KATE IZENSTARK

KATE IZENSTARK

MY EVERYDAY

2013

4:33

The goal of my everyday sound art piece is to depict a standard weekday morning for a student at cu. The project takes place in my sorority house and stars my roommate, Paige. In addition, the overall purpose of my everyday project was to create an accurate, unbiased, and unenhanced representation of an average school morning, while simultaneously conveying the sounds we constantly hear and glance over everyday while getting ready for school. For example, our alarm clocks, toothbrushes, hair­brushes, a ticking clock, makeup kits, and face washes are all constantly used by students, but are ignored and taken for granted because we hear them everyday. I know I don’t pay attention to these sounds when I get ready simply because they are always present. 

For software, I used an iPhone and iMovie to create the film. I specifically used an iPhone because it is an everyday device that students use constantly, and iMovie because I felt very comfortable using it compared to final cut. In addition, I didn’t appropriate any footage or sounds for my piece, and the footage and sounds that are portrayed are original material.

To create my everyday sound art piece, I looked to Sofia Coppola’s work for inspiration. Although she is a Hollywood filmmaker, Sofia Coppola reminds me of the everyday because her films are typically raw, real, and unlike other movies that rely on special effects and unrealistic plotlines. In all honesty, her work is sometimes so real that it comes off boring and makes the viewer feel uncomfortable while watching it. For example, at the beginning of my everyday project, the viewer watches the unnamed protagonist rest in bed and waits for something to happen. The viewer becomes frustrated until the alarm, or the initial representation of conflict goes off and our unnamed protagonist begins her “everyday”. 

In conclusion, we all have routines that we follow in order to carry out our everyday activities. My project symbolizes the significance of routine in life and the idea that people take aspects of their everyday for granted without even realizing it.