspects and field recordings/foley to match the visual movements. This concept of assigning physical motion with corresponding sound is something I have done before when making short films. I really enjoy this process of editing as I find it very satisfying, and it combines my interest in both sound and film. Because of this prior experience, I feel confident in producing a sonic piece that will represent the visuals well. This is actually an aspect of sound that professionally intrigues me, sound editing on visual media is a job I feel enthusiastic to explore.

With all that being said, I am very aware of timing on this project, and with not long until the deadline I need to refocus on the sonic composition itself. Because in this project I am involved, to an extent, in both the visual and sonic elements, it has become important to know how to balance my priorities within the project. By using Radio Aporee it gives me a selection of varied sources which I am free to use however I like, therefore making the sourcing process easier and the exploration of sound expansive. Beyond this project, within the series of work my sister and I aim to create, Radio Aporee may continue to supply situational sound material from around the world, allowing us to sonically access areas of out heritage that we cannot do in person.

Throughout this project, the communication between my sister and I has been constant, sharing experimental and draft work with each other. This has made for a much easier understanding of what the other aims to create, the atmosphere we want to provide and our purpose of the project. This kind of communication feels necessary in any collaboration in order to achieve a balanced work load and shared understanding, making the outcome much more cohesive.

So far, we have established that the visual animations will occur inside of a quilted frame that Mimi has made, naturall dyed and hand sewn (see below). This kind of boarder is quite traditional in quilting, and is a reoccurring element of Mimi’s work, therefore it felt representative of her art to have this main structural frame.

As well as textile work, Mimi’s art involves illustration, and so we both thought it would be nice for her to include the separate elements of her style and mediums in this project & overall series, consequently creating a work that represents her multidisciplinary approach. Below is an experimentation of using digital illustration (using an Ipad), layered on top of stop motion style moving image.

The draft story/ timeline that Mimi explained for the visuals is:

The orange circle in the hand turns into the sun shining down on the forrest, where we get glimpses of the Huldra – she’ll be travelling through the forrest whimsically, almost dance-like, and then she’ll descend into the wind that blows the trees of the forrest. The Huldra becomes the wind because she is kept alive through the breath that lives to speak the tale of her folklore.

Here is a rough example of how the animation will sit within the frame:

I really like the concepts and executions that Mimi has been sending through, I feel confident that we’re on the same page about how we want to project to look and feel. Just as she has been sending me visual explorations, I have been sending her sonic ones. This has allowed us to not only establish what we think is working well and coherently within this collaboration, but also what we don’t think works in each others experiments, and what doesn’t compliment the other’s. This has enabled us to finalise a more defined piece of interdisciplinary work that equally encapsulates our individual practices whilst still uniting through our work.

Alongside Mimi’s experiments, as mentioned, I have also been experimenting with sound, using the sources gathered from Radio Aporee.

Experiment 1 & 2 are made using the ‘Organ practice and sound check’ recording, put into logic, I then used the Alchemy sampler to chop up and manipulate the sound. These experiments are short and are just allowing me to see how I am able and want to use these samples within this composition. At first I thought the Radio Aporee recordings would accompany other musical sounds in the piece, however since completing these explorations, I feel it may be fun and interesting to try and create the entire audio out of recordings from the exact location of Bergen.

These short compositions helped me establish an idea on how to create the atmosphere for the final track, giving necessary inspiration for myself. I sent these experiments to Mimi, along with the sources from Radio Aporee so she was able to know the context from which the sound is coming from. By communicating these sonic trials with she was able to grasp how I intend to compose the music for this project, also allowing time for her to intervene with relevant comments and opinions about the audio before the final construction. Meaning the music and visuals are able to become more coherent through relation.

Experiment 3 involved the use of other recording from my previous list, again putting them into a sampler and playing with the sounds through midi. This technique of working with the recordings as samples seems to work well in creating the desired musical effect, whilst still keeping aspects of the audio unedited, therefore acting more as foley & field recordings. Because this seems to work, I think this is how I am going to carry out the final execution of the composition, only, using more recordings and creating an overall longer track.

