Sound Walk Journal Assignment

We’re going to take a walk and listen to it the way a sound designer would. You’ll take notes as we go, then write a short reflection on how the sounds you heard could work in a film: to represent reality, or to carry emotional subtext.

Bring a notebook and pen. A phone for recording notes or sounds is fine but optional.

During the walk

Walk silently. We stay quiet as a group so everyone can actually hear the place. Pay attention to the layers of sound around you, natural and human-made, and notice volume, rhythm, pitch, and texture.

Take notes. Sort what you hear into three layers:

Background: ambient noise, distant traffic, birds
Mid-range: footsteps, rustling leaves, conversations
Foreground: prominent or sudden sounds, a dog barking, a door slamming

Do not worry about finding the right category or term while you are walking. Listen first and write down what you actually hear.

Notice how the sounds land. Does a sound make you feel calm, anxious, nostalgic? Where might a film use it to set a mood?

After the walk

Clean up your notes so the three layers are clear, and mark the sounds that stood out to you.

Then sort several sounds by their source:

Geophony: nonliving natural sounds such as wind, rain, or water
Biophony: sounds made by nonhuman living things such as birds or insects
Anthropophony: sounds made by people and human technology

Then answer these questions:

Which categories did you hear? Did one dominate, and did any sound resist easy classification?
Which sounds stood out most, and why?
How did the overall soundscape make you feel?
If you were designing a soundtrack for a scene set on this walk, which sounds would you feature, and why?
Which sounds would you cut or change to sharpen the emotional or narrative focus of the scene?
How could layering these sounds, or playing them against each other, help tell a story?

Turning it in

Either format works:

A written reflection answering the questions
A voice recording where you talk through your answers