I have to say I disagree with the class that they disliked the way RADIO was presented. The comics themselves made it so much easier to follow and add flavor to the animations. It is more like following a person than following a story, and they are speaking to you rather directly it feels like. My favorite section was the first one that dealt with where stories come from. It is probably the most creative and difficult part of radio, picking out a good story. Ira makes a great point that radio can be just as interacting as digital animation as long as the speaker paints the picture, sets the atmosphere, and uses techniques like asking and answering questions throughout the story.
The stories they discussed and pick are strange, but unique and thought provoking. Ira brings up the structure that you build a story, then reflect upon it and ask questions. The reflection according to him is just as important as the actual story itself. They ended up putting the most emphasis on the couple who moved back to their old run down town after retirement and tried to help out the neighborhood. But the people there resisted the change and saw them as outsiders. They even went as far as shooting at their house, and Ira then reflects on what all this means and asks broad open ended questions. I was kind of confused as to who the girl following around Ira was, interviewing him.
Ira also talks about different interviewing techniques and scenarios. He talks about how with in person and recorded interviews you want to make the person feel comfortable, and try to talk in more of a conversation style. He emphasizes using vivid language, and being very descriptive in your surroundings. He also teaches how to probe the interviewee into discussing the story in more detail and opening up to them in order for them to do the same for you.
He was right about making and editing radio. Its not that difficult and my friends Chris and Matt and myself just edited our 5 min audio bit for DS106. It was not that complicated and as long as you pick smooth transitions it does not even appear to be broken up. The books tips on how to make the actual recordings were a bit self explanatory and yesterday while making the clip we were able to figure everything out.
Ira’s bit with Eric on sound kind of dragged on unfortunately. After listening to talk radio and doing it myself I have to disagree that music enhances an already good bit. My group is in the process of deciding if we want to add music or not. We are still on the fence, not sure what you all in the class are doing but I’ll see tonight. He does make a good, but obvious point as well when he says that you need to stop the music when you have something important to say. I think if you are telling a story music, even if it is only a background hum, can ruin silence that makes a story feel more personal at times. The only other thing I disliked was that at times the conversation rather than actual reading could be a little wordy and lacking progression. But I understand that is the way comics are written and especially when emulating radio in written form it translated fairly well. Overall I like Ira, but think he is more fun to listen to than to read about.