Audio Stories

Video/Audio Narrative (10%)

DUE March 26th

For this project, you are to make a 30-60 second video using continuity and/or montage techniques. Edit together video clips, animation and/or still images, recorded audio, voice over and/ or sound effects to tell the story. It is up to you how you “narrate” the story — through just images with sound effects, your own voice-over, text on the screen or an interview with the subject. The images do not have to illustrate the spoken narration, but should relate and help reinforce the story. This project is about using multiple types of media to tell a time-based story.

Ideas:

• A one-minute short fictional story: Keep it simple. One location, 1-2 characters…
• a personal story or an anecdote: You probably will need to use voice-over (or text-over image) and either images from your archive or shoot video that stands in for the past events. How might you add sound effects?
• a story about an object: Similar to the above, but the story or anecdote is about an object. Show the object in various angles/framings.
• a sound-driven story: Create a story with sound effects over video or still images. No language. Scary stories are good with this form.
• an episodic video essay: tell a series of mini-stories organized alphabetically.

Review of Storytelling Structure / Construction

1. life is change!
2. simple/complex plot — inner and outer change
3. dramatic, episodic & lyrical (kishōtenketsu)
4. plotless or anti-plot stories (that still change!)

Video Creation Tools (Optional)

For video stories you may shoot footage with your phone or camera, use still images and edit them in Premiere, or experiment with AI video tools. Most of the tools below offer free tiers or student-friendly pricing.

• Midjourney — Industry-leading AI image generator known for stunning, artistic visuals. Accessible via web or Discord.
• Sora — OpenAI's text-to-video model capable of generating high-quality, realistic video clips up to a minute long from text prompts.
• Flow — Google's AI filmmaking tool built on Veo 2 and Imagen, designed for creating cinematic video clips from text or image prompts.
• Runway — One of the most advanced AI video tools. Can generate short video clips from text or images and includes editing tools.
• Pika — AI video generation tool that animates images or text prompts. Often used for stylized or surreal short clips.

Audio stories

“Sound montage” — the film-maker and media artist Walter Ruttmann’s innovative radio piece: an acoustic picture of a Berlin weekend urban landscape.

1. 0:00–2:00 — Friday / End of Work: factory noises, machinery, typing, urban industrial rhythm
2. 2:00–4:00 — Evening: street life, cafés and voices, social activity
3. 4:00–6:00 — Saturday / Leisure: sports, parks, laughter and crowds
4. 6:00–8:00 — Sunday: church bells, calm atmospheres, relaxation
5. 8:00–10:30 — Monday / Return: alarm clocks, trains, work rhythm restarting

Insider’s view of the 1930s radio studio showing the production of dramatic sound effects.

The Revenge is a radio play by Andrew Sachs, 1978 — entirely of sound effects with no spoken dialogue.

1. Prison – escape triggered by a sounding alarm
2. Woodland – chase sequence with people and dogs
3. Riverbank/water – hiding underwater to evade pursuers
4. Road – walking toward civilisation
5. Pub – brief stop; steals clothes
6. Road again – steals a motorbike and rides off
7. A house – breaks in and waits in silence
8. Bathroom – the occupant returns; murder in the bath
9. Aftermath – the protagonist calls 999, seemingly to turn himself in

Movie soundtrack, image off

thetruthpodcast: moon-graffiti

Ira Glass - This American Life

Squirrel Cop:

• linear sequence
• reflection
• setting details
• character details
• pacing- speeding up, slowing down

Sound Design

Audio Editing in Premiere

Sound Effects Resources

Students can use the following sites to download free or public-domain sound effects, ambient recordings, music, or generate sounds using AI tools. Always check the license and credit the source when required.

• Freesound.org — One of the largest collaborative sound libraries. Many sounds are Creative Commons licensed (ambient recordings, footsteps, doors, animals, machines, etc.).
• Pixabay Sound Effects — Free sound effects and music with a simple license for creative projects.
• Mixkit — High quality free sound effects commonly used in video editing.
• Internet Archive Audio — Historical recordings, public domain audio, radio broadcasts, and experimental sound materials.
• BBC Sound Effects Archive — Thousands of sound effects from the BBC archives available for personal or educational use.
• ElevenLabs AI Sound Effects — Generate sound effects using AI from text prompts (example: “rain on metal roof,” “city subway arriving,” etc.).
• Stable Audio — AI music and sound generation. Useful for background music or atmospheric audio textures.
• Suno AI — AI music generator that creates complete songs or instrumental tracks from a text prompt. Useful for generating background music or mood pieces for short films and audio stories.