When Jennifer announced in class that it was time to begin thinking about project ideas for our audio documentaries I knew immediately what I wanted to do. I've been working with a woman who's in her 80s on and off for the past five years to write her life story. I first heard her many stories about her life as a government accountant working overseas in such places as Japan and Vietnam when she was a client of a therapy studio I worked at in the early 1990s. There's one story she told me back then that we have not revisited since starting the documentary process.
It's one of the stories from the beginnings of her career when she was in Japan. She had to attend a dinner with government and Japanese officials. Let's just call this story, "the monkey that came to dinner" because it has a surprise ending.
I've already contacted her and explained the assignment and what story I want her to tell. She's excited to participate and retell the monkey story.
I've been trying to recruit one classmate to be my partner and she seems very interested. I'm not sure if this would be a good project for three people but I'm open to it.
Also, I have on loan a Zoom digital field voice recorder that makes high quality recordings even for MP3s. I'm set to do the interview on Saturday.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Week 6 - Audio Narratives and Production
I wouldn’t exactly call myself a regular listener of This American Life but as a regular NPR listener I’ve certainly tuned in many times. The broadcasts are quite memorable and always leave an impression on me.
What I especially noticed was how the stories were told by ordinary people about many of the common place things taking place in everyone’s life. The extraordinary wisdom of naïve children, embarrassing blunders and the length’s we go to cover them up, what happens when the light finally goes on in our brain. I love the way the stories are about life, and how life is full of stories. Why am I not a regular listener of this show?
While mostly focused on the story-telling I was also paying attention to the modal elements. To me I didn’t really hear a separate sound effects track. I heard interviews, people making their own sound-effects, background noise and other noises picked up by the audio recording during the interviews. Each episode is narrated; however the main narrator (Ira Glass?) was not the narrator during the segments. Each segment had its own narrator or story teller such as a producer or writer who had some involvement in the story. Each segment is moved along with music that gives emphasis as the story progresses. Music also filled in the space between stories.
Let me give some examples of sounds that I heard. I listened to “20 Stories in 60 Minutes” and “A Little Bit of Knowledge”. I heard a lot of background noise in the juvenile detention center interview as the boys conducting the interviews were in a live situation in the facility. The interviews were conducted on-the-spot, not in a sound-proof room. It gave the story more of a sense of the boys being journalists conducting an investigation – raw, gritty, unfiltered. Another juvenile detention story was the recording of a live performance that turned out to be heart-warming for the narrator. This piece also had a live feel to it, capturing the action that was taking place in the moment.
Although David Sedaris is quite famous, his stories are always about everyday life situations that become hysterical in his telling. In this short segment he tells the story of realizing that for years his sister has been talking to him on the phone while doing her business in the bathroom. He makes the sounds of her straining to open a jar – doing his own sound effects in a sense. This is why I resist reading his books. There’s no way his writing can compare to his dead-pan voice.
Robert Andrew Powell documents the year-long sabbatical of his friend Bob Berenz as he tries to disprove Einstein’s theory of relativity (E=MC²). A number of people, including Bob’s wife are interviewed so the sound of the segment varies as new people are introduced. Everything flows together as Powell narrates the story.
Most interviews and story telling seems to take place in a studio or other sound-free environment. These types of stories really benefit from having music to provide transitions between sections of the narrative. I did pay attention to the music. How music is selected to do this is quite mysterious to me. I noticed that on the web page that gives details about the episode that each segment of the broadcast has a title and song whose title fits with the them of the segment. For example, Powell’s audio documentary “Sucker MC-Squared” is accompanied by the song “Modern Physics in Five Easy Verses,” by Bruce Lesnick. Is this a song that was made up for this documentary? If not how would know a song title that matches your story would also have a sound that would match your story?
This American Life has given me confidence that my idea for a podcast is a good one because it’s a true story from someone’s life. But how will I select the music used to accent the story? I’m a little worried about that.
What I especially noticed was how the stories were told by ordinary people about many of the common place things taking place in everyone’s life. The extraordinary wisdom of naïve children, embarrassing blunders and the length’s we go to cover them up, what happens when the light finally goes on in our brain. I love the way the stories are about life, and how life is full of stories. Why am I not a regular listener of this show?
