4802 - Final Audio: Looking back

Well, last week I submitted my NPR-style story as the last section of our audio assignment. In hindsight, all I can really conclude is that I had no idea what the heck I was doing!

I think I have a good grasp on the technical knowledge when it comes to editing, I learn fast on computers and i'm comfortable with putting all of this on to web so that aspect of it ran as smoothly as it could have.

There were two things that I really had trouble with - the first was trying to write for the ear, I had a lot of difficulty with telling the audience the basic facts they needed as well as being as succinct as possible in a way that engages an audience that only have audio to rely on. I tried really hard, but after listening to some of the other student examples in class, I realised I hadn't quite got it.

The other thing I had an issue with was weaving my soundbites into the story. During editing I was under the impression that letting the subject's story shine through required me to speak as little as possible so that's what I did, but now I realise there were some things I could have said more fluidly which would have 1) quickened the pace of the story and 2) highlighted the subjects really good soundbites that illustrate their point of view in the best way possible.

I'm by no means happy with my final audio, but I learned a lot during this process and hopefully i'll be able to redeem myself during the final project!

4802 - Collecting Audio

Collecting audio has been a pretty interesting experience so far - my first Thursday on the field was both exciting and challenging for several reasons.

On a technical note, the weather was insane - really strong winds and random bursts of heavy rain meant I had to be really careful with what I recorded, and even though I used my body as a wind shield there were still several tracks I couldn't use because of the wind. Luckily for me, I found an unlocked equipment shed so I ended up using that to conduct my interviews - kind of strange but it was a good way to break the ice with my interviewee Maggie!

Technical issues aside, the most difficult thing for me was actually conducting the interview. I'm not the most outgoing person and situations like this can make me quite nervous and intimidated. However, for a first go at interviewing I think I did OK. Obviously a lot to work on, but it's a start.

I started recording for my NPR track last Thursday and luckily I didn't run into the same weather issues. I interviewed assistant-coach Mike McKeen, who was clearly very passionate about what he was doing which made it a lot easier to interview him - plus I feel like my experience with Maggie the week before served as a good lead up, I definitely felt more confident in not only interviewing, but in using the equipment. I also got a bunch of great natural sound, and I'm feeling like I can improve on my last effort so i'm looking forward to seeing the rest of my audio piece take shape!