Chris Watson's audio diary 'A Journey South' is intriguing in that he paints the image of the 'frozen planet' he is in with just his words describing the landscape and the desolation of the places he is in. He describes how there is nearly no sound on this 'planet', and swaps between talking about his experience and letting you listen to his recordings.
He explains how on the ice, it is a different story. He talks about recording the whales with hydrophones under the ice shelf and then smoothly leads into the recording, the sound of the weddle whales and the ice cracking, giving an amazing image in the head without needing photographic imagery. It is especially image creating if you listen to the audio with headphones; it gives you the sense of being under the ice with the whales, a feeling that is slightly unnerving!..
He talks about recording 2000-3000 penguins and the pandemonium of noise he records is remarkable in comparison to the landscape they are in.
The recording of the weddle seals vocalising under the water with hydrophones is amazing purely because of the remarkable pitches of sound they do create. The recording is unique and I have never heard anything like it before. The reason it is striking I feel is because if you saw an image of weddle seal, without sound, it would be a nice thing to look at but the sound that he recorded really brings the creature to life, showing how they communicate through sound - that I would never have associated with a seal. It really brings another 'dimension' to the seal and is interesting to listen to.
Again, the recording of the orcas is very interesting to listen to; the orcas makes very complex vocalisation strands through echolocation. It is almost like you are hearing a conversation between the orcas, incredibly sounding like an electronic machine or electricity as opposed to an animal.
I watched 'Frozen Planet' when it was broadcasted on television and although the programme was praised for its stunning visuals, the sound is really what makes the barren wasteland and its secretive creatures come alive. The sounds that Chris recorded are incredible to listen to as they have never been heard before; some of the creatures have never been vocalised before. The job of staying in South Pole for months in the freezing wasteland must have been incredibly difficult but the recordings he came back with are so unique and really bring to life the creatures he recorded in a very colourful fashion.
Photos by Chris Watson and Jason Roberts from the http://www.touchradio.org.uk/touch_radio_49.html website.
No comments:
Post a Comment