While mostly focused on the story-telling I was also paying attention to the modal elements. To me I didn’t really hear a separate sound effects track. I heard interviews, people making their own sound-effects, background noise and other noises picked up by the audio recording during the interviews. Each episode is narrated; however the main narrator (Ira Glass?) was not the narrator during the segments. Each segment had its own narrator or story teller such as a producer or writer who had some involvement in the story. Each segment is moved along with music that gives emphasis as the story progresses. Music also filled in the space between stories.
Let me give some examples of sounds that I heard. I listened to “20 Stories in 60 Minutes” and “A Little Bit of Knowledge”. I heard a lot of background noise in the juvenile detention center interview as the boys conducting the interviews were in a live situation in the facility. The interviews were conducted on-the-spot, not in a sound-proof room. It gave the story more of a sense of the boys being journalists conducting an investigation – raw, gritty, unfiltered. Another juvenile detention story was the recording of a live performance that turned out to be heart-warming for the narrator. This piece also had a live feel to it, capturing the action that was taking place in the moment.
Although David Sedaris is quite famous, his stories are always about everyday life situations that become hysterical in his telling. In this short segment he tells the story of realizing that for years his sister has been talking to him on the phone while doing her business in the bathroom. He makes the sounds of her straining to open a jar – doing his own sound effects in a sense. This is why I resist reading his books. There’s no way his writing can compare to his dead-pan voice.
Robert Andrew Powell documents the year-long sabbatical of his friend Bob Berenz as he tries to disprove Einstein’s theory of relativity (E=MC²). A number of people, including Bob’s wife are interviewed so the sound of the segment varies as new people are introduced. Everything flows together as Powell narrates the story.
Most interviews and story telling seems to take place in a studio or other sound-free environment. These types of stories really benefit from having music to provide transitions between sections of the narrative. I did pay attention to the music. How music is selected to do this is quite mysterious to me. I noticed that on the web page that gives details about the episode that each segment of the broadcast has a title and song whose title fits with the them of the segment. For example, Powell’s audio documentary “Sucker MC-Squared” is accompanied by the song “Modern Physics in Five Easy Verses,” by Bruce Lesnick. Is this a song that was made up for this documentary? If not how would know a song title that matches your story would also have a sound that would match your story?
This American Life has given me confidence that my idea for a podcast is a good one because it’s a true story from someone’s life. But how will I select the music used to accent the story? I’m a little worried about that.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Week 5 - Sound and Multimodality
I'm sorry I got behind this week while I had some extra work in my other class. Interestingly, as I was absorbed in all things Aristotle, the Cindy Selfe article quotes a portion of his definition of rhetoric in the conclusion. When she says, "all available means" in relation to communicating and persuasion she's borrowing directly from Aristotle, which I thought was pretty cool.
So I am guilty - of a print written language bias. I started to become aware of this when earlier in the semester we read that when writing instruction enters a native area, it undermines their oral language. Selfe really brought this bias I have to full consciousness and I'm guilty of thinking people that can't write have less intelligence and other terrible things.
This bias goes deep. I'm trained as a print reporter and we love to hate broadcast journalists. We're taught to not depend on any audio recording device. Your pencil is your best friend. I've been working with an elderly woman on and off the past five years getting down her life story. At first I used a digital recording device but had a lot of trouble with it. I ended up abandoning it.
I've always disliked the sound of my voice and hated hearing it recorded when I was a kid. Also, I'm tone deaf and sing like Cameron Diaz's character in a karoke bar in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding. Perhaps to compensate for this I reverted to the world of text - my best friend - my default mode. Although I gotta tell you that the reading demands of graduate school have definately challenged my abilities in this area.
So I'm ripe for a change. I'm really to listen while someone else talks. Can David Sedaris read our "reading assignments" to us? It would be a lot more fun.
So I am guilty - of a print written language bias. I started to become aware of this when earlier in the semester we read that when writing instruction enters a native area, it undermines their oral language. Selfe really brought this bias I have to full consciousness and I'm guilty of thinking people that can't write have less intelligence and other terrible things.
