Families Don’t Always Get Along
Families Don’t Always Getting Along
Confiding Narrative
A sister tells the listener about her brother’s seemingly stressful relationship.
Prerecorded voice: Automatic voice message system of a cell phone
Rhythmic noise: Alarm clock going off
Exclamation: “You’re pregnant!?”
While I worked on my podcast, the Oulipian constraints acted as a set of boundaries for me. Working with some constraints was actually helpful and the fact that the first sentence was already dictated, although there was room for interpretation, forced me to narrow my thoughts down. The first sentence forced me to think of a general plot for my story, if that is what it is called, and from there I decided where I would work in the three required sounds. I thought of how I wanted to my characters to interact and what characteristics I would try to demonstrate in them. I made my choices of sounds to include based on what I thought would help develop my characters, as much as you can develop them in two and a half short minutes. I was hoping to convey the effect of a person confiding in a friend about her brother. It was not supposed to be particularly gripping or intense, I merely wanted to portray the life of a couple in a way that would make the listener feel as if they were being directly spoken to. I originally put another voice in (the voice of the person I was talking to) but left it out at the last minute because I wanted the listener to feel as if they were being addressed. In the background are few lines from the couple themselves, as well as some of the background sounds that would be heard in the couple’s living area on a regular basis.
Given more time, I would include more background sounds. It seems a little dull to me when I’m just narrating without much sound in the background. I like the spots where vocals overlap and I would have like to include more of those. Doors closing, food cooking, computer typing—these are all sounds I wish I could have put into the podcast, but there comes a point when you have to stop working. That was one thing that was difficult to control. Telling yourself to stop looking for the perfect sound and be satisfied with what you have. Technology was an excellent tool because it enabled me to find so many interesting sound clips. This had a bad side though, because I was constantly looking for something a little better. I wanted to put some music into the background, but I listened to clip after clip of music on free websites and nothing was really clicking with what I wanted for my narrative, so I decided to give that search up. I really enjoyed recording my own sounds, but was a little disappointed when I found better ones online. Recording my own sound was a lot of fun, but sometimes I wondered if I was wasting my time because chances are good that someone has already recorded the sound effect I’m looking for and I might just be able to get off of the internet. Technology was great in the way it opened so many avenues for me to explore sound and music, but it inhibited me in the way I had so much at my fingertips that I feel I spent too much time searching. Another difficulty I had was that when I was putting my podcast together and mixing tracts, I often had so many up that it became dizzying as I tried to keep track of them all.
I’ve learned that I always underestimate how long a podcast will take me. I’ve also learned that it is good to set time restraints on myself, particularly when I’m searching the online creative commons. Working audacity has become easier and actually enjoyable for me—an unexpected plus of the assignment. By creating my own media I have come to truly appreciate the time and effort that goes into the scripting, editing, and producing a work.
Baby Cry: pfly http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/
Alarm Clock: Jackstrebor http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/
[Display_podcast]
December 6th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Courtney,
I began making mental notes on your podcast before I read your eval, and so I can tell you that, in fact, you were very successful at what you set out to do. My very first note was how great a job you do making use of the intimacy of the podcast. The tone of the narrator invites the listener to consider herself a close, personal friend or someone who knows the family well. Smart choice, then, to take out the voice of the “friend” you had in mind.
At the same time, you’ve done an excellent job with counterpoint here. The background running life of our brother and sister-in-law feels available to just me, the listener. It’s like I’m in on a secret not available to the narrator, but one that justifies all of the narrator’s observation. So it makes me trust her even more–a reliable narrator then.
Fine work!