Trek Assessment #3

There were many surprises or unexpected situations that I encountered after going on my treks and analyzing the footage/material. One of which, was when I was recording some kids playing soccer. I thought I just recording the laughing, playful yelling, and kicking of the ball (along with mild ambience of the park) however, I also picked up an airplane and birds chirping. I did not think those sounds would be as pronounced in the audio recording as they were. It made me realize just how much is going on in the world around me even though I am only focused on one particular event. Another surprise was when I found an empty water runoff tunnel. I heard some water dripping and I wanted to record that image. I found the source but I also noticed how intriguing the light from the end of the tunnel appeared. That open circle of light immediately made me think of “the light at the end of the tunnel” when compared to the journey towards death. I guess that’s not all that surprising but it caught me off guard and really made me think of how fragile life is and how whatever I’m doing is just one step to the eventual light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, a third surprise I encountered was when I was recording audio of two men building a staircase to their porch. I noticed that they were using drills and saws and I thought that I would get a great recording of the saw. I did, but I was also surprised to hear the bantering conversation between the two men and a radio playing in the background. It showed how humans cope with doing work (or things they don’t want to). I’m pretty sure neither of these men wanted to build this staircase but they did it anyways and used whatever sources they could to make the job more bearable. It showed me that humans could turn tedious events into bearable (or even pleasant) tasks by simply using ingenuity and ideas.