Category: Leon Eckert

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Response-to-Serial, Season One: Episode 1, The Alibi(Clover)

  The sound in the episode is great. Some sound is company with the word which stress the atmosphere. It makes me feel like I can see or I am experience this kind of things. Also, the sound actually affect the reader’s emotion, which makes me have the same feeling or I have a better understanding of what is happen here. When the plot was not that serious the sound was lighter and more relaxing. When it talks about the murder the music was more serious and I know that there is something bad going on. There is also some period that there only exists sound. This sound sounds like the explanation to the story talked before. Or it sounds like some opening of what is going on next. I can feel the emotions in the story which is great. Also, in some important part, the sound begins, so that I can learned the content here is important. Also, I noticed that the sound can show the speakers character. This is a great strategy that I can use to deepen the image of my character.

  Also, the sound shall be changed after a while when the story going on. The speaker don’t just talk on her own, but she also get in some sound from others. Another thing I learned from here is that, I can get in some music or sound in the middle or the end of my talk. This can be a transaction to this the talk, this music can also show the change of the emotion. Maybe I don’t need to talk about my emotion but I can use the sound to replace my word. Also I learned that sound clarity can also affect the audience’s emotions. Clear voices make people feel relaxed, blurred voices make people feel depressed, I will pay attention to this when I use audio. 

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Week 6 – Response to “Serial” – Val Abbene

Episode 1 of Sarah Koenig’s podcast, “Serial,” revisits the murder of Hae Min Lee through a journalistic investigation conducted by Koenig fifteen years after the crime was committed. The podcast is primarily driven by Koenig’s narrative voice as she frames the events of January 13th, 1999 within the anecdotes that she gathered from her interviewees. As for the sound design of the podcast, Koenig’s inclusion of interview excerpts, recovered court audio tapes, and her own narration kept the podcast varied and deepened the story. Since her intention was to retell an event that occurred fifteen years ago to a modern audience, she was challenged to bring the listeners back to that exact moment in vivid detail without using any visual aids. “Serial” relies heavily on the strength of Koenig’s storytelling skills and her ability to captivate the listener and hold onto their attention for the entire hour that the podcast runs. She achieves this by hooking the listener through the gradual reveal of details that leaves them wanting to know more about the case. Even though the podcast ends without Koenig producing any solid evidence that implicated or vindicated Adnan Syed, her experienced storytelling within the true crime genre was enough to maintain the interest and attention of the listener.

I would also like to note that I listened to this podcast while I was taking public transportation, which allowed me to closely focus on the story while I was participating in a mandatory part of my day that normally passes without any entertainment. I found the medium of the podcast interesting because it can be easily integrated into your daily life without demanding a huge time investment. Listening to “Serial” might even motivate me to pick up the habit of following podcasts in my down time to relax while also keeping my mind active.

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Week 6 – Response to “Homecoming” – Jiannan Shi

This is a special podcast among the podcast that I have listened to. The construction of the podcast is unique because there isn’t a host telling stories in the third voice, but weaves the stories with interviews, phone calls, and realistic field recordings (possibly) to build the scenes and plots as what a novel or a film would do.

In terms of the sound effect, the ambient sound constructed the entire acoustic environment, which makes every scene so realistic that I was totally immersed in it. The transitions are naturally following the ongoing progress of the plot. For example, I was impressed that at 7:45, following the interviewer’s question “Do you want to tell me what happened?” comes to a “sheew” voice with “doo-doo” phone call sound, which brought me to a flashback. After the phone call, the audio turned back to the conversation of explaining what had happened. This is a really effective moment that I captured in the podcast. I realized that the audio storytelling doesn’t have to be a third-voice host telling the audience so and so; it can be a combination of several scenes as what literary works could do.

Meanwhile, the characteristic as an audio podcast also stands out that some signal music is essential in structuring the podcast. Both at the beginning and the end there’s a contingent solemn and stirring piano sound, and it notifies the audience where the beginning and the end lies.

This is an amazing podcast, and refreshes my understanding of audio storytelling!

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Response To Serial and Homecoming – Justin C

For both podcasts, the use of music sets the tone and mood of the story. The soundtrack provides a relaxing mood for both shows. This effect allows the audience to be completely comfortable with the show’s topic. While music was only played in the intro of the podcast, it is important to get the audience immersed in the podcast.

            Another interesting aspect is the interchange the between the narrator and the actual people talking to the narrator. In the Serial Episode 1, the narrator was doing a investigation of the death of a 17 year old high school girl. Her ex-boyfriend was charged guilty of her death and was sentenced to a very long time. The narrator goes around asking other people about the situation of her death and the important people that are central to this story. While she does collect audio samples of the people related to the ex-boyfriend, she sometimes interludes and provides guidance of the samples. For example, when she interviewed several of the boyfriend’s friends, it turns out that they changed their story multiple times before being convinced of a single narrative. In this instance, she provides the narration of when they contradict themselves. Thus, this narration is important as it a guide for the audience to know the situation of the plot.

            The nuances in voice of the audio are very important. Since these podcasts only feature people’s voices, it is difficult to determine what type of attitude or mood they are in. The only factor is the tone of the voice itself. Homecoming is a thriller that only has speech as their medium of communication. To generate a immersive feeling, the voice of each of the actors must be exaggerated to communicate their emotions. This aspect is important allows the audience to know how the actors are feeling.

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Response to “Ecstasy of Influence” – Julia Riguerra

“Ecstasy of Influence” raises questions about cultural property and access to various forms of media, whether it be artwork or music or literature. It also touches upon the originality debate—does art imitate life, or does life imitate art? Is anything ever truly original? Artists, writers, and musicians all draw upon preexisting themes whether they are aware of it or not, as nothing in the world exists within a vacuum. Objects cannot be placed outside their contexts because, in a sense, art imitates life, and the nature of life is that it overlaps with other lives. Copyright is a controversial issue here, but giving credit where credit is due seems only natural.  It’s impossible to track any and all creations that might be similar in some way, and one creator can’t simply claim ownership of an idea or thing. Where would we be if the composer of “Happy Birthday” demanded royalties every time it was sung?