During this project Mimi and I have been collecting a set of multi-media sources that we both have found inspiring or relational to ourselves and this project. We have been doing this through Instagram, sending videos back and forth that have motivated our styles. This has been a very useful tool for communicating our ideas and designs as we are able to understand where certain concepts have developed from and where we want to take the project aesthetically.

One thing I have noticed as of recently, that a lot of my artistic inspiration is coming more so from social media, specifically Instagram, than any other form of media. Through our communication, I know this to be the case with other people like Mimi too. Although inspiration is all around and I find myself constantly noticing things the everyday ‘mundane’ that motivate me, the element of inspiration that is other artists and practitioners, comes mostly from Instagram.

Links to some of the shared collected videos:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUTNbkpjO0m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzPnZrkN4xS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVBlJrSDhmk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXg4cnokV8u/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

This is one thing I think social media is really great for as it makes you aware of a plethora of practices and practitioners that otherwise you would never know. It has broadened my awareness of my own practice and why I find myself being inspired by certain styles. However, I will say that the constant speed in which Instagram moves means that whilst I do get shown a wide scale of work, I often don’t dig deeper into the artist themselves. The scrolling structure of social media leaves you wanting more and so instead of slowing down and admiring a practitioners full collection, I commonly just move onto the next. Noticing that Instagram is my main source, and being aware of this lack of depth to my media intake, I want to try and change this. I aim to dig deeper into specific artists and understand their work more, sourcing a greater insight of knowledge about particular practices.

Therefore I have tried to develop this action for this project:

Julia Fernandez

https://juliafernandez.me/animation-1

Julia Fernandez is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the relationships between motion, rest, and the physical object. Her practice involves the interaction of ceramics with animation, making for some rather beautiful work.

Fernandez’s work includes a lot of looping, repeating the cyclical motion of animation, however it doesn’t come across as too simple or basic, there is still clearly a lot of work and thought put into the final movements and motion. She uses quite natural colours in a lot of her work which I really like as it pairs with the material of ceramic well, it accompanies the slower pace of the media too. I know that Mimi resonated with this aspect of Fernandez’s as the colours and materials are similar to that used in Mimis practice of natural dying.

Both my sister and I found Fernandez’s work from instagram and were immediately inspired and attracted to her art. The use of different mediums throughout her practice is similar to both Mimi and I’s practice, specifically for this project. We aim to create a series of multi-media animations, and so this area of motion has been important to research and find varied examples of.

I see links between her work and previous animation work I have done, specifically the zoetrope project, as a lot of Fernandez’s work runs, as I said, in this cyclical loop, similar to the patterns of a zoetrope. This relation feels relevant to my practice as there is a clear reason as to why I find her work inspiring and how I can continue to grow and develop previous ideas/works with new ones.

It was the ‘West Elm X Emma Chamberlain’ 2026 hand-made ceramic tile animation that inspired Mimi to create her moving quilted boarder. – https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWy-_Jyjsld/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Whilst I really like the sound design of this tile animation, Fernandez’s work is definitely more of a visual inspiration, connecting mine and Mimi’s shared interests of animation together. She has been a great source to reference in terms of an interdisciplinary practice. However, when it comes to the sonic aspect of this project, it is something that feels more personal to me, rather than a shared interest. Although Mimi is aware of the importance of sound in a work, she focuses heavily on the visual aesthetics rather than the audio, therefore we have not communicated much shared sonic media.

Sonic inspiration:

Here are a few examples of practices I have found separately to Mimi.

This is a short animation I came across on Vimeo, which I found to be audibly inspiring, although this work is centred more around a musical sonic design, I still found it to be relevant to my practice. As I have previously mentioned, for this project I want to compose a track that involves the use of field recordings and foley as well as music, and so having found previous works of field recordings, which I intend to use, I wanted to find some examples of more musical work to reference.

