Doing It Right In Disney

   

 

 My podcast was inspired by me and my friend's upcoming Disney trip in May.  We are very excited about this trip, and have been talking about it/planning it all semester. I thought that this would be a perfect subject for my podcast and one that I would be excited to work on due.  However, I didn't just want to discuss our Disney trip because there isn't a cohesive story to it. For listeners not going to Disney anytime soon, they could find it a bit boring and unnecessary to them.  I decided to break my podcast up into three parts and discuss items more universally so the podcast itself could be listened by many.  The first section is things that in our past Disney trips went terribly wrong, or things we wish we would have done differently. This part serves as conflict in the story because at times (if done incorrectly) Disney can be stressful and quite the opposite of fun.  The second part stems off of the first where we give advice from our past experiences to our listeners for their next Disney trip.  This is really the bulk of the podcast with it being informative and filled with tips and tricks for making the most out of your Disney vacation. The last bit is us talking about our upcoming trip and things we are specifically looking forward to.
       I think that podcasts tend to work best in conversation or interview form. In my opinion, the more voices present, the more entertaining the podcast is because it allows different outlooks on a common subject.  Another thing with interviews and small group conversations is with this type of storytelling there isn't really a need for visualizations.  Images aren't necessary in aiding this form of storytelling, whereas our last project, if that story was to be made into a podcast it would not work because pictures are the main factor.   Sure, one could argue it may be nice to see the speakers faces in a podcast, but their faces are not vital to the story itself.
      Before starting this unit in class I had never listened to a podcast before in my life.  To be honest, I always thought they seemed boring and odd for the simple fact of not being able to see anything.  Due to my past nonexistent relationship with podcasts, I was intimidated with the thought of creating my own.  I didn't know how I was going to make a bunch of voices talking about a subject remain interesting for a extended period of time.
     The most difficult part for me was keeping the podcast entertaining.  I am very pleased with how my introduction turned out along with section one, three, and the end.  The main section I was struggling with was the second section where we give advice to our listeners for their next trip.  It was a lot of information, point blank.  I did end up cutting a bunch of the tips we included because the entire tape turned out to be 50 minutes long.  However, I was still finding that in the 11 minutes I cut the podcast down to, the middle (section two) still seemed to drag.   I didn't want to take any more tips out because separately they all served as great advice, but when listening to the podcast as a whole it was boring.  I ended up adding sound effects within that section to try and spice it up a bit, but I also didn't want to add too many where it took away from the podcast.  It was challenging to find the perfect balance, but the sound effects I chose definitely made it more enjoyable, so I'm happy I decided to put them in.
      Something else I struggled with was the recording itself.  I used my phone to record, but still the volume was so low!  When I played through the podcast I had to have it turned all the way up to hear everyone speak.  It was more so annoying than anything, but sadly could not be fixed due to my lack of recording materials.  Also, at times there was unavoidable background noise.  We filmed the podcast out in the living room area of our apartment since it had the most seating space, but looking back I wish we would have filmed it in my room because I feel like there would be less background noise if we filmed in a more secluded location.
      I never knew how powerful sound could be until listening to podcasts.  Sounds can make listeners feel emotions and alone can tell a story.  I had never thought about the importance of sound until this project.  For my podcast the story I was telling was a light and happy one, so all my sounds were upbeat which captured this theme perfectly.   I particularly enjoyed the twinkling fairy dust sound effect I used to transition between sections.
      Formatting a podcast is harder than I thought.  It requires a lot to thought, especially pertaining to the structure.  Since you end up with so much tape its important to know the direction you want your podcast to go, or else all that tape will be overwhelming.  I knew before going into filming, the items I wanted to touch on.  I asked guided questions (some of which I left in for transition purposes) that steered my other two speakers in the right direction.  If they neglected to touch on a topic I wanted to talk about I made sure to then ask follow up questions to make sure everything I wanted to include in the story was discussed.  If I had done little to no planning beforehand my podcast would have been all over the place.
     My opinion about podcasts after this unit still stays the same.  I'm not a huge fan of them.  I guess I just like visual elements more than strictly sound.  However, I'm happy that I was properly introduced to them and that I had an opportunity to make my own, because even though I'm not a big fan of podcasts, I still had a lot of fun making mine and am pleased with the end result.