Seeing is Believing
Music has always been something that can touch the heartstrings of people. Regardless of where one comes from, music has always been the bridge between people, relationships, happiness, anger, sadness, remorse and so on. Listening to each beat, each lyric, even listening to the vibrations that can be felt, all of these can touch people.
BUT, what of those who cannot hear? What of those who cannot speak? Music might seem to be nothing more than just a word to them. These people might never ever experience the joy or sadness that can be felt. How then can they experience it? How then can they relate?
In the process of trying to understand how people who cannot hear experience music, I watched a couple of youtube videos of deaf people explaining how they appreciated music. Some can feel the bass and the vibrations, others will read the lyrics and sign the words to others to share the meaning of the songs. But I would like to explore something a bit different. Using the sense of sight as the medium of experiencing.
This project was made to bridge that gap. It consists of:
1. A dance that people can enjoy and feel the beat, the way the human body sways and grooves to the beat, all of these can be seen.
2. But to replace what they cannot hear, that is the challenge. Gestural drawings were made to assist those who cannot hear, for them to appreciate the meaning of the songs that they cannot listen to. Allowing them to understand what that song is and the emotions that come with it.
SEEING IS BELIEVING hopes to reach out to this group of people where they can finally see the music that is in the air.
This entire project was edited and created on Adobe After Effects to give the gestural drawings life.
The process of drawing each and every stroke and line in After Effects had to be done frame by frame. Rather time consuming,
The process of drawing each and every stroke and line in After Effects had to be done frame by frame. Rather time consuming,
The song that was chosen was a remix of "Lay Me Down" by Sam Smith.
Choreographed by Rachel Tan Si Ying.
Choreographed by Rachel Tan Si Ying.
Below is the FINAL edit of the music video.
Cardiff, Omm. "Make Blotter Media AWESOME Instagram GLOWING ANIMATIONS ! (After Effects Tutorial)." YouTube. February 17, 2019. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLpdMtNi9yg&t=109s.
Claralieu. "Ask the Art Prof: What Is a Gesture Drawing?" Clara Lieu. February 02, 2019. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://claralieu.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/ask-the-art-professor-what-is-a-gesture-drawing/.
DITSignLanguageSoc. "How Do Deaf People Experience Music." YouTube. August 06, 2011. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvuYTDhi0t0.
Tutorials, Olufemii. "Glowing Scribble Animations In After Effects Tutorial (Like BlotterMedia)." YouTube. February 12, 2019. Accessed April 29, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExnDo1WsnyQ.
Daisy, Brianna J. "Deaf People in a Hearing World: A Qualitative Study of Cultural Identity Issues." Accessed April 29, 2019.2008. https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1072&context=thesis.