I liked the fluidity of the music in this animation, it allows you to get lost in the world of the video, and when the beat then comes in, it almost wakes you up from it and places you in a new reality. I thought the sound represented the visuals well in this piece, the use of colour and shapes reflects the noises created through the audio, and vice versa. From researching a range of short animations that all contain very different elements of sound, I have come to understand how sound artists & designers establish a relationship between the audio and the narrative of the visuals, whether it be an immediate awareness of a relationship or one that grows as the piece moves through.

This understanding is knowledge that I intend to reference to and use throughout the final production of the audio. I want to acknowledge how the visual work initially translates itself to me without sound and then try to produce the sonic elements with this emotional and environmental communication in mind.

Midnight Gospel – An animation series that originated from a podcast, Midnight Gospel contains a dense sound design that accompanies the visuals in establishing the very surreal environment that the characters inhabit.

Visually and sonically Midnight Gospel has always inspired me, the creative freedom in the series is so obvious, alongside the serious reality of the conversations, it makes for a truly immersive watch. The show didn’t rely on just one lead sound designer, instead it had a dedicated post production audio team which involved: sound editors Hunter Curra and Jeff Halbert, working alongside lead re-recording mixer James A Moore, crafting the show’s signature psychedelic soundscapes.

I found myself to be motivated through the sound design of this show for a number of reasons; the interweaving of synthetic and realistic sounds creates this ideal contrast that represents the duality of reality in the show. The sound arguably is the most essential aspect of the work, not only because it revolves around the original audio from the podcast, but without sound the worlds in which the characters explore would seem empty and too far from reality to engross the watcher.

Through the combination of foley, music and synthetic computer made sounds, the motion of the visuals is smooth, relying on the sound to transition into the next frame. This relationship between the audio and the visuals is something I aim to create, not only in this project, but in the future work I would like to do with film. I think establishing this kind of dynamic through sound makes for a uniquely smooth and intriguing watch. With the visuals that Mimi has, and is still creating, I want to use a wide range of music, foley and sound effects (using the Radio Aporee recordings) to create a diverse sound design for this work.

There are a few accounts I have come across on online that add sound design to videos found in their everyday feed, making a very short but detailed piece of sound work that turns the original video into something entirely different. I came across these videos about a year ago and it was their surreal uniqueness that immediately inspired me, it gave me a new perspective on how to design sound for non- animated visuals in a creative way. I thought of them for this project as the final video that I will be creating the sound for is only about a minute long, and so I want to be able to display a stimulating piece of sonic work in a small amount of time, which is exactly what these artists do.

Bennet Gauthier –

Website : https://dippr.us

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dipprrrrrrrrrrrr?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Francis Peters –

Website: https://francispeters.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnOIOfKnGv_lTvZSyiDs-eEi_3cwne4UJwvCQUcADggQUb1HN3JJyAM2o-bMw_aem_YWdncwCHFvWzSyafjM8ZknwDqWT9&brid=YWdncwFQsAYQRUnaqBNLgo-q5dPN

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/francispeters.sound?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Overall, I feel I have a wide range of works that have provided inspiration for both Mimi and I throughout the production of this project. Through sharing our individual inspirations we have been able to communicate creative concepts in a relational format, making for an easier understanding of each others ideas. As well, I feel I have gained an understanding in creating atmosphere through sound when supplied with completely silent visuals. Building the audio from the ground up is something I have done before, having made a mixed media animation myself, however it is something I am not hugely familiar with as my work for the last 2 years has been centred more around purely sonic elements rather than with visuals. I aim to implement the knowledge built from this research in growing my confidence and ability to create the soundtrack for this project.

For the final construction of this project, I began with the completion of the visuals, using the images and animated videos Mimi had made and sent over, editing them together and then adding some of my own illustrations, collage material, and technical software to animate and combine with Mimi’s work.

Below are a few examples of the material Mimi sent over:

Along with the quilted frame/stage, Mimi also sent some other video animations that are included throughout the final piece.

One thing I know Mimi and I both struggled with in this collaboration was timing, we both have jobs and other priorities alongside this project and so we did struggle to find a balance with workload. Because of this, the material that Mimi created and sent over was less than I expected, and I thought she was going to include more textile related animations. That being said, I was very pleased with what she had made, and it gave me a lot of freedom to play around with both visually and sonically. I was able to combat the lack of material with looping certain visual cycles whilst using editing and software to slightly change the loop.

