Webspinna Battle

I think that, like most of my classmates, my first impressions of the Webspinna Battle were those of a fun and exciting excitement.  It sounded like an interesting and interesting assignment.  As the day of the battle approached, I began to wonder more about the specifics of it, like the requirements or the minor details.  I suppose I should have expected the directions or guidelines to be slightly vague since almost all of the assignment requirements are, but I have come to learn the benefit of looser and more abstract guidelines and I am teaching myself to not think how I normally think when doing “homework.”

I was fairly proud with Marshall and myself for thinking of a conflict of Ninjas vs. Pirates.  I felt like it was different than most of the other conflicts that were presented and it also provided us with an opportunity to be campy, comic, and slightly nerdy.  I have dozens of examples of sound I could have used for ninjas because I have numerous Japanese and Chinese films, because there is a famous group of hip-hop DJ mixtapes called “Ninjacuts” from the late 90s/early 2000s that I’ve enjoyed for a decade now, and because Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were my favorite toy growing up as a child (as well as my favorite movies and one of my favorite cartoons).  I felt that I had a well of inspiration and that I identified easily with ninjas.

The challenges of this assignment came when it was determined that I would take the position of pirates in the battle.  This was a challenge because I generally hate pirates.  The only film I enjoy that features pirates is Muppet Treasure Island (which I used in the battle).  I had to figure out a way to remix my own identity with sounds associated with pirates.  Therefore, I used hip-hop remixes of Pirates of the Carribbean music, a song from Muppet Treasure Island, and the song “Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys, which describes salty sailor types and sounds like a resounding seaman anthem. 

Because of my distaste for pirates, I had the idea that we should present both a ninja and pirate side to this battle, but somehow have the pirate side “lose,” thus presenting the opinion that in a fight, ninjas would dominate.  However, upon searching for sword fight sounds, canon fire sounds, or musket sounds, I was unable to find anything substantial or action-packed.  All of the sounds that I found were quiet, dull, or slow.  My search for some kind of sound that would suggest a pirate dying or losing a physical fight also proved to be fruitless.  Because of this, we ultimately left the decision of who would win in a battle between ninjas and pirates up to the listeners and their opinions.