The New Idea 2

Now I fully have the idea of Synethesisa as my topic I need to find some subjects to interview about their experiences with the condition.

I will also show both of them the song which i am using and asking for the feelings they get when listening. I will use this as the main basis for what is on screen in my project.

I have two friends, both unconnected to one and other from different cities (London and Stafford) this means that the two have had completely different life experiences.
(I have changed the names of the subjects to protect their identity)

Steven (Staffordshire) Sees letters and numbers as colours, and to a lesser extent also gets smells when I sees certain things (such as fish and chips and the sea when he sees the beach)

Me: Hi Steven, When were you diagnosed with synesthesia?

Steven: I was told by my GP I have a mild form of synesthesia at age 16 but I've always imagined letters and numbers as colours from when I was a child, I thought everyone saw the same thing so didn't think anything of it

Me: It has been said that synesthesia is more of an advantage than a hinderence when it comes to art, do you agree with this theory?

Steven: I can see why people would say that, I'm currently studying film and I'd say I have a more creative mind than most other students, but when it comes to the basics like maths it can be hard to imagine for example 5 which is red and 1 which is blue make 6 which is yellow. Its hard to get my head around them not actually making purple (7) sometimes I have to use my fingers to do simple maths which made it very hard when it came to GCSE's, a page full of numbers looked more like a rainbow than a test paper.

Me: So would you say you use your synethesia to influence your films?

Steven: I've never really thought about that before but now you mention it, if I'm looking for film locations, say on a computer or in a book if I see something that sets off a smell, I'd pay more attention to this then I would to other things.

Me: Do you tell people about your condition? If so how to they react?

Steven: Its not the first thing I tell someone but it does come up once I get to know someone, when I first told my housemates I told them I had a neuolgical condition which did raise some eyebrows to start but once I explained they seemed very non-pulsed about it. I remember now to explain the symptoms before I freak them out!

Me: I'm going to play you a piece of music now, can you write down what you think of when you hear it?

Steven: I see bursts of colour on the crashes of the symbol, lots of dots of light of different bright colours. I think the middle of the song gives a feeling like you're falling or sinking. The end is yellow and the last 10 seconds sounds like its going from side to side.





Danielle (London) Music to Colours and Time to colour


Me: Hi Danielle, When were you diagnosed with synesthesia?

Danielle: I've never actually been diagnosed but I do have it, I don't find it a problem so I don't think theres any point in going to the doctor about it.

Me: It has been said that synesthesia can be a positive thing in peoples lives clearly you don't find it a problem, but would you say its helped you in your life?

Danielle: Its never really had a massive impact on my life, when I used to play guitar it helped me learn the music as all the chords and pitches had a different colour which meant I knew when my guitar was out of tune without a tuner! So I suppose it saved me some money! (laughs)

Me: If synethesia was so helpful when playing music why didn't you continue?

Danielle: It just wasn't interesting to me, I probably could have become a great guitar player if I enjoyed it but its just not my thing, I prefer to just listen.

Me: When listening to music what sort of colours do you see? Is it the mood of the music that effects what you see or the instruments used or something else?

Danielle: I'd say the mood is the main factor, but everyone relates music to things, I relate acoustic music to summer, which makes me think of the sun and therefore yellow. But the tone of the instruments also effects it, a song with a high pitch would have a white colour while slower music is grey.

Me: Thanks Danielle, I'm going to play you a piece of music now, can you write down what you think of when you hear it?

Danielle: This song is quite varied in colour, the beginning sort of comes towards you then crashes yellow and orange. The rest of the song sort of goes along in waves of blue, changes to to a warm sort of brown or orange, then ends red and fades away with the music.