This bias goes deep. I'm trained as a print reporter and we love to hate broadcast journalists. We're taught to not depend on any audio recording device. Your pencil is your best friend. I've been working with an elderly woman on and off the past five years getting down her life story. At first I used a digital recording device but had a lot of trouble with it. I ended up abandoning it.
I've always disliked the sound of my voice and hated hearing it recorded when I was a kid. Also, I'm tone deaf and sing like Cameron Diaz's character in a karoke bar in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding. Perhaps to compensate for this I reverted to the world of text - my best friend - my default mode. Although I gotta tell you that the reading demands of graduate school have definately challenged my abilities in this area.
So I'm ripe for a change. I'm really to listen while someone else talks. Can David Sedaris read our "reading assignments" to us? It would be a lot more fun.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Week 4 - Blogs and Politics
In what ways do you see blogs being used for political purposes and/or civic discourse and how is this useful (or not)?
"A sphere of nonpublic opinion generated mostly by the mass media," is Jurgen Habermas' description of the state of public discourse as quoted by Matthew D. Barton is his article "The future of rational-critical debate in online public spheres," the most provocative of this week's political readings. Habermas (quoting C.W. Mills) makes a distinction between public and mass. Public discourse, while organized, is not controlled by any outside influences and is fluid, organic, real. Whereas, mass is discourse force-feed to the masses, who are unable to do anything but utter rote repetitions of what they've been feed. It is artificial, contrived and fake.
I had not yet read Barton's article when I previewed all the political websites on the schedule but I was looking for actual discourse. I have to say that the majority of posts in reaction to articles on the political sites were nothing but rote repetitions. I think it's really sad but I think our country is so politically polarized that discussions are filtered through party platforms before anyone speaks their mind on a blog - at least on these political websites.
I found one refreshing exception. Although not actually on the syllabus list I found some actual discourse within Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics blog. It can be linked to off of both Tom Udall and Swing State of Mind websites on the list.
I was reading the latest story in Bill McCamley's column trimming Politics. There was some very interesting discourse taking place in reaction to McCamley's post. One in particular struck me as, while opinionated, not partisan. Going by the name of Ben, the poster gave his thoughts on whether the government or individuals should pay for their health care. I could not tell what party he might affiliate himself with.
So while I wish it weren't so, it does seem that we are the masses being influenced by the mass media and original thinking and discourse is suffering for it.
"A sphere of nonpublic opinion generated mostly by the mass media," is Jurgen Habermas' description of the state of public discourse as quoted by Matthew D. Barton is his article "The future of rational-critical debate in online public spheres," the most provocative of this week's political readings. Habermas (quoting C.W. Mills) makes a distinction between public and mass. Public discourse, while organized, is not controlled by any outside influences and is fluid, organic, real. Whereas, mass is discourse force-feed to the masses, who are unable to do anything but utter rote repetitions of what they've been feed. It is artificial, contrived and fake.
I had not yet read Barton's article when I previewed all the political websites on the schedule but I was looking for actual discourse. I have to say that the majority of posts in reaction to articles on the political sites were nothing but rote repetitions. I think it's really sad but I think our country is so politically polarized that discussions are filtered through party platforms before anyone speaks their mind on a blog - at least on these political websites.
I found one refreshing exception. Although not actually on the syllabus list I found some actual discourse within Heath Haussamen on New Mexico Politics blog. It can be linked to off of both Tom Udall and Swing State of Mind websites on the list.
I was reading the latest story in Bill McCamley's column trimming Politics. There was some very interesting discourse taking place in reaction to McCamley's post. One in particular struck me as, while opinionated, not partisan. Going by the name of Ben, the poster gave his thoughts on whether the government or individuals should pay for their health care. I could not tell what party he might affiliate himself with.
So while I wish it weren't so, it does seem that we are the masses being influenced by the mass media and original thinking and discourse is suffering for it.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Week 4 - Blogging - Cultural, Communication, & Community
Based on today's readings and the blogs you have been reading, in what ways is blogging changing and/or influencing (or not) our ways of communicating and creating/participating in community?
Blogging is influencing communicating and the way we create and participate in community. What I think is reflected in blogs like Clancy Ratliff's is evidence that some bloggers have careers that are deeply meaningful to them and reflect an aspect of society that they want to encourage. By blending her professional interests with personal reflections in her blog Ratliff is blurring the line between them. She has been able to create a life and a career around her interests in rhetoric, technical communication, digital media and feminism. This challenges me because these are also my professional interests, although I do have other personal interests besides these.
