Interview

Before this interview, I was no stranger to interviewing strangers.  In my News writing class I had to conduct one interview, which was awkward.  After all, it was my first interview, but after that, it was smooth sailing.

I am now enrolled in a feature writing class, which requires me to go out and get interviews, and I have come to like the process of conducting interviews.  However, this project isn’t about conducting the interview, it’s about recording the interview.

For every interview I ever conducted, I have always used an audio recorder.  Not for an audio story, but for self reference.  This project required me to make an audio story.  This is part one of a two part project.

The interview process, for me, is never really awkward anymore.  However, this time I was thinking about how my voice would sound in the interview, which is never something I ever had to think about, which affected the interview process.  As for the interviewee, he was great.  His voice was smooth, just the right volume, and the rhythm is perfect.

We talked about his interest in soccer, and was a very informative interview, but also touched on his personal involvement.  A problem with this interview was he used some technical language that could probably only be understood by an avid soccer fan.  I would of had him elaborate on these terms, but this interviw is only meant to be five minutes, and I had several more questions.

I learned that, when conducting an interview for an audio story, my questions must run more smoothly.  In past interviews, I often asked questions out of order.  For example, I would ask an interviewee if they like pie, then what was their favorite pie, THEN why do you like pie.  i should have asked the third question before the second.

I have come to really enjoy the interview process, but one thing i dislike about it is my inability to ask a string of questions without becoming confused.  Unless I follow my questions strictly, I will always lose myself, and forget about questions I asked, then re-ask them.  It makes the process awkward.  But it is never wise to stick with only your questions.  I was taught if an interviewee goes off on a tangent, you follow that instead.  That way the interview goes a lot more smoothly and the information is a lot more interesting.

I feel this interview went incredibly smooth, especially the voice of the interviewee, take a listen and hear for yourself.

 

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/001-a-019-muhl-090108-005-2009-01-08″>001 A 019 Muhl 090108 005 2009 01 08</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

A Listen to Audio Journalism

I was asked to look at several examples of Audio Journalism stories.  Never thinking about this type of journalism in a critical setting, I was excited because it is an opportunity to combine the two somewhat separate topics of my blog, journalism and analysis.

I was directed to a site hosted by the New York Times called One in 8 Million.  The site is very grabbing to the eye and the audio stories were interesting as well.  The project as a whole was very well done.

The first story I listened to was probably the most interesting.  The same of the story is called “The Kinky Lover” , which is a monologue type story about and dictated by 53-year-old Lolita Wolf.  The story is about Lolita Wolf who is a member of New York’s B.D.S.M. ( bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism.) and her rough sexual experience.

I know what you’re thinking.  “Zac, why were you ever interested in listening to this story?”  To answer your question, it was because the correlation between the topic of the story and the name of the interviewee.  For those of you who aren’t literature buffs Lolita was a very sexual novel written by Vladimir Nabokov.  Also, the last name wolf reminded me of Virginia Woolf, who also wrote a somewhat sexual novel (Although not as sexual as Nabokov’s)

Anyway, I digress.  The story itself was very well done, in my opinion.  There was no ambient noise, but there was no need for it to keep the story interesting.  I liked the monologue type narration.  It was smooth, the transitions were smooth, and the voice was clear and easy to follow.  One thing I didn’t like about it was the length.  It is only 2:21.  It’s too short.  My guess is they had to cut a lot of the material due to overly sexual statements, but still, there should have been more material to work with.

The next story I found was on NPR’s website.  Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge Prepares For Travelers.  I liked this story mainly for the pretty picture of the bridge the story was about, which is actually a problem for the story’s structure, but more about that in a minute.  After listening to the story, I felt grabbed.  It had a good lead in, and was interesting, as well as, straight to the point.  I also liked the ambient noise.  It wasn’t distracting, yet consistent.  It was also relevant to the story.  The ambient noise was very well done.  However, there are several things I didn’t like about the story.

First, This story is about something that is visually appealing.  I’m not saying the audio approach doesn’t work, but this type of story is better suited for television.  Second, The reporter’s voice isn’t loud enough, and is too soft in every sense of the word “soft”, and third… well, there isn’t a third.  Overall, a good and interesting story. 

        For the third story I returned to One in 8 Million and discovered the story Henrique Prince: The Subway Busker.  I was interested in this story because I was curious to know what a “Busker” is, but was intrigued by its monologue style narration, and its musical theme.

The story is about 60-year-old Henrique Prince who plays violin with his band in the Time Square subway station.  Like I said, I liked the main topic od the story, which is music (what better way to tell a music story then audio?) and the monologue type narration.  Again, the narration was smooth and intriguing.

This story, unlike “The Kinky Lover” , used Ambient noise.  However, it was distracting to me.  I actually had to listen to the story twice just to know what was going on.  Mostly it was due to the narrative voice.  It wasn’t clear enough.  It seemed to me that he slurred his words, but I still enjoyed this story aswell

 Overall I liked exploring Audio style journalism.

Sound Editing

For my online Journalism class I had to count to 10 out of order and then use a program called Audacity to put the numbers back in order.  My professor provided us with a tutorial, but I didn’t follow it.  However, I almost did it exactly the way the tutorial prescribed, and I got the same results!

The purpose of the assignment was to help better my skills at audio editing, but I have to admit, Audacity made it easy.  If you do to the website and actually read some of the stuff you will get a feel of modesty, but I really like the program.  It was literally like if I decided to type the words 1 through 10 out of order, then copy and paste them back in order on a word document, except with sound.  i was very impressed with the software.

