When I went to the MOMI I was definitely excited to go and experience the museum. I had heard a lot about it and everything was positive.  When I arrived I saw how everything in the museum was white.  It felt almost clean and sterile when I walked in.  The first thing I was attracted to was the Black Swan pieces.  The fact that it took so long to make those legs and honestly I do not even remember the scene that they were in.  So much hard work and effort goes into something that is only on the screen for a very short amount of time.  Makes me realize how much time and effort goes into the production of a whole feature film.

My favorite demo was definitely the one about the Titanic.   I had recently written a ten page paper on the Titanic in a different film class so it was cool to learn and see more about it.  When the tour guide muted the movie and we could not hear the dialogue, only see what was going on and hear the grunting the actors were making, it completely changed the scene for me.  It was almost awkward and weird to watch.  Learning about Foley artists was cool because when we had taken the midterm that was something that had struck me as interesting.  The fact that the sound of the Titanic breaking and falling was actually sounds of elephants was amazing to me.  Whoever can come up with sounds to make for other sounds is really a genius.  I know I could never think of that stuff.

Overall the museum was very interesting to me and it is a place  I would love to go back to and bring my friend who is a film maker.  I think this is something he and other people would be very interested in.  It is a cool museum that everyone really enjoys because you learn new things about the movies that everyone knows and loves.

This Is Me from Megan Urgiles on Vimeo.

Audio Portrait

Audio Project

Space

Space from Megan Urgiles on Vimeo.

Soundwalk

What can we get out of just listening? Taking the time to listen to our surroundings. Not using our phones, not reading, not doing anything just listening.  We can hear things that we have never heard before.  We can pay attention to detail and really understand our surroundings.  For my sound walk I walked down Park Avenue on a Thursday afternoon.  What did I hear? I heard nannies speaking in spanish to the toddlers they were watching, I heard mothers gossiping with each other on who was seen with who at what event, I heard business men on their phones yelling at someone on the other line.  Taxis were a prominent sound that I heard, honking was one of the main sounds that I heard throughout my walk.  I heard taxi drivers yelling at each other to move out of the way or simply sitting on their horns because they were in a rush to get somewhere. The city a place that never sleeps is definitely a place that is interesting to listen to and just listen.  One conversation I heard was gossiping between two mothers walking with their babies in carriages.  I heard them talking badly about another woman in their group of friends.  It was as if they had no care who heard what they had to say about this woman. They had no care for who was around they just continued gossiping on their daily walk.  The sounds that you hear when you really pay attention are sounds that you would have never noticed before.

Artist Statement

Who am I as an artist? I am a creative individual who likes to think outside the box.  I enjoy blending different art forms together to make my own style.  Personally I am a dancer so blending dance with photography and film is something that I enjoy greatly.  It is interesting to figure out different and original ideas to blend these different art forms.  I also really love fashion, it is something that interests me so I also enjoy bringing that element to my art.  I like to create original works of art and to push myself to knew heights with everything that I do.