When I first read her blog in class it blew my mind. Here was someone posting her academic reflections one day, and the next day her reflections on the challenges of being a new mother. She says in her interview with Meredith Graupner and Christine Denecker Clancy Ratliff: Blogger, Scholar ... Blogger-Scholar
What I said in response to seeing it was, "This is why I don't blog". Because it would be hard to separate my professional life from my personal life. Ratliff is giving bloggers and potential bloggers persmission to blur the line - that it's what actually makes a blog good reading.
Other articles in this week's reading discussed whether blogging is amateur journalism, i.e. reporting and whether it's a way to self-publish. Some of the professional journalists who blog said they still keep their good-paying print gigs but blog to reflect - something they couldn't do in an article. As a journalist I was very interested in this subject. It is hard to find an editor or publication for some of the things I would like to write about. If I was blogging there would be nothing standing in my way.
Blogging is influencing communicating and the way we create and participate in community. What I think is reflected in blogs like Clancy Ratliff's is evidence that some bloggers have careers that are deeply meaningful to them and reflect an aspect of society that they want to encourage. By blending her professional interests with personal reflections in her blog Ratliff is blurring the line between them. She has been able to create a life and a career around her interests in rhetoric, technical communication, digital media and feminism. This challenges me because these are also my professional interests, although I do have other personal interests besides these.
When I first read her blog in class it blew my mind. Here was someone posting her academic reflections one day, and the next day her reflections on the challenges of being a new mother. She says in her interview with Meredith Graupner and Christine Denecker Clancy Ratliff: Blogger, Scholar ... Blogger-Scholar
Usually if someone reads your blog, it's because that person finds you interesting, and that includes your book project, your teaching, your cooking, your children, your responses to news stories, everything.
What I said in response to seeing it was, "This is why I don't blog". Because it would be hard to separate my professional life from my personal life. Ratliff is giving bloggers and potential bloggers persmission to blur the line - that it's what actually makes a blog good reading.
Other articles in this week's reading discussed whether blogging is amateur journalism, i.e. reporting and whether it's a way to self-publish. Some of the professional journalists who blog said they still keep their good-paying print gigs but blog to reflect - something they couldn't do in an article. As a journalist I was very interested in this subject. It is hard to find an editor or publication for some of the things I would like to write about. If I was blogging there would be nothing standing in my way.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Week 3 - Blogging
The popularity of the Internet brought with it a fear that people would steal each other's work (remember Napster) and that the copyright rules set up for print would be violated. In the Blogging readings, I learn that in fact peer pressure among bloggers is more effective in establishing boundaries and conventions than any authority ever could.
It seems that weblogs are held to a very high standard in the quality of the writing, honesty and sincerity, attribution and style.
In Rebecca Blood's essay "Weblogs: A History and Perspective" she says that daily writing in your web log will make you a better writer and also help you to tune in to your own opinions - side effects she wasn't expecting.(http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html)
Being a better writer will get your blog noticed and linked to more often says Sebastien Paquet in his essay "Personal Knowledge Publishing and its uses in Research". Paquet says this is the equivalent of having your work cited in professional journals and academic writing. (http://radio.weblogs.com/0110772/stories/2002/10/03/personalKnowledgePublishingAndItsUsesInResearch.html)
These two writers and others in the readings say there are no shortcuts to becoming a better blogger by becoming more relevant and articulate, or to finding blogs that are relevant to you. I find this refreshing, because the ease of publishing one's thoughts suggests that it can happen without much thought. But through the peer enforcement of the rhetorical conventions of blogging, only truly signficant postings get noticed. And that's pretty much the way it is in "old media" publishing world.
It seems that weblogs are held to a very high standard in the quality of the writing, honesty and sincerity, attribution and style.
