Sound Ecology

Web Documentary. HD. 2010
12 short documentaries scripted, researched, directed, coproduced and edited by Alexandra Guité.
Production: National Film Board and TOXA

http://ecologiesonore.onf.ca/

Urban Soundscape
	Where there is no noise there is no life!		The torture of absolute silence
	Connecting to sounds		Sounds are essential
Suburban Soundscape
	My personal touch		A soundman’s hell
	An important sense
Nature Soundscape
	Sound Refuge		Engine’s Paradise
	Listening to the Farm
Monastery Soundscape
	A silence of presence		Grace

 

Web Documentary  on the fascinating world of sound, noise and silence as seen by captivating people in intimate portraits.  Rich interactive visual and audio experience of four soundscapes : the city, the countryside, the suburbs and the silence of monastic spaces.   From the journey of the blind Nathalie who guides herself mostly with the help of sounds to the mysteries of silence chambers and the racket of  snowmobiles, passionate and touching people guide us throughout the complex world of sound.

Image : Anna Lupien and Sofiane Belaïd Sound : France Poliseno, Dominique Greffard and Maxime Dumesnil Edited by : Alexandra Guité, Alexandre Leblanc, Étienne Gagnon and Kim Nguyen

Sound Ecology Short films

Urban Soundscape

« Where there is no noise there is no life!  »
Lili Jetté never holds back on what she thinks. Although her home is under a busy highway, she has devloped a unique perspective on sound, community and life. Let’s hear her.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité . Image : Anna Lupien . Sound : Sonia Poirier . Editing : Alexandra Guité and Etienne Gagnon. Sound Editing and Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to Frank Desoer, Michel Labrecque, Jody Negley and all the Jetté family.

 

« The torture of absolute silence  »
Tony Leroux is an audiologist who has dedicated his life to exploring the impact of noises on people’s lives. We follow him as he works his way through the extremes of intense noise pollution and the dead silence of an anechoic chamber.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Sofiane Belaïd. Sound : Dominique Greffard . Editing : Alexandra Guité et Kim X. Nguyen. Sound Editing and Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to Mathieu Régnier, Marc Schoenwiesner and the International Laboratory for Brain Music and Sound Research (BRAMS)

« Connecting to sounds »
Max Stein, student of electro-acoustic music, is passionate about cities’ soundscapes. He organizes Sound Walks to soak in the city’s sounds in order to better hear his city … and his environment.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Sofiane Belaïd. Sound : Dominique Greffard . Editing : Alexandra Guité and Etienne Gagnon. Sound Editing and Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to Mathieu Régnier and all the participants of the Sound Walk.

« Sounds are essential »
Nathalie Chartrand, President of the Athlectic’s Association of the Blind of Québec, is blind. She relies mostly on sounds to orientates herself throughout the city. We followed her through noisy highways and crowded metros as she weaved her way to work.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien. Sound : Sonia Poirier. Editing : Alexandra Guité and Etienne Gagnon. Editing and Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell.

Suburban Soundscape

« My personal touch »
Erick Gosselin is president of a group of Car tuning fans. The strong sound of his modified car is music to his year, in spite of anyone’s complaints. Journey into an individualistic perspective on sound pollution.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien. Sound : Maxime Dumesnil. Editing : Alexandre Leblanc. Sound Editing: François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to David Pieropan, Anne-Marie Archambault and the members of Club Xtreem Kustoms Crew.

 

« A soundman’s hell »
There are some sounds soundman Jean Verrette just cannot stand as he journeys through Montreal’s suburban jungle

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien. Sound: France Poliseno. Editing : Alexandra Guité and Kim X. Nguyen. Sound Editing: François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to the Francs-Tireurs tv show.

« An important sense »
Christian Chaffée became deaf working on a big construction machine. He knows all too well the isolation and sadness that come from living in forced silence.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité . Image : Anna Lupien . Sound : Maxime Dumesnil . Editing : Kim X. Nguyen. Sound Editing : François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to Victorien Pilote, Louis Bergeron, Pierre Morin, the town of Saint-Bruno de Montarville and all it’s workers.

 

Nature Soundscape

« Sound Refuge »
Park Ranger Jean-Philippe Genest takes us on a visit of a national park that strikes a balance between natural preservation and intense human presence in the middle of sprawling suburbia.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien. Sound : Maxime Dumesnil. Editing : Alexandre Leblanc. Sound Editing: François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to SEPAQ, Lucie Boulianne and Serge Perreault.

« Engine’s Paradise »
Christine Gagnon and her wife desperately looked for a little piece of paradise. They never thought they would be so surrounded and bothered. Welcome to their snow mobile heaven. Not exactly what they expected.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien. Sound : Maxime Dumesnil. Editing : Alexandre Leblanc. Sound Editing: François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to Danielle Guimond and the Regroupement québécois contre le bruit (RQCB).

 

« Listening to the Farm»
Agriculture is in full mutation and animals are living its impact first hand, especially with the growing levels of noise. How are they living the growing noise pollution on farms? Farmer Martin Lavallée takes us on a journey into the industrialization of agriculture.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien . Sound : Alexandre Le Mouël . Editing : Kim X. Nguyen. Sound Editing: François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to Isabelle Lavallée.

Monastery Soundscape

« A silence of presence »
This unique Benedictine Monastery set in the middle of rural Quebec, breathes all kinds of sounds, both spiritual and material. The monks try everyday to reconcile the Christ’s silence, devotional chanting, listening to one another with the loud clamor of the many work operations they

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien. Sound : Maxime Dumesnil. Editing : Alexandre Leblanc. Sound Editing: François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to all the community of Monastère Val-Notre-Dame

 

« Grace »
In her corner of paradise, healer Grace Bubeck nurtures inspiring thoughts on silence, and the effects of noise on one’s interior silence.

Research, scriptwriting, direction and coproduction: Alexandra Guité. Image : Anna Lupien. Sound : France Poliseno. Editing : Alexandre Leblanc. Sound Editing: François Lafrenière. Mix : Geoffrey Mitchell. Special thanks to Andrea Goernitz.