Neil and I spoke with emerging Australian sound designer Andrew Dean about his work, in particular the award-winning films ‘Mud Crab’ (written and directed by David Robinson-Smith), ‘Gorgo’ (directed by Veniamin Gialouris) and the forthcoming feature film ‘Salt Along the Tongue’, (directed by Parish Malfitano), that Andrew sound designed and mixed.
Be sure to go to the link for Mud Crab here and watch the short film. It’s a very challenging film about toxic masculinity and bullying but the sound design and production of the film is especially impressive (and the main character gained and lost 30kilos [66lbs] to play the role!).
We’ve got some really great industry interviews coming up as we get ready to launch the podcast properly soon.
We’ve just released our second episode of the Apple and Biscuit Show. This is a quite revealing discussion with well respected Australian business leader, Philip Belcher. The connection with film sound is that he was the CEO of the famous Australian audio company, Fairlight when it was sold to (the other famous Australian company) Blackmagic Design. It’s an interesting behind the scenes look at how decisions are made about these things and what kinds of considerations a small company with a big legacy has to make to successfully thrive.
For several years I’ve been mentored in my audio work by Dr Neil Hillman. Over these past months since I’ve been made redundant, Neil has acted as my business coach and we’ve begun working on projects together. One of these is a podcast on the use of sound in motion picture and television production. Neal has decades of experience in the industry and a Rolodex full of contacts to draw from. We’ve had many thoughtful discussions ourselves over Zoom so I suggested we basically start recording these and invite others to join in the conversation.
We’ve published our first episode and have recorded our second one just today with a number of others in the works. I’ve produced podcasts for nearly a decade and Neil has hundreds of film credits to his name but this is new territory for both of us to be ‘on mic’ as the hosts of a show (so we’ll probably need some time to get into the groove).
You can have a listen to the first episode in the embedded player above; we are in the process of publishing it on all the main podcast apps as well so you’ll soon be able to subscribe for future episodes (it’s on Spotify already if you click on the ‘follow’ button in the player). This episode is with two filmmakers discussing how they made a feature length film on a shoestring budget and the difficulties they had with sound production on location and in post-production.
Just a warning though it’s got—quite a lot of swearing (not from Neil or myself) but it’s a candid conversation. Episode two is sans swears if you want to hold off for that one next week sometime. (We are aiming to release two episodes a month but want to get a few out here at the beginning to prime the pump.)
Beatrice Taylor began teaching in 1911 after just 6 weeks training. She was only 17 year old. Beatrice reflects on her experiences teaching at the outbreak of World War One, supervising classes of 70 students, and other oppressive conditions and demands of her times…
“I felt delighted. The children were simply gorgeous… I can see them all so plainly… they were as enthusiastic as I was…
There was another teacher in the room with me. I was talking against another teacher all day and it was exhausting… the boards were all uneven with cracks between them and it was freezing…
We were always reading and studying and you didn’t mind…‘You must have been teaching then when World War One began?’ Oh, yes! That was when the real horror began!”
For information about contributors and the JPL Podcast, as well as Journal of Professional Learning articles and Centre for Professional Learning courses, please visit our website www.cpl.asn.au/podcasts
Tomorrow is the Centenary of the Teachers Federation where I work; we’ve unearthed a tremendous amount of material from the past century. Here is an interview I edited recently of an interview with Beatrice Taylor; she began her teaching career in 1911. She talks about the early days of teaching and how the conditions evolved over time. My grandmother (also Beatrice) wanted to be a teacher. I rather imagined her when working through this recording.
Billy Bragg stopped by my work today to speak to our monthly council; I recorded some audio and video of him. He gave a very compelling speech about the importance of education in his life and for society. He also noted the importance of respect and civility online. You can listen to this and him singing a couple songs for us in the player below.
Billy Bragg speaks at the NSW Teachers Federation about the importance of education and the role of teachers in society. He sings 'I Keep Faith' and 'There is Power in the Union'.
I’m considering my voice—not my physical voice, but my ability to speak out to others and what means I have at hand to do so. I am, by nature, a quiet person and usually reluctant to speak or intervene. This might not readily change; I don’t think I’ll ever be the ‘in your face’ contender out on the frontline. But I do need to understand the bounds and abilities of my voice and use it wisely.
Last week I read several news articles relating to weapons, war, video games (playing at war) and the general glorification of violence as a social norm. I think we need to pause for consideration when a new battle simulation video game garners nearly $800 million in its first two days of sale in a time when there is such a need for the ending of wars and fostering peace. I know video games are the easy end of the spectrum to speak about, ‘oh, you know what happens when kids play those violent video games’. I’m not sure I do; but, regardless of what the games in themselves encourage in people’s minds, I do know that ‘actual war’ is increasingly engaged through the medium of a computer screen rather than in person. There are still troops on the ground facing real risk; but the movement is toward a sterile press the button and the figures on the screen are dead warfare. One of the other articles I read last week was about a new cruise missile in the US that can be launched from the States and basically target anything in the world within an hour. Soon, like an online multiplayer game, our wars may be fought by telecommuters at home in their socks.
Which brings me back to voice; I am, at this very moment, sitting at home in my socks. What havoc for peace might I bring from here? What is the balance of what I can and can’t do with these tools at hand? I don’t want that to sound like dithering as I am actually aware of what can be accomplished. It’s more a question of what is the next action and then the next. I know that, in the face of these conflicts we hear about abroad (and at home), that one voice may seem moot. But this is no reason or excuse not to speak (that’s been said over and again—one voice does make a difference when raised up in a chorus of others). I stood and spoke at Meeting on Sunday saying, It is neither weapons nor the glorification of violence that are evil’s most potent tools; war is best served by the apathy of those who do nothing to speak against it. That is the crux of it, if nothing else it is put upon me to speak what I may in the way open to me.
I interviewed John Michaelis, the editor of Quaker Voice on Wednesday at the Devonshire Street Meeting House here in Surry Hills. Quaker Voice will be (it’s still in the works) an online forum for ‘Quakers and likeminded people’ around the world to speak out and discern social issues where they are. It will be a conversation where that first person voice of real people on the ground is shared with others of concern (rather the opposite of digitally mediated warfare). I’ve just edited the interview with John and you can listen here:
This is something I’ve been meaning to do for some time! I’ve set up a Soundcloud account to host my podcasts rather than just posting them directly on my weblog as .mp3 files. This will allow much easier linking and put them out in a more visible space. I’ve posted the first interview, a discussion with John Michaelis on the Online Australian Friend (OLAF). Online Australian Friend Interview by quietamerican
Here is a twenty minute interview with mural artist Leah Samuelson from last Spring’s BuildaBridge Institute. We spoke about her teaching methodology and how she approaches a community about the process of mural making. Her work has brought her to ‘visionaries, personnel of biblical training institutions, schools, correctional facilities, slums, and palaces.’
I’m starting to post some podcasts from this year’s BuildaBridge Institute. Here is a ten minute interview with art therapist Jim Borling.
The Edge Of Somewhere
The Edge of Somewhere is the personal weblog of Jason Nicholas; you'll find journals, travels, and general musings on the state of the world and Cosmos.
