In creating an audio report for JOUR206, I feel I learnt a lot and enjoyed it immensely.
As someone who studies journalism and enjoys using technology creatively, I was excited about the project from the start. My first issue though, was – who’s story was I going to tell?
As the nature of the assignment involved someone sharing a significant event in their life, I felt it had to be someone I knew. As we discussed in class, particularly after watching 4 Corners‘ interview with Rosie Batty, establishing a relationship with someone is important, in order for them to trust you and open up to you.
I considered the ’emotional histories’ of people I knew, and eventually decided to ask Kirsty if I could interview her about her journey in tracking down and finally meeting her birth mother. Her story is, I think, one that is of interest to many people, because parents generally are such a big part of our identity and our lives. Kirsty mentioned in our full interview that her reunion with her mother is quite a unique one, because many people’s experience of tracking down their parent or child is disappointing, and this I think makes the story all the more remarkable and impacting. Finally I thought Kirsty’s story would be a good one to tell because it might encourage other people who were adopted to seek out their parent like Kirsty did.
I had a very good interviewee (something I also considered in choosing to interview her) – she is very eloquent and spoke in a tone that was engaging and sometimes even entertaining. As I had heard Kirsty’s story before, I was able to prepare questions but also be ready to let the interview take new directions. While the interview went very well, something I learnt later in editing the piece was that I need to learn to respond visually but not vocally when an interviewee is talking – in sections I could hear my voice saying “mmmm…”.
Another challenge for me was editing the piece down to the required 120 seconds, after recording over 12 minutes of dialogue. The final thirty seconds seemed to be particularly difficult. However, I can see that being concise is an important (but difficult) journalistic skill that I will need to continue to improve in.
After recording the interview, I decided to record some sound effects to add to the story, including that of someone typing on a computer and writing a letter, as well as an email notification sound. These aim to reinforce the story being told, thereby assisting the listener in imagining the events unfold. Although I was initially disappointed that there were no other real opportunities for sound effects, I think perhaps the sound effects stand out more because of their sparseness.
I also improvised music and added it to the recording. I aimed to match the mood of Kristy’s journey, in order to enhance the effect, and I think this was successful. I also chose to have some sections without music, in order to make them stand out.
What surprised me about the whole assignment was that despite the long time it took to edit, it was relatively easy to create an engaging audio report which told an emotional, impacting story.
The Meaning of Media 