About NYC
I wanted to do something related to one question, but I wasn’t sure what question to use for a while. I then looked at the other options, and a part of me wanted to do something about New York City too. So why not ask the question “What do you like or dislike about New York City?” I’d like to hear what people think about the city. I like the city a lot, but it is easy to think of negative things about it. A person can answer about what they like, dislike, or both. The first thing in their mind could reveal a part of themselves by the way they think. I might get common answers, which would reinforce a particular idea a lot of people have. There could also be other answers that might strike me because I never thought of NYC in that way. There are many perspectives that exist, so it would be interesting to combine them and see how potentially diverse the views can be. There may be parts of the city that some people like and other people dislike. For example, it is common for people to ignore you on the streets and not pay attention or care. Some people like it because people usually mind their own business, but other people may see it more negatively since it makes it more difficult to find help or interview people for an audio essay or advertise.
I will ask many people, near Baruch or my neighborhood or some other location. The segments will vary, as I expect some answers to be short and others to be long. I currently intend to use my camera to record people’s responses. The camera records videos and I only need audio, but I like my camera and I can edit the video to become just audio through the video to mp4 conversion sites. I can do that or record audio from a recorder I could probably borrow. I think I have access to everything I need, though maybe a bigger or different message will appear while doing it.
3 responses so far
I think this is a great question. There are so many different things that people can say about NYC and why they like or dislike this city. You are sure to find a decent amount of generic responses as well as more exotic, unexpected responses. However, I think that asking people both questions might make this project more difficult and harder to piece together. If you focused on just one question you wouldn’t have to worry about having scattered responses. Maybe more people will have good things to say than bad creating a challenge in putting your audio essay together. Otherwise, I think this is a safe question and I’m sure you won’t have trouble compiling information. Good luck!
This is a really good question! As someone who grew up in and of the city, I often take it for granted. Honestly, I’m in dire need of a change and my answer would probably be a long-winded rant about why I dislike the city as much as I do — the crowds, the pollution, the noise, etc. However, if you were to stop a tourist on the street and ask them, they’d probably talk about how amazing the lights are or something. You’re bound to get a wide variety of answers.
Good question 🙂
I think asking half your interviewees what they like the most and half of them what they dislike the most will get you better answers than asking what they like or dislike the most; it will be hard to focus and choose an answer otherwise. This way, the contrast might be stronger.
Or, you may want to go Jacky’s route and choose one question to focus on. I feel that this might change what you are trying to accomplish, as you seem to want to portray both positive and negative aspects of NYC, but it might be better for a project of this short a length.