Extended Writer’s Letter
Dear Dr. Blankenship,
Converting my thoughts from essay into multimedia format involved consideration of voice and visuals, and of audience. If the format of my argument was going to change, so was my following. This gave me great creative freedom. As an essay is very academic, I felt now I was given the chance to speak to a wider span of people. What would I do with this freedom, then? Who did I feel could also benefit from the information relayed in my writing that would not be as likely to search for and read it in its current form?
As of recently I have become engrossed in the world of Podcasts. Now too accustomed to having earbuds connected to my iPhone at all times for constant musical entertainment, it got to a point where I felt I could use some of my commute time throughout the day to learn more than just the lyrics of a song. That’s where these broadcasted forms of open discussion became a new part of my routine. Similarly to music, a podcast can be played as simple background noise where you can tune in and out and still appreciate the sound of it, it can be used purely for enjoyment, or it can be heard with intent to learn the meaning behind it. Arguably much more than a song, though, a podcast has a huge time range in which they can run. Podcasts may involve one or more speakers, and incorporate one or multiple personal or hard-based factual accounts of a topic. Generally speaking, podcasts can be as formal or informal as the host decides and with all of that said I decided this form of expression would be a great way to give me the leeway to go more into depth about the things less covered in my essay.
A 2015 survey conducted by Edison Research and Triton Digital revealed the statistics of who actually listens to podcasts and I am not surprised by the results. Fairly equally distributed, the numbers showed that 15% of users were between the ages of 12-17 and 18-24, while that percentage increased to 20% between the ages of 25-34, 17% for those 35-44, and back down to 15% from 45-54. While my essay may only be viewed by those looking for the information most likely for academic use in high school or in university, I found the statistics of podcast consumers much more appealing if I wanted to get my word out.
The initial appeal of a podcast stems from its title. Listeners make their picks based on what seems interesting to them, starting with its name. I chose to title this episode, Mental, because I feel that it is vague enough to intrigue someone to question the origin of its making and reference. This is where the description comes in. The description is meant to give a brief basis on what the podcast will be covering in the episode. For this screening I wrote, “This episode covers the failures behind the mental health programs currently running in our colleges and universities.”
Some of the major aspects lost when my essay was turned into a podcast included the greater level of trust for the facts given in an essay with cited sources, and some of the more extensive arguments that I was able to verbalize through writing and without the time limitation I was given on this project. To give weight to the facts stated in my podcast I included big names of the organizations who provided the information and the resources to find it. In regards to my time restriction, I chose to focus on a single point I made instead of covering what I was able to in a 3500 word essay.
I had to think a bit about what cover I would use for my project, if I used one at all. As I have to post this assignment on YouTube and not on the Podcast app like would happen normally, I was forced to choose between using a black screen and an image on the screen while my voice was playing. I chose an image for sort of an “album cover” feel. At the start of the video the image is unidentifiable. It simply looks like a title page, where it says “Mental” and my name below it. Slowly as the time progresses the image zooms out and you can start to see the picture as a whole. For those who are wondering it is an image of my sister that I had that I felt portrayed the emotion I wanted to pretty well. The whole point of the simple cover choice though is that I want the listeners to focus more on what I am talking about rather than what they can see. I want them to use their imagination and really feel what is being said through their own eyes.
One significant edit I had to make to my project after presenting the draft to the class was re-recording the voice-over. I hesitated a few times, and although it is okay for a podcast to be informal, I would still like the monologue to run smoothly. What I had to change even more so than the trip-ups, though, was my voice. I am speaking of a serious topic. This is an issue I am passionate about. I need to convince the audience of that not only in what I say but how I say it. I needed to record my voice stronger and louder. It makes a big difference when the only form of presentation I am using is the speech.
I have worked with iMovie and similar platforms in the past and it made the process of creating and uploading this project much easier. I ran into few minor issues, such as audio file transfer, but was able to figure it out fairly quickly. I also did not have any issues when publishing my podcast online. The images and sounds used are all mine and there is nothing I would feel uncomfortable posting for public view. Rather than post public on YouTube, though, I would rather have a proper cover created and for this audio to be posted as a Podcast.
If I were to leave this open to a wider audience, I would like to make my video/audio longer. With more time I could cover the topics I mention as well as others to a greater extent. A longer podcast would be more informative and interesting for those who choose to listen for whatever reason. Most podcasts I have listened to have been 45 minutes or longer. There have been special guests brought into those podcasts and funny stories incorporated that I feel I could also add to improve my own. I would want to publish my best work in this case because I feel such a telling story/speech has the potential to change some people’s perspectives and viewpoints on the issues surrounding care for mental illness and maybe even work towards the elimination of the stigma behind the disease. Isn’t that the point?
Works Cited
“The Podcast Consumer.” Edison Research (2005): 1-28. May 2015. Web. 15 May 2016.