I used the hand animation as the base footage to experiment with Touch Designer, creating the digital contrasting effect. This, I thought, worked really well as I used newly learnt skills of; slit scanning and pixel texturising to manipulate the hand. See below:

I feel this technical aspect of the project was one that I found most beneficial to myself and my practice, it gave me a new confidence in using digital software and I feel motivated to continue leaning Touch Designer. Whilst the effects I used are somewhat basic compared to extent you’re able to achieve using the programme, I feel very pleased with the outcome as I had no prior knowledge of how to use Touch Designer before this project.

Alongside the digital elements that I added to this work, I also contributed an array of animations that appear in the final video. This includes: the wolf hand shadow puppets (from zoetrope work), the title lettering and coin, the tree, and the bow and arrow. Using hand drawn illustrations, magazine clippings and real life objects I created these additional layers of visuals.

My personal addition of visual elements was something we had planned since the beginning of this project as whilst my focus lay most on the sonic aspect, I knew I wanted to involve myself with the animations as I really love the process of it. I feel the combination of both mine and Mimi’s visual work really complimented each other and supplied a cohesive diversity to the piece.

I chose to include elements of previous works of mine, like the wolves from my zoetrope (expanded studio practice project), as there are a lot of drawings and illustrations that I have made that I haven’t really done anything with and I think it is really nice to give them a new life. As well it creates a continuity to my practice, which at the moment feels necessary as it is all over the place medium wise.

Because Mimi is new to using digital software I offered to compose the final edit of the work myself, using DaVinci Resolve to do so. I have quite a lot of previous experience working with programmes like DaVinci or Premier Pro and so I am fairly confident when it comes to using them. I will say though, because I took on this responsibility, I was pushed for time when it came to the audio production. Taking on too much and leaving things too last minute is something that I need to be aware of and improve as I find this to be quite a common occurrence in projects. This is something I communicated with Mimi and it was good to talk openly about in the collaboration as she was then able to take on a bit of responsibility which made the final process more balanced.

Finally, something that became quite obvious during the construction phase of this work was the difference from the original storyline, the final visual elements felt less attached to the original contextual reference of the Huldra folklore. This is something Mimi and I spoke about as we both felt it had become detached from the final image. Whilst this was the case, I still felt the relevancy of the story throughout the project and the connection to our Norse heritage was something I consistently referenced in the audio.

I know Mimi struggled in creating a character that accurately represented the story of the Huldra, and when we spoke about this, we both decided to view the storyline of the Huldra folklore as inspirational research, referencing particular aspects of it the final composition, but not have it rule our own narrative. As this series develops I would like to ensure that each piece has a clearer set of relational features to the certain cultural ancestry that is is about, as I feel this did get slightly lost in the work.

Overall, I am very pleased with how the visual element of this work came out, I think it represents both Mimi and I’s practice well in a collaborative way, and I really enjoyed working with her. Although there are certain areas I am not 100% satisfied with, I think that, as this is a collaboration that is to be expected and it has been crucial in learning how to speak up when I am not pleased with something.

Having completed the visual construction and exporting that, I then moved to Logic and began composing the audio for the piece. As I have previously mentioned in another blog, the sound sources for this work came from Radio Aporee. Specifically from the area of Bergen, Norway – the exact location in which my Norwegian ancestors are from. Therefore the contextual relation to the research conducted on this project evidences itself more through the audio than it does in the visuals.

There were 5 main recordings which I used to compose the audio for this piece, these were;

• The Bells of Mariekirken Bugården, 15, 5003 Bergen. – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=40186
• Organ practice and soundcheck, Fjellet Sør, Bergen. – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=26488
• Passenger boat, Bergen harbor, Strandsiden. – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=26486
• Rain hitting the window, Nygard, Bergen. – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=26487
• Ferry Terminalc hildren waiting, Strandsiden, Bergen. – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=26483

I decided to focus my choice of recordings to the port location of Bergen, relating the sound material to, not only the exact area of my lineal existence, but also to the historical roots of the family name Erlund. Linking the foreigner aspect of migration through boat, which also connects to my family history in other ways. My great great grandfather was the port master in Bergen and so it felt incredibly fitting to use these recordings, as well, my Norwegian family later immigrated to America via boat.

