Buffalo Sonnet: A Digital Comic

In a project commissioned by New York’s Lincoln Center, SADC produced an audio-described version of the digital comic, “Buffalo Sonnet.”

This artistic meditation on the Black experience tells the story of the historic San Juan Hill neighborhood in Manhattan, a vibrant cultural hub in the early 20th century that was eventually demolished to make way for Lincoln Center.

In close consultation with the comic’s creator, writer and illustrator Kamau Ware and Lincoln Center staff, SADC developed an innovative approach to making the work accessible for blind and low-vision audiences. We wrote detailed descriptions for the art and used a combination of sound design and voice acting to clearly distinguish the AD from the comic’s own narration, character dialogue, and thoughts. Our narrators, including native New Yorkers, were able to draw on authentic voices and personalities, bringing a unique flair to the script.

The described video adaptation of the “Buffalo Sonnet” comic is featured on the Lincoln Center’s Legacies of San Juan Hill page and you can watch the described version of Buffalo Sonnet on YouTube.

Credits

Audio Description Script writer and Scrolling Video Production: Kensuke Nakamura

Blind quality control: Robert Kingett

Audio Description Narration by [Project Lead Nefertiti Matos Olivares

Voice Actors: Barbara Faison and Thomas Reid

Audio Editing and Sound Design: Thomas Reid.

#BarbaraFaison #KensukeNakamura #NefertitiMatosOlivares #NefertitiNarrator #NefertitiProjectLead #RobertKingett #SADC #ThomasReid

SADC wrote and produced description for the Guggenheim Museum exhibition Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility, which runs October 20, 2023 through April 7, 2024 in New York. The Guggenheim has made the audio also available on-demand on the Going Dark page of their website, and made Going Dark the focus of its Mind’s Eye virtual program 6:30-8:30 pm EST on November 13, 2023.

SADC produced 15 of the 29 tracks in their entirety: Writing, reviewing, narrating, recording and editing the sound. Guggenheim staff wrote 11, which SADC provided them notes on, and as with the others narrated and made into sound tracks.

Cheryl Green and Oliver Baker were the writers. Barbara Faison, Nefertiti Matos Olivares and Thomas Reid narrated. Thomas provided also the audio editing and with assistance from Cheryl, Nefertiti also served as Project Lead. All five members contributed to QC.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2023/11/04/going-dark-the-guggenheim/

#BarbaraFaison #CherylGreen #CherylWriter #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #NefertitiNarrator #NefertitiProjectLead #OliverBaker #SADC #ThomasReid