#ap 2

Hannah Brenner

Artist Statement

  Statement of Purpose

            My purpose for creating this piece was to demonstrate my learning so far in my digital technology and culture class by creating a video and sound remix that focuses on a game environment. I chose to focus on the “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” for my project.

  Influences

            I was influenced mainly by the Skyrim music itself. I love the game and it’s graphics, but there are so many different tracks that play throughout the game, and many of them are immediately recognizable, I wanted to challenge myself to put an entire gaming experience worth of music into a two minute long piece along with some clips from the game.

  Fit within Larger Notion of Aesthetics

            My piece is almost like a sampling of the most popular songs on the game and some clips of things typically seen while playing. It’s a remix of the music and experience of the game on a small scale. While it uses the original music by Jeremy Soule, the way that I pieced together the snips and added sound effects are completely original, as well as the clips I chose to show with the music.

  Materials

            The songs were off of the album “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: The Original Game Soundtrack” that I purchased on iTunes. I clipped and edited the songs using Garage Band. List of songs used:

Dragon Born, The Bannered Mare, The Streets of Whiterun, One They Fear, Solitude, and Watch the Skies.

I chose a few videos from Youtube to take clips from. The complete citation of the videos can be found at the bottom of this document.

  Methodology

            First I picked a few songs off of the album to put into my piece. I wanted to chose songs that would be immediately recognized by someone who has played Skyrim, and also I wanted to chose songs that would encompass the entirety of the game. First I chose the theme song for Skyrim, and then I picked a couple songs that represented different locations in Skyrim, the Bannered Mare inn and the towns of Whiterun and Solitude. Then I chose a couple songs that come when fighting during the game: One They Fear and Watch the Skies. I then cut up pieces of the songs and fit them together in a way that I thought transitioned the best and still kept the essence of the game when pieced together. Finally I listened to the whole thing and added sound effects like a door opening, footsteps, and dripping water.

            After I created the song, I found a few different videos from YouTube and sliced them up and combined them to fit the song the way that I wanted to. I took away the original sound from the videos and added transitions between clips.

  Desired Results

            What I hope to achieve with this work is that when someone listens to this mix of songs from the game and sees the clips, they will be immediately be transported to their gaming experience. My ideal would be someone to watch and say, “Oh, I remember killing a dragon to this song,” or, “This music reminds me of that one quest. That was a great time.” For the viewer that hasn’t experienced Skyrim, my hope is that they will be intrigued with the selection of music and clips and have interest sparked for the game.

  Actual Results

            I believe that I accomplished my stated purpose. The actual result is not as finished as I would like and in the future I would like to add more sound effects to the piece to increase the connection a viewer would have with the music and the game. For example, I would’ve liked to add swords clashing, dragons roaring, and the iconic phrase, “I used to be an adventurer, but then I took and arrow to the knee.” Another thing I would have liked to do is use my own clips from the game, but I’m not skilled enough to take clips from the game yet.

  Outcome

            I will judge my success by the experience a viewer has. If a viewer has played Skyrim before, a success will be that the piece will bring up memories of game from beginning to end, not just one part. For the viewer that hasn’t played the game, a success will be a new interest in the game or even a desire to play it. The greatest success would be to inspire the viewer to remember their experience and have the feeling that they want to play again, right now.

Hannah Brenner

Artist Statement

  Statement of Purpose

            My purpose for creating this piece was to demonstrate my learning so far in my digital technology and culture class by creating a sound remix that focuses on a game environment. I chose to focus on the “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” for my project.

  Influences

            I was influenced mainly by the Skyrim music itself. There are so many different tracks that play throughout the game, and many of them are immediately recognizable, I wanted to challenge myself to put an entire gaming experience worth of music into a two minute long piece.

  Fit within Larger Notion of Aesthetics

            My piece is almost like a sampling of the most popular songs on the game. It’s a remix of the music of the game on a small scale. While it uses the original music by Jeremy Soule, the way that I pieced together the snips and added sound effects are completely original.

  Materials

            The songs were off of the album “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: The Original Game Soundtrack” that I purchased on iTunes. I clipped and edited the songs using Garage Band. List of songs used:

Dragon Born, The Bannered Mare, The Streets of Whiterun, One They Fear, Solitude, and Watch the Skies.

  Methodology

            First I picked a few songs off of the album to put into my piece. I wanted to chose songs that would be immediately recognized by someone who has played Skyrim, and also I wanted to chose songs that would encompass the entirety of the game. First I chose the theme song for Skyrim, and then I picked a couple songs that represented different locations in Skyrim, the Bannered Mare inn and the towns of Whiterun and Solitude. Then I chose a couple songs that come when fighting during the game: One They Fear and Watch the Skies. I then cut up pieces of the songs and fit them together in a way that I thought transitioned the best and still kept the essence of the game when pieced together. Finally I listened to the whole thing and added sound effects like a door opening, footsteps, and dripping water.

  Desired Results

            What I hope to achieve with this work is that when someone listens to this mix of songs from the game, they will be immediately be transported to their gaming experience. My ideal would be someone to listen and say, “Oh, I remember killing a dragon to this song,” or, “This music reminds me of that one quest. That was a great time.” For the listener that hasn’t experienced Skyrim, my hope is that they will be intrigued with the selection of music and have interest sparked for the game.

  Actual Results

            I believe that I accomplished my stated purpose. The actual result is not as finished as I would like and in the future I would like to add more sound effects to the piece to increase the connection a listener would have with the music and the game. For example, I would’ve liked to add swords clashing, dragons roaring, and the iconic phrase, “I used to be an adventurer, but then I took and arrow to the knee.”

  Outcome