Assignments

The show is coming soon!! Tune in to “The Opposites” next weekend and listen to your hosts, Eric and DK, help their listeners through all sorts of problems during this new and developing digitized age.

For my second audio assignment of the week, I chose the Radio Show Intermission assignment, which consists of offering the listeners a break from the discussion that is going on during a show. I took a different approach to this assignment though, creating a brief intermission to transition to be able to go from discussion to another aspect like an ad or a different segment of the show. I wanted to make it quick, but also harsh, to show it’s not meant to blend flawlessly into the show, it’s meant to stick out a little to give the listeners an idea of something changing and to bring back full attention.

For my first audio assignment of the week, I chose the Create a Commercial assignment, using the opportunity to make something to incorporate into the upcoming radio show project. I chose to do aquaphor because it is something that I frequently use as chap stick and for personal hygiene. I put this together in a soothing way, in order to eventually create some contrast between our radio show and the commercial iself, and also because it fits the them of the product.

(P.S. the title of this post is a hint!)

One of the video assignments that really caught my eye was filming as if I was speaking to my sixteen year old self. This was back in 2021-22 and the reason it caught my eye was because it immediately reminded me of how much I was going through at that time. I wanted to be able to make a video to show how much I’ve grown since then. I was also challenged in my attempt to not overshare. In my mind when completing the assignment I thought back to movies that state that if you tell your past self any details about what happens in the future then that future will not occur. I thought it would be a good challenge to uphold.

If you are interested, then you can listen here!

Have you ever had a song that has been stuck in your head and you find yourself mumbling throughout the day. There’s a song that had come out recently that had been stuck in and out of my head ever since it had released, and I thought it was a perfect song to whistle to. Please listen and let me know your guesses in the comments!

Creating a radio bumper was really fun and very cool to mess around with. I wanted to choose background music that would really fit in with our class theme and found some noir themed music that I thought represented the ds106 radio show well as a background. Please let me know what you think!

While creating my sound effect story, I had wanted to use Freesound to find a sound of a door closing to convey the person in my story leaving their place of residence. I initially wanted a simple sound, but found only 4 present, with none being suitable for the story I was trying to tell. I instead went for a sound that including grabbing keys which turned out well, but that thought never left my mind. Why were there no uploaded sounds of a normal door closing, an activity we do countless times every day? For the assignment Sound Effects, I was tasked with uploading a new sound to Freesound, which helped me come full circle back to the sound I initially wanted.

In hindsight I probably could have made this and used it for my story😅 but it worked out for the best regardless.

Using many different sound effects to create a story really helped me expand my knowledge of how powerful sound can be and its impact on everyone. I chose to follow someone day at work to make a connection between us hearing millions of sounds everyday, and a typical day experienced by many. Creating a piece that may not be all sunshine and rainbows was my way of emphasizing the different uses of sound and how it can convey many different moods and tones, even without any use of words. Please listen to what I made and feel free to leave a comment on how you would rate it!

Shadows are very interesting because of how they can change perception of how close or far something is, or even how big an object is. In this case, I saw two poles that were around 20 feet away from each other but their shadows were so close. That really inspired me because it shows the closeness and connection people can have even if they physically aren’t close. All it takes is some light to shine down on you so you don’t forget how close you really are to someone, and to be grateful for that. Because without any light you wouldn’t be able to tell.

I chose the movie The Princess Bride because it’s a classic movie that was a comfort movie for my sister. This in turn resulted in me being stuck watching it many times (the younger brother never wins the battle for the TV remote). There was one scene that stuck with me during the times I involuntarily watched the movie and it was the Battle of the Wits scene. I wanted to do this as a connection to my sister because it is because of her that I will watch this movie every once in a while.

After a very long and stressful day I had minimal motivation to do work of any kind. I was tired and groggy but knew I had to relax and get something done, but I didn’t know my assignment would consist of both. I was browsing through design assignments and the Destress & Color assignment caught my eye. It seemed fun and a good fit as it would give me a much needed mental reset. Downloaded the app and boom, there’s all of these choices and I don’t know what to choose. After a bit of browsing I went for lots of landscapes involving nature to fit with the calmness I was aiming to achieve while doing this assignment. It worked swimmingly, as I immediately got into a groove and zoned out until I was done and realized how pretty all of the pieces I had chosen were. I had a lot of fun with this assignment and was glad I could share the theme I had in my mind while selecting what to color.

