The purpose of this Culminating Experience (CE) project is to address the climate crisis by creating an immersive Audio-Visual presentation. The first step is to carry out background research on the causes and effects of global warming, such as the melting of glaciers and rising sea level. Then, the creative process consists of video capturing known environments (i.e., seaside, mountains), editing and adding effects to the videos to give an abstract depiction of the alterations that are happening daily to our ecosystem, and composing music to reflect those visuals. The project is delivered as two main music videos, and four short animations, with the aim to raise awareness about the emergency and inspire spectators to take action.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-production-technology/1231/thumbnail.jp

Arno, Vittorio

English

Berklee Research Media and Information Exchange (REMIX)

Berklee College of Music Address The Future of Life on Earth Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Music in Music Production, Technology, and Innovation Supervisors: Marta Verde Baqueiro, Pierce F. Warnecke by Vittorio Arno’ Valencia Campus, Spain May 2020 Table of Contents Abstract iii 1. Introduction 1 2. Review of the State of the Art 2 3. Description 5 4. Innovative Aspects 7 5. New Skills Acquired 8 6. Challenges, both expected & unanticipated 8 7. Future Ramifications 9 8. Conclusions 9 Appendix A: Deliverables and Tables 10 Appendix A: Song Translation 12 Bibliography 13 iiAbstract The purpose of this Culminating Experience (CE) project is to address the climate crisis by creating an immersive Audio-Visual presentation. The first step is to carry out background research on the causes and effects of global warming, such as the melting of glaciers and rising sea level. Then, the creative process consists of video capturing known environments (i.e., seaside, mountains), editing and adding effects to the videos to give an abstract depiction of the alterations that are happening daily to our ecosystem, and composing music to reflect those visuals. The project is delivered as two main music videos, and four short animations, with the aim to raise awareness about the emergency and inspire spectators to take action.  Keywords: Audio-Visual, climate crisis, research, creative process, immersive music.  iii1. Introduction The idea was first conceived while the author was applying for the Music Production, Technology, and Innovation (MPTI) degree program. Frustration caused by the impotence against global warming, drove him to employ his experience in music to lend his voice to bring light to this critical issue for humanity. The urge to speak up, to address a problem, and to take action, are some of the motivations that led the author to this concept. Scrolling through course listing, and seeing the possibilities the campus could provide fuelled the author to expand his artistic skillset to include visual components as well as auditory components. The author believes that by showing an abstract representation, followed by music and sound, of the future of life on earth, he can provide an impactful statement that is going to stimulate his audience to not overlook. His desire is to help every spectator feel empowered to preserve their own environment. It is important to understand that this work highlights a crisis to let the public proceed to build their own opinion. The author hopes the audience will be moved to take action, but the project is open to interpretation, not aspiring to preach any kind of propaganda.    12. Review of the State of the Art  Figure 1. Einaudi performing in the Arctic. Photography by Pedro Armestre / Greenpeace. Trying to convey humankind's impact on the Earth through different mediums isn't new. Climate scientists have written haiku: "Big, fast carbon surge: Ice melts, oceans heat and rise. Air warms by decades.” […] Photographers have captured aerial images of melting glaciers, deforestation and oil spills.   1The author is not the first that wants to give people a window into global warming that is different than spreadsheets and reports; there have even been other musical interpretations about climate change. 1. Heather Hansman, "This Song Is Composed From 133 Years Of Climate Change Data” (Smithsonian, 2015)   2One example is Bernie Krause, musician and soundscape ecologist. With his Wild Sanctuary Audio Archive  Krause represents a vast and important collection 2of whole-habitat field recordings and precise metadata dating from the late 1960s. Half of the natural soundscapes in this rare set are from habitats that no longer exist, are radically altered because of human activity, or have gone altogether silent.  Another example is critically acclaimed Italian composer and pianist, Ludovico Einaudi. Through his music, Einaudi has added his voice to those of millions people from across the world calling for governments to save the Arctic from threats such as oil drilling and destructive fishing. Einaudi played one of his own compositions on a floating platform in the middle of the Norwegian Sea (see fig. 1), against the backdrop of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier.  He performed an original piece “Elegy for the Arctic”, to call for its protection, on June 17th, 2016.  