In Rebecca Blood's essay "Weblogs: A History and Perspective" she says that daily writing in your web log will make you a better writer and also help you to tune in to your own opinions - side effects she wasn't expecting.(http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html)
Being a better writer will get your blog noticed and linked to more often says Sebastien Paquet in his essay "Personal Knowledge Publishing and its uses in Research". Paquet says this is the equivalent of having your work cited in professional journals and academic writing. (http://radio.weblogs.com/0110772/stories/2002/10/03/personalKnowledgePublishingAndItsUsesInResearch.html)
These two writers and others in the readings say there are no shortcuts to becoming a better blogger by becoming more relevant and articulate, or to finding blogs that are relevant to you. I find this refreshing, because the ease of publishing one's thoughts suggests that it can happen without much thought. But through the peer enforcement of the rhetorical conventions of blogging, only truly signficant postings get noticed. And that's pretty much the way it is in "old media" publishing world.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Week 3 - New Media
New media encompases both new delivery systems that hold content and the evolution of mass media by the introduction of individual media users. It started with digital technologies and the progression of applying these to new products. They enabled ordinary people to become content publishers. While we still have media conglomerates that are controlling which mainstream messages are delivered to the public, we also have individuals who are bringing their message content to the masses. Sometimes these individuals reach a critical mass and their collective message or gathering location functions as a large media organization. My definition of New Media is any media that is generated by individuals/amateurs who are not part of the mainstream, alternative or any formal journalism system because they have the technology to do so.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Week 2 - Multimedia, Digital Media, New Media: Definitions
I found Gunther Kress's discussion of semiotics in analyzing multimodality very interesting, and also his discussion of discourse. It made me want to do an analysis of the office space and work area of my place of employment, similar to the way the Stephanie's bedroom in "House Beautiful" was evaluated for discourse. (pg. 13-19, Kress & Leeuwen)
It's a grey place. The filing and storage cabinets, the counters, the consoles, the cubbies and some of the office equipment are all grey. We do have colored chairs, and burgundy accents in the consoles but it's really not a cheery place. It's a get-down-to business place but the way to really do that is to visually tune out the depressing feel of the place. The coolest thing we have is an old, really huge dictionary on a wooden stand. It really doesn't belong with the look of the rest of the place. In fact, when the building was being renovated we rescued it from ending up in the discard pile.
The discourse of the office space communicates "government" as in no frills. Out in the hallway are photographs of officials standing in front of flags. Most people have few personal items in their offices but some do. Ken's office could double as a green house.
I made consideration of design a priority when I created the user interfaces for my database. The colors are dark and bold, which I was told are better for on-screen. I also used the same design in my documents related to the database.
Soon I will be creating a user's guide for a new database that will likely be multimedia. The discussions of spatial, entry point, visuals and language in "Reading images: multimodality, representation and new media" will be important to me as I design a text document and possibly online documentation. I will be considering the culture of our workplace and creating a document with high usability.
Kress, G. & Leeuwen, T. (2001) Multimodal discourse: the modes and media of contemporary communication. Arnold: London.
Kress, G. (2004) Reading images: multimodality, representation and new media. Information Design Journal + Document Design 12(2), 110-119: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
It's a grey place. The filing and storage cabinets, the counters, the consoles, the cubbies and some of the office equipment are all grey. We do have colored chairs, and burgundy accents in the consoles but it's really not a cheery place. It's a get-down-to business place but the way to really do that is to visually tune out the depressing feel of the place. The coolest thing we have is an old, really huge dictionary on a wooden stand. It really doesn't belong with the look of the rest of the place. In fact, when the building was being renovated we rescued it from ending up in the discard pile.
The discourse of the office space communicates "government" as in no frills. Out in the hallway are photographs of officials standing in front of flags. Most people have few personal items in their offices but some do. Ken's office could double as a green house.
I made consideration of design a priority when I created the user interfaces for my database. The colors are dark and bold, which I was told are better for on-screen. I also used the same design in my documents related to the database.
Soon I will be creating a user's guide for a new database that will likely be multimedia. The discussions of spatial, entry point, visuals and language in "Reading images: multimodality, representation and new media" will be important to me as I design a text document and possibly online documentation. I will be considering the culture of our workplace and creating a document with high usability.
Kress, G. & Leeuwen, T. (2001) Multimodal discourse: the modes and media of contemporary communication. Arnold: London.
Kress, G. (2004) Reading images: multimodality, representation and new media. Information Design Journal + Document Design 12(2), 110-119: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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