As an introduction, my dog’s name is Cavi and she is a 6 year old golden doodle with lots of energy. She gets super excited about lots of things, especially going for car rides and seeing new people. I wanted to do this assignment because I wanted to share my dog and I’d actually never made a Tiktok before this assignment. I found a video of my dog and browsed for the perfect sound. I found a sound called the “Jackass theme” which I thought was the best option after hearing it along with the video. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself!

• Name: Eric Little
• Sex: M
• Height: 6’1
• Weight: 182lbs
• Eye Color: BLU
• DOB: 06/23/03

Meet Eric Little, a 22-year-old young man who is considered relatively sheltered with little exposure to the darker side of the world. He was raised in a quiet suburban town, with lots of personal ambition yet molded by opportunity and fairness. He had always been the type to follow the rules, maintain a steady job, and keep to a circle of loyal friends. He carries himself with a quiet confidence that hasn’t yet been challenged by real adversity. On the other hand, the innocence he carries makes him a prime target in a world where trust is a liability.

His personality is intelligent, idealistic, and  deeply empathetic at his core. He tends to believe the best in people, even in situations where others might be more cautious. This trait often leaves him vulnerable to manipulation, as he’s quick to trust those around him. His kindness and unwillingness to question the system of right and wrong lead him to be easily swept up in harmful situations.

Eric’s life takes a sharp turn when he becomes inadvertently entangled in a criminal conspiracy. Through no fault of his own, he is framed for a crime he did not commit, a scenario that threatens to undo all of the structure in his life he has come to rely on. Whether it’s a false accusation or a trap set by those who see him as an easy pawn, Eric quickly finds himself trapped in a web of lies, corruption, and betrayal. As a victim of circumstance, he’s forced to navigate a world that he doesn’t understand. With each passing moment, Eric loses more of his innocence, learning painful lessons about the nature of trust, betrayal, and justice. His once-clear moral compass becomes clouded as he’s pushed into a corner, uncertain of whom to trust, all while fighting to clear his name.

The thought of what house I would buy without any financial restrictions has always been a thought in my mind, especially as I continue to progress into adulthood and have to think about fully living on my own with a job and a stable income. I’ve always dreamed of living in a house on the West Coast in the San Diego area, and immediately went to browse around the area. I’m also not a huge fan of the more boxy shaped modern houses and am more drawn to clean and minimalistic houses with some rustic aspects to tie it together. After a bit of searching, I found this house that looks perfect, listing at 4.5 million with 5 beds and 3 baths, and a setup and all the space one could need.

A connection to our class theme of Tech Noir I thought of was how the market of houses would look under a vastly developed technological society. Smart homes would be commonplace, but could be used to exert control over their inhabitants. There’s also concerns of privacy as technologies that makes a home “smart” could be hijacked by powerful corporations or government entities to monitor and manipulate people. Would every house look the same and be “smart homes” or could there be diversity present and how would that ratio look? How would a boundary between security and privacy look in a market of houses full of surveillance and AI-driven systems? Furthermore, large tech corporations could dominate the housing market, buying up properties to embed technology in them, then price out working-class residents to raise property value and essentially cut off any sense of community. Overall, my vision of the housing market in tech noir is a space governed by technology that shapes the living experience for its residents.

When I was first looking through the assignment bank the Soundtrack assignment caught my eye immediately. I have always been around lots of music, and am a big fan of all types of genres. I thought this assignment would be perfect for me to express different eras that have been impactful to me and led me to who I am now. Music is an amazing way to tell a story about yourself and that’s how I interpreted completing this assignment to be true to me. I chose eras of songs that were released in the 2000s and 2010s to reflect my favorite songs to listen to growing up, embodying my childhood. Then switched to Grateful Dead and Phish because my parents were a heavy influence in getting me into all sorts of music, and they love listening to jam bands, originating with those two. Lastly, I chose vintage songs mostly by Frank Sinatra to represent my grandparents, who loved Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, as they were big role models in my life before they passed away and I love listening to all sorts of Jazz to reminisce on being in their car looking at Christmas lights.

This soundtrack shares a connection with the Tech Noir theme, particularly through the noticeable evolution in the quality of the music, as well as its vocals and instrumental development. These changes can be compared to the broader progression of technology, where innovations reshape traditional forms. While the connection between the two is not vast or filled with many direct parallels, it does reflect a growing trend: as music becomes increasingly influenced by technological advancements, some argue that the industry is slowly decaying, surrendering to the dominance of technology. This shift has led to a belief that music, in some ways, is losing its organic essence, becoming more synthetic as a result.

Enjoy viewing a compressed version of the eras and influences of my life!