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.

I'm reminded of "The Ecstasy of Influence" when the author says that "Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist of creating out of void but out of chaos." I think that we both struggled through putting together various ideas and determining which internet resources to use to create something that the students could identify with.  Hopefully we accomplished that.

"Shipping Up To Boston" - Dropkick Murphys
Long John Silver (film)
Jack Sparrow intentions scene
"He's a Pirate (remix)" - DJ Chaos
Pirate Soundboard
Professional Pirate (Muppet Treasure Island)