3With this action, Greenpeace was urging the OSPAR Commission not to miss the opportunity to protect international Arctic waters. The official music video for Max Cooper “Platonic”, by Páraic McGloughlin, draws similarities to the author’s concept of the visual element.  McGloughlin used 4a single day-long shot, whose time-based processing is linked to more than one 2. Bernie Krause, “Wild Sanctuary Audio Archive”, Wild Sanctuary, Bernie Krause, 2019,  http://www.wildsanctuary.com/index.html. 3. Ludovico Einaudi, composer and pianist, “Elegy For The Arctic”, Norwegian Sea, 2016.4. Max Cooper, “Platonic - Official Video by Páraic McGloughlin”, posted by Max Cooper, 2018, Youtube, 4:45, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FKRSuG_Nmk.    3hundred layers of audio Cooper used to create the music, it’s fairly intense on the sound and visual as a result, but all so precisely carried out. The author intends to create a more mellow and minimal rendition, aesthetically there is still a mix of abstraction and realism, using a fundamental image to mask and cut into, he expects to maintain the integrity of each individual photograph without dissecting the overall image. The purpose is to keep the audience closer to reality and be impactful in terms of authentic alterations. An additional musical reference for this project is Light in the Attic’s Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990, a compilation curated by Spencer Doran of Visible Cloaks, bringing together a wide selection of ambient music that, while decades old, feels uncannily suited to contemporary listening habits.  In the liner notes, Doran points out that ambient 5music in Japan started, much as it did elsewhere, with composers who became fixated on the work of Erik Satie, John Cage, and, later, Brian Eno, particularly their ideas about background, modes of attention, authorship, and functionality. 5. Mark Richardson, “Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990” (Pitchfork, 2019)   43. Description                       Figure 2. Inspiration for project’s visuals,                          “The Microphones - The Glow” Album Cover. The creative process consisted of three main elements. The first element was filming recognisable environments, focusing on still landscape videos, and  digitally editing the shots to give an abstract depiction of the alterations that climate change is bringing to our ecosystem (see fig. 2). The final films are going to picture two opposite landscapes, one taken in Valencia’s port, the other one in the Italian side of Alps, facing the glaciers of Mont Blanc. The author avoided the time-lapse video technique, keeping it in real-time should point out the immediacy of our Earth’s degrading condition. The second element of the creative process was to compose music to reflect those alterations, record the wild and pure sounds of    5the environments, and let the listeners dive into those spaces. The last part was conceived only after reflecting on the purpose of the entire project, the call to action wasn’t cutting through the main music videos so it was necessary to produce additional material. Starting from artworks he designed (see fig. 3), the author decided to create four animation shorts and match them with music to advertise via social media, focusing on highlighting the project's intent.                Figure 3.  Visuals used for animation. Soundscapes of the selected environments are captured with a Tascam DR-40 recorder. Most of the production happened between Berklee’s studios and the author’s facilities. The author decided to only involve his sister for what concerns music recordings, avoiding collaborations is supposed to be worth in    6terms of launching a working profile and unveiling his competences. The goal is to engage an audience, to do that it is important to seek feedbacks as well as allowing creative inputs towards the work’s progress. 4. Innovative Aspects As previously observed, the intention of the project is to give people a window into global warming that differs from bare activism, art is employed to add value to their ground work. The concept is obtained by asking which is the number-one problem and establishing the terms to solve it. The term “Artivism” was forged by interpretations from Gil Scott-Heron to Tom Zé, it sounded new to the author but he now intends to join the political cause with mediums that reflect  his times and hopefully engage young generations. Raising awareness by the means of art, through social media, developed in recent years and this project embraces the movement with a focus on the environment.  Discovering an opportunity facing a problem, to get new things done, is useful in terms of reaching a personal competitive advantage. The learning experience developed the author’s soft skills, and built upon various other areas.    75. New Skills Acquired Attending the Video Production classes encouraged the author to have an hands-on approach and shoot with a camera himself (i.e. Canon EOS 700D). To match his artistic view and acquire new technology skills he also undertook the video editing and effecting part. Producing the different animations from scratch led to an extensive use of softwares such as Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro and expanded his competences. This experience also added to the author’s innovation skills, these include not just soft skills like empathy, but the ability to create the future. Having a diverse set of skills will help the author’s upcoming career by being less vulnerable in a working environment. 