Jiaoyi Li
Audio Production
Here is my work samples of sound mixing
01
Breaking News
The storyline of the project Breaking News is inspired by the Menendez Brothers documentary on Netflix, which I have recently watched. As I was watching it, I found the prosecutor to be a particularly mesmerizing character. As a woman who survived in the legal world in the 80s, she is tough and gritty. Yet, she also appears to be someone with a conflicted mind. Despite the new evidence that might have proved the life sentences of the brothers to be too heavy, the prosecutor insists in her belief that “a murder is a murder”. At the very end of the interview, she even says that she decides to threaten the protestors by saying that she has a firearm and will shoot whoever messes with her. As I observe her, I believe a part of her does doubt if she had caused excessive penalties for criminals. Nevertheless, she has to stand by her cases in order to keep her sanity.
02
Petals
This is a sound design project for an existing film, where I explored how sound design can reshape the mood and structure of a film.
03
A Cautionary Tale
For a really long time, I’m fascinated by the origins of many classic fairy tales, especially their cautionary purposes. Although in modern adaptations, the stories are whimsical and entertaining, the original versions often carry messages for children to behave well and follow certain rules. For
example, the original version of Little Red Riding Hood from Grimms’ Fairy Tale has a message of warning children not to talk to strangers or disobey their parents. Moreover, in the perspective of an adult, a lot of plots in fairy tales actually appear to be unreasonable, or even scary. For instance, in Little Red Riding Hood, the hunter cuts the wolf’s belly open and fills it with rocks.
In children’s innocent eyes, this plot might be disguised as an exaggerated revenge to the villain.
However, looking back at the story as an adult, I find the image of disemboweling a sleeping wolf quite gruesome. Inspired by the duality of fairy tale, I want to create a thriller that is based on a cautionary fairy tale. In this project, I get to experiment with breaking the fourth wall too, which also contributes to the horror/thriller element of the story that I’m telling.