My audio editing experience isn’t at zero, but I never edited digital audio.  It is kind of embarrassing, but since this post has to be 300 -600 words Ill tell the story.  When I was 10 I bought a tape recorder and recorded myself interviewing Alvin the Chipmunk.  There was an option of the recorder that allowed me to record my voice at a super fast speed.  i found if I talked very slowly as this feature was turned on, it sounded as if I were talking to a chipmunk.  I could then turn the function off as it was still recording and record my own voice as if conducting an interview with Alvin.  Pretty embarrassing, but really fun… at the time.

That was my experience with audio editing, so not much, and not even in the same category.  That was with a tape, and the currnet project is all about digital recording, but it was easy because it was like editing a word document, something I am all too familiar with.

This is the original and the edited version.  Note: in the edited version, the numbers 10 and 4 sound odd because 10 was the first number I counted and 4 was the last, and i tend to put an emphasis on the first and last numbers I count in any given sequence.  You’ll see, or hear rather.

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/sets/counting-and-editing”>counting and editing</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

 

Ambient Noise

The following tracks are recordings of ambient noise I unknowingly was listening to until i took notice and recorded them.

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/toilet”>Toilet</a&gt; by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

This is a toilet flushing.  I recorded this in my apartment.  This sound track could be used for a news story involving the plummer industry.

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/warm-up”>Warm up</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

This is a recording of the University of Wyoming drumline warming up before rehearsal.  I recorded this inside War Memorial Stadium, the University of Wyoming football stadium.  This recording could be used for a story on the decrease of marching band programs in schools all over the country.  Or even more general, a story on the decrease in music programs around the country.

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/sets/ambient-noise”>Ambient noise</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

This is the sound of  starting my car.  I recorded this while… starting my car.  This sound could be used in a story about gas prices.

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/sets/ambient-noise”>Ambient noise</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

This is a recording of Dr. Landrivelle’s students conversing just before class.  I recorded this inside the classroom in the A&S building on campus.  This story could be used for a student interest story, like an increase in tuition.

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/sets/ambient-noise”>Ambient noise</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

This is a recording of my faucet, and as you can hear, it isn’t a very food one either.  I recorded this in my apartment.  This recording could be used in a story about how water in Laramie sucks…

  <span><a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate/sets/ambient-noise”>Ambient noise</a> by <a href=”http://soundcloud.com/lauxinate”>lauxinate</a></span&gt;

Last, I have this recording.  This particular recording has a significant meaning to me.  It is a recording of that eerie noise you sometimes here at night.  It’s hard to explain, but I was always fascinated by this sound.  I recorded this as I was leaving the Fine Arts building on campus.  This could be used in a story about an escaped criminal.

 

Reporting Project

I reviewed several personality profiles of professors that can be found at University of Wyoming: Current Research Across the Disciplines.  You can review the stories there, including mine.  I would personally recomend you read Life in the music department by Adrienne Morency, Back to the Beginning by Anna Rader and The World is a Philospher’s Labratory by Brook Eades.

Life in the music department, a story about Nicole Lamartine, started off with, in my opinion, the most enticing lead among the other stories.  It was almost as if my brain was forcing me to read on, and that is the very essence of a good lead.  I also like how the lead paragraph, which is a text book example of a word picture, transcends into the second paragraph, and what that does for the subject.  I also like the subtitle headings.  The were very creative and grabbing.

However, I didn’t particularly like the photos used to accompany the story.  I feel the second and theid photos dont do much for the story.

Back to the Beginning, a story about Randi Martinsen, I felt did a good job of capturing who Martinsen is.  In other words, I feel this story does a good job of bringing the subject matter to life, which is the goal of a personality profile.  I also liked how the pictures flowed together, and how they helped tell the story.  Like the story, the photos have a distinct beginning and end.  The photos are also all in good taste.

I noticed some awkward transitions while reading the story, as wall as, grammatical errors, but even so, I feel the story over all flows nicely. 

Finally we have The World is a Philosopher’s Laboratory, a story about Ed Sherline, which I praise for excellent transitions, and great photographs.  I also felt the title to be in good taste, and intriguing to my interest.  The first photo in particular goes perfectly with the lead and does an excellent job of portraying Ed Sherline.  The transition is smooth throughout the story and I failed to find any part of the story that was “rocky” for lack of a better term.   

However, I feel the lead paragraph can be refined, but I suppose that can be argued.  It is a fine lead, but I feel it is too wordy.

My own story, a story on Erin Forbes, Titled In Pursuit of a Dream: The Success Story of Erin Forbes received some praise from a few of my peers, however, there are several things I wish I would have done different.  First and most obvious, I misspelled success in the title.  Very sloppy.  Second, I fell my lead is flawed.  I should either trim it down or reorganize it in some way.  Third, I would have chosen a better photo of Erin Forbes.  The photo that is present isn’t ideal, and I don’t find it interesting myself.  

I learned many things from the experience of preparing this story.   I learned there are may ways to organize a story.  I considered several ways of portraying Erin Forbes.  She gave me a lot of interesting information, which could have changed the way I wrote the story, but I chose this method because of the fact she always was interested in literature, which provided a good angle for the story.

I really enjoyed doing this project and hope to continue my online armature reporting.

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