Photography by Patrick Janicek
To download the SURROUND 5.1 version of Line 2°, click here.
Line 2° | sound piece (8min00) | formats: 5.1, binaural and stereo
“Combining poetic and sonic devices to create a fictional universe”
Produced for my final project at the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA), Line 2° is an original sound piece exploring the notion of #2degrees.
This slogan from the 2016 COP21 was the guiding theme of a creative assessment where the only restriction was to use exclusively self-recorded or created sounds. My angle was to devise a social science fiction that places listeners in a near-future universe resembling reality but deeply affected by the disruptions of climate change. Over the course of a journey on the Paris Metro, a young female dreamer maps a city transformed by temperatures that have soared far beyond the 2°C threshold. Station announcements, chattering passengers and the extreme weather conditions that punctuate this journey resonate with the words of a poem I composed for the project. The poem, Through the prism of two degrees, darkens the tone of the narrative, reminding us that climate change is ever closer than we imagine.
This experiment in sound poetry required me to conduct field recording in several places that give context to Line 2°. The Metro ride is the structural backbone of the piece, so I recorded a journey all the way down the Line 6 in Paris, using the Double ORTF configuration to offer a quadrophonic surround sound. To complement this main soundscape, I added some natural backgrounds in 5.0 surround, which melt into the transport sounds to generate an altered reality. For instance, I played with the mix of sea sounds and the Metro platform to give the effect of rising water.
To add depth to the piece, I wanted the voices of Nina Batlaj, Claudia Roussel-Ortega and Raphaël Brito to enter into the sonic world by means of readings, exchanges, announcements and melodic vocal exercises.
In the final mix all sound layers are spread in a 5.1 sound system. This wider, immersive space extends the reach of the piece beyond the real world and its ignorance of the environment. With its poetic approach and fine balance of realism and surrealism, Line 2° is an invitation to rethink our perceptions of the climate.
Original text (French):
A travers le prisme des deux degrés C’est avec la tête lourde, pleine de reproches Car aujourd’hui est devenu le lendemain, Notre négligence révèle des sillons Tandis que le planisphère est divisé en deux, Banqueroute, scandales politiques et belligérance internationale, De nos jours, les averses ne sont plus perçues En métro, on va d’un point A vers un point B Tout se noie dans une suite de flux et de reflux, Mais c’est par une simple quinte de toux |
English translation:
Through the prism of two degrees It’s with a heavy head, full of reproaches Because today has become tomorrow, Our carelessness reveals the fissures As the planisphere splits in two, Bankruptcy, political scandals and international aggression Nowadays a downpour is no longer seen In the metro we move from point A to point B All things drown in a sequence of ebb and flow, But a fresh bout of coughing |