My Attempt at Fifty People One Question
For now, I think I want my audio-essay proposal to follow a similar guideline to that of the Fifty People One Question video. The only talking I’ll do will happen in the first few seconds of the segment when I’m asking the intended question. I will try and interview as many people as I can so that I can find some sort of common theme and try to organize it so that my segment makes sense. My question will be: If you could accomplish something without the risk of failing what would you do? The segments will be as long as the person needs to answer the question. Quick answers would be nicer but I won’t impede the flow of the person’s thought processes. I will only interrupt if they’re talking for too long and I lose my patience (sorry not sorry). Hopefully the segments aren’t longer than 20-35 seconds so that I can compile enough responses to convey a trend. Right now I don’t know if I want to interview people on the street or ask people I know in school or at the dorms. Maybe I’ll try both and see which one is more convenient. Even as I write this I think that asking people I know will be much easier. The Fifty People One Question videos can manipulate the intended effect in more ways than I can by simply asking people. I feel like just standing on a corner recording people’s answers will end up sounding messy, noisy, and not at all what I envision them to be. I think I’m going to try to ask between 3 to 5 people of every different age group to see if there is any trend in their answers. If this doesn’t work I’ll focus on just one age group that does display a common trend. I’ll need a voice recorder (which I don’t own) and I’m not really sure what else….As of right now I think I’ll have access to everything I’ll need but I’m sure this will change as we discuss the project in more depth. I don’t know what programs I’ll need on my computer to work the editing and I definitely will not know how to work them so I’ll have a ton of questions when I find out. I’m mostly worried because this is so different and I’m basically a grandma when it comes to using a computer for things other than research and Microsoft Word…I finally learned how to copy and paste on the Mac recently….Help?
3 responses so far
I like the question, and there are so many possible responses for it. I like how it appeals to desire and fear, since sometimes we may want to something but fear the consequences. The answers can show part of the person too and who we are. There are lots of things, so having to narrow to one is hard if the person has to respond on the spot and many things are going in his or her mind (that would probably happen to me). And maybe after answering I would think of something else I would rather do instead but it is too late. It’s a good thing you are thinking of targeting different age groups, and that is a big thing that factors into what people want. You may want to clarify some stuff, as I question whether or not the action has to be practical or possible (does creating a successful time machine or being able to actually fly work). Does it have to be an action, or can it be a trait (does being rich without failing count). Or maybe you can accept anything, it’s up to you.
Jacky when you were talking about this idea in class the other day, I got really excited. The question itself is well-constructed! Taking away the risk of failure is going to throw people off and make them think a little bit harder about their answers. Don’t worry about technological issues. There are apps you can download on your phone that can help you out with the voice recording, if you don’t have one built in already. Or, you could just use the Macaulay recorders. Not a big deal. I suggest using Audacity to cut the sound files, though. It’s a lot easier to use than Garage Band.
I like the idea for this question. It’s simple yet thought-provoking. I agree with Damla: taking away the risk of failure is a good twist. However, it may throw some people for a loop, as Aaron said, and make them want to change their answer after they’ve walked away.
I think the question is a bit of an apophasis though. By saying “without the risk of failing,” you put failure and fear into the mind of the one being questioned. By phrasing it another way, such as “If you could accomplish any goal with complete success, what would you do?”, you might change the type of answers you get.