Proud/Unproud
A very rough draft. (Very.) I still need to interview more people and parse what I already have for the “gold.”
The point of my audio project is to discuss what actually happens over Pride Week and to bring new meaning to the name of Pride Week. I asked “What was the least proud thing you’ve done over pride?” and got many interesting responses. Most were expectedly scandalous, but a couple were deeper and/or more reflective. I want this project to be reflective, thought-provoking, and emotional.
The Ira Glass advice that I will emphasize for this project is (1) cutting things that don’t work (Part 2, 0:00- ~1:30) and (2) to “talk like myself” (Part 4, ~3:40). I was not sure how I wanted to form this project beyond the question I was asking, so my ability to cut what needed to go and to embrace my own input rather than just listening to my responses was in jeopardy.
The largest issue I had with drafting this project was finding a quiet place to edit that I could use for more than a short amount of time. The reason this first draft is so shoddy is that I didn’t have an isolated place to work and think about what to include and what to cut and when to put in music, etc. I need to work on music, timing, order of segments, cutting segments… a lot.
3 responses so far
Hi Ari,
You realize that you’re missing the cover letter; see the assignment sheet. The cover letter would be important here to help listeners understand how you’re imaging your point–or main message–here. Why this question, “What’s the least proud thing you’ve done during Pride Week?” What kinds of responses did you expect to get? What spin do you intend to put on the responses you did get?
Right now there’s no spin on your material. More than a draft, this is more like your research. You’ve collected your materials but haven’t set them up, edited them, cut the stuff that doesn’t work, sought out new stuff to complement what you have, ordered the responses, framed it all with your reflection, added music and/or other sound effects, or in any way put them together to make sense of them.
So, in terms of your material, which is all we can talk about, you’ve got some good stuff. Your interviewees were willing to be very honest and, in some cases (e.g. the woman who says she doesn’t regret things but she’d like to take that one thing back), reflective. Most of the answers deal with sex with a strangers, except for the last one (and the first, but when she’s talking about not being out during pride week, I didn’t get the sense she was talking about herself but rather in general). All of the answers directly or indirectly touch on guilt and/or regret, which can be interestingly juxtaposed to pride. The speakers sound very genuine and say meaningful things, things they are uncomfortable about, but things they’re willing to share (even as they say things like, I don’t know if I should say this…). So yeah, you have the material, and I can see possible themes emerging, and some great dynamics of openness and privacy and how they intersect, but what will you do with them? What message will you craft, and how will you motivate your message, to suggest why it’s something a listener should care about.
The responses were interesting, and they kept me engaged. There are enough responses, and now it’s just about refining them and framing it. I do wonder about the message, but I think you can form a message from these responses. It would be nice to eliminate some background noise or cut pauses, but I need to do those too.
Hey Ari! I really like the way you started this off — like with a little background talk and stuff and not immediately with the question. It’s a really interesting editing choice. I think the background noise, so to speak, works really well too, though I doubt that was intentional. You got some engaging answers, but like Aaron, I’m wondering about your overall message. I look forward to hearing the final version!