With these original 5 recordings, all but one, I put through a sampler on logic, using Midi to then manipulate and transform the audio. This worked even better than I expected, the diverse range of sounds it supplied to me was vastly inspiring. I was able to achieve practically any desired sound through one of the recordings as they were all different scales. This structure of sourcing all the sonic material before even beginning the composition edit is something I haven’t done before, and I did think it may become a bit restrictive, however it did not, and in fact it felt much more open, having a prolific result. This is a method of creating audio, especially to accompany visuals that I will be using again in future work as it made for a much more productive, smoother composing process.

The one sound I chose not to put through the sampler was ‘Old passenger ferry leaves for the other side, Strandsiden, Bergen, Norway’ – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=26486. I chose to leave this sound running thoughout the track, entirely unedited. The reason I chose to do this was because this sound source had a beat to it, a simple beat, but a very interesting noise creating that beat. Therefore I instantly thought to use this as the kind of foundational layer to the work, the speed of the beat matched the motion of the animated quilted frame, and because this frame doesn’t stop moving, I thought it best to have a sound match this motion.

I think this worked very well, there were times where the boat sped up a bit and it matched the speed of the visuals so well. It also created this under-current of bass and gave me sounds to work off of with the other sources.

Initially when I began composing this work I wanted to purely use the Radio Aporee Bergen recordings, which I mostly did, however there were around 4 extra sound sources that I used which were not from the location of Bergen. These were:

Water drips – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=32523

Forest Ambience 1 – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=71723

Forest Ambience 2 – https://aporee.org/maps/?loc=72054

Wolf Howls – https://youtu.be/Gwfke3f3f0M?si=h4uYNWRsK0Ek50Wv

The reason I found myself using these 4 extra sources was becasue I wanted to include specific sounds to accompany speicifc visuals, which I tried to use sounds from Norway for, however couldn’t find the right noises.

These 4 sound sources were used mainly to create atmosphere, especially the 2 forest ambience sounds, they both played out raw, unedited through the length of the piece and added a really simple but effective natural tone to the overall sound. The water drops were particularly useful in creating a sound which matched the pixelated digitalised elements of the work. I really like that I was able to create this digital sounding effect through a natural audio.

Although, I would have liked for this composition to comprised of just the original 5 recordings, these extra four really elevated the piece and without it would’ve sounded slightly empty. This kind of adaptation is a process that often occurs during the production phase and is an element that can shape the work for the better as it adds a fresh, intuitive aspect. Therefore, although it was not part of my original plan to include these extra sound sources, I am glad I ended up using them and I continue to keep an open mind throughout the creative process of my work.

As my practice continues to grow and develop, the desire to publicise and share grows with it. Through working with interdisciplinary artists like Mimi, it has brought to the forefront of my practice an enthusiasm to create work using a diverse range of mediums, wanting to collaborate both sonically and visually with like-minded people. I am aware of the relational importance between sound and film, and having a good structural knowledge in both, I feel I am able to create unique work that acknowledges the significance of how one effects the other. I therefore feel I could be a good asset in working an audio/ sound role within the film industry, which financially, can be a well paid, stable creative job.

Through working on this collaborative project and projects alike, I have come to an understanding of how and where to situate my own practice within an existing world, realising how I am able to create a career through my personal aspirations.

I feel the sonic work of this project is strong, and I found the production of this composition to come much more easily than my previous sound work that didn’t have visuals accompanying it. There was a clear flow in the direction of sonic movement and I think having these kind of visual prompts and cues for integrating sound really helps me in composing a layered, sophisticated piece of work. Consequently, this is a format or creating that I would like to continue working with, involving myself with more visual artists to create interesting sound pieces.