6. Challenges, both expected & unanticipated Being the first time approaching filming, the author expected to encounter difficulties especially during that phase of the process. His inexperience was apparent when trying to get a sharp focus and a steady shot. To fix those problems different editing techniques were tried, although only practice and time will give the author the necessary practical skills to reach a professional level.     8Due to the ongoing pandemic, other technical limitations were encountered. Since campus wasn’t accessible the author subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud, thinking it would work fine from his laptop, but it wasn't the case. To solve this, he reached out to Luigi Tasso that kindly accepted to help in the video editing process and, when manageable, worked with a different computer.  7. Future Ramifications The produced material is set to release online through different services (i.e., Instagram, Youtube), to reach a wider audience it is also intended to be displayed as an installation. Practicing and spending additional time with the different equipments will refine the author’s functional skills, he expects to include the work in his portfolio, by doing so it will build on his repertoire. The goal is to improve his abilities and reach a professional level. 8. Conclusions During the time spent in Valencia, the author’s definition of artistic figure changed, being at Berklee showed what it means to become a professional at music, broadening out creative skills and developing a musical profile. The author learned to achieve greater introspection, his self-consciousness, taste and sense of aesthetic were questioned multiple times. Thought of failure in the face of global    9warming led to this concept, the work is intended as a call to action, a soft push towards preserving our Earth’s condition. Scientific researches clarify how little effort is asked from each one of us, it just felt right bringing this to light. Appendix A: Deliverables and Tables The project is delivered as video files, two main music videos and four short animations. Music is also going to be delivered separately. Updated versions of the timeline (see Table 1) and the budget (see Table 2) are included. Table 1. TimelineTimeline Shooting Video Editing MusicNovember SeasideDecember Mountains X CompositionJanuary Mountains X CompositionFebruary X RecordingMarch X RecordingApril X ProductionMay X ProductionJune X ProductionJuly X Mix & MasterAugust X Mix & Master   10Table 2. Budget    11Item REAL AFTER 3 MO FINAL SUBTOTALSMATERIALS (disposables)HARD DRIVE €- €- €-MEMORY CARD €25 €25 €25€25EQUIPMENTHARDWAREMICS (Rental) 24 days €- €- €-CAMERA (Purchase) €- €- €-COMPUTER (Purchase) €- €- €-INTERFACE (Purchase) €- €- €-SOFTWARESPRO TOOLS (Purchase) €- €- €-LOGIC PRO (Purchase) €- €- €-ADOBE Creative Cloud (Rental) 3 mo€39.66 x 6 mo €39.66 €39.66€39.66PERSONNELMUSICIAN (x 1) €- €- €-ENGINEER €- €- €-VIDEO EDITOR €- €- €-€-STUDIOBERKLEE  (€250 x 24 days)€- €- €-HOME (€- x 10 mo) €- €- €-€-OVERHEADRENT €550 x 10 mo €1650 €5500LIFE EXPENSES €500 x 10 mo €1200 €4000€9525TOTAL €2914.66 €9589.66 €9589.66Appendix A: Song Translation Song: Rise This song adapts a personal love situation to nature, notice how the lyrics transmit a tactile sensation. Differently, the second half urges to action.  I shut myself alone it's hot at home I don't want your love I just want a good cry Saturday morning you see me distracted the way the wind is blowing I'd love to take a dip I'd love to take a dip You know my dream is making love searching for sand until I wake up and therefore undress all my desires    12Staying afloat is not enough being awake is not enough staying here is not enough staying here is not enough Staying afloat is not enough being awake is not enough Staying here is not enough staying here is not enough (x4) Credits: Adele, Vittorio ArnòBibliography Hansman, Heather. 2015. "This Song Is Composed From 133 Years Of Climate Change Data”. Smithsonian.Com.  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/this-song-composed- from-133-years-climate-change-data-180956225/ Krause, Bernie. 2019. ”Wild Sanctuary Audio Archive”. Wildsanctuary.Com. https://www.wildsanctuary.com/index.html Einaudi, Ludovico. "Ludovico Einaudi - Elegy for the Arctic - Official Live (Greenpeace)”. 2016. Youtube video, 3:13.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DLnhdnSUVs Cooper, Max. “Max Cooper - Platonic - Official Video by Páraic McGloughlin”. Directed by Páraic McGloughlin. 2018. Youtube video, 4:45.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FKRSuG_Nmk Richardson, Mark. 2019. "Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980-1990". Pitchfork.Com. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/various-artists-kanky-ongaku- japanese-ambient-environmental-and-new-age-music-1980-1990/   13

Address: The Future of Life on Earth

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Address: The Future of Life on Earth

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