At Night - Sneak Peek

I'm onto my next project and, thankfully, more energetic than I have been since the last spell I cast. For some reason, that one just drained the life right out of me and had me researching possible underlying health conditions that may have contributed to the extreme fatigue I was feeling. Now I've mostly recovered - both from the fatigue and from my dreaded ultra long Tuesday, the pinnacle of inconvenience of my whole entire week. For those of you who don't know, Tuesdays I have morning appointments. Sometimes Thursdays, depends when my disability carer has time. She is kind enough to see me first thing in the morning, a luxury most therapists have denied me, so rather than waking up stupid early to do my weekly errands, I just stay up which is slightly easier. You see, I struggle to fall asleep whenever I know I have early appointments - so the later in the day I schedule my appointments, the longer I have to go without sleep. At best I manage to fall asleep an hour before I'd actually have to get up which is both irksome and unfathomably disruptive to my sleep rhythm. This week, my morning errands just ended up taking two precious hours longer than I had anticipated due to my latest eBay order ending up at the main station post office, rather than my actual PO box. It was the pinnacle of inconvenience because after all this hassle, waiting for the post office to open, then waiting in line at the post office, then traffic going super slow, then grocery shopping taking forever, when I finally arrived home at close to 11AM, they delivered my second order to my PO box. So that was my "first world problems" story of the week. You all know how precious sleep is and, effectively, I have to get some to help you get some. So I'm not happy when things don't go my way. 

"So what you're saying is - your next video will be another book reading?" No, not in the slightest. There is a book involved - one that was gifted to me a while ago. Some of the chapters sparked a creative flame in me. Others featured misleading titles and starving kittens, so reading over all the chapters is a must to cherry-pick the actually relaxing, ASMR worthy content to base a video on. I am looking to read about 5 chapters for a tingle inducing close up voice over at 15-20 minutes and that's just the basis of what I'm working with. In fact, I have already recorded some - finally, years after ordering my Zoom H-6 recorder set, testing out the condenser mic that came with it.

The result? Hideous! Unusable! Too many unattractive saliva clicks, and I was even using the fuzzy wind shield and speaking as softly as I possibly could. I am appalled. Though, in the end, the first attempt is rarely what I end up going with anymore - and I have another opportunity to gather my ideas and decide on a vibe for this rather unusual bedtime story. 

This project will require lots of little parts, like an ASMR mosaic, and I will not rest until it is  everything I want it to be. I am partial to the idea because of the creative freedom of including a variety of subtle triggers along with cinematic imagery - and the prospect of not sitting in front of my laptop cringing at my own face for hours on end. I don't mind being in some of the shots, but there are so many things more aesthetic than my face from all but two angles. So far I'm looking at scenes featuring flowers, churches and fireflies. I'd be happy to outsource some of them, aswell as some triggers I just don't have access to from where I am, as I have a feeling that this video will keep me on my feet quite a bit. So I will be browsing the Google for the perfect audio and video clips to use aswell as field recording some of my own shots. 

My first attempt at field recording didn't go so well. I thought I'd try for a soothing recording of the pond in the business park on a Monday night at 11PM - but not even Mondays are a cure for obnoxious female humans cackling like hyenas in front of nearby clubs, loud enough to wake a dragon from its slumber. When I got there, the ambience just wasn't as inviting as I'd hoped. Toads = good. Cackling hoes = bad. I made my way to another part of the business park, far enough that the cackling slowly faded into the background noise, to what I can only describe as a waste of a fountain. You'd expect soothing splashing - but this one sounded like it was whipping the shit out of a poor fatass, more appropriate for violent BDSM settings than for ASMR of any kind. My trip of nearly two hours resulted in but a poorly lit shot of evening primroses 

and a lackluster recording of distant church bells at midnight - too distant from where I was to even attempt to make a video out of it. I will try harder. Somehow, those bells always seemed louder at daytime. 

I am, however, excited to test out my precious Sony in low light to do something I never could - film fireflies. The night time experience in the park is out of this world - fireflies galore! Their tiny green lanterns fading in and out, drawing the most soothing smooth lines in the air... It reminds me of- well, Jack will know. 

What a way to enjoy the summer! It's the closest I will come, likely, for it will be 35°C (95°F) out there until virtually midnight. And even though it's cooler in here than out there, despite the general lack of air conditioning inside homes in Germany, it's slowly getting humid and stuffy, so I'm looking forward to getting out. 

~But still - them summer vibes~