Month: September 2017

I’m a bit torn between the two as I’m not sure which one is the better option.

#1: To interview a student at Baruch who is actually not a business major but wants to apply to medical school, and to hear the challenges that this person has to over come. From the personal background and what led this person to their decision to actually go into the medical field and take the time for it. The ambient sound would come from the interview itself in a school premise or New York itself, since the person is only looking into schools in NYC, which makes the process even more difficult. I think its always important to hear other students tell their journey because sometimes hearing it from your own peers is better than a lecture of someone older. I also think that it could gets students to be able to relate to this person as they are going through it themselves.

#2: There is a new store that has opened up at Garden State Plaza (New Jersey, since that is where I live), called Lolli and Pop. It’s a candy store that almost feels like you walk into your own personal Disneyworld here in New Jersey. People love candy and this store has everything. They have so much to offer and they have a specific style to how they design their stores and the way they present themselves. I was able to ask the manager if it’s okay to interview an employee there that can tell me about the store, if I chose to do this idea. I think it would be a positive story that people could use now a days and maybe open up their mind to a new store that they might not know even existed. The ambient sound would come from the store itself as they do have specific music playing in the store as well as music in the mall itself.

The phenomenon of craft beer in New York City has remarkably boomed. With a high demand for locally grown ingredients, upstate farms are once again turning to hops, barley, and wheat production to support the rapid growth of breweries over the last five years in New York. The number of breweries– which include farm brewers, micro brewers, and restaurant brewers, more than doubled to 350 since 2014. In 2016, small and independent craft brewers made up 12 percent of the beer market, more than it was just a decade or so ago. This is the golden age of beer.

I’d like to report on how the business has grown over the years, and why people are embracing the potential of beer. I’ve contact multiple breweries such as Big Alice Brewing Company, Coney Island Brewery, Sixpoint Brewery, and Transmitter Brewing. There is a lot of room for natural and ambient sound, with an interesting interview.

I’ve reached out to Asphalt Green Soccer Club and New York City Football Club (NYCFC) to look at the growing success of soccer in America and how prominent it’s becoming at a grass-root level in schools. I’d also want to hear from NYCFC about how they think they compare to the other New York sports teams and what challenges they face to get a foothold in a market dominated by traditional American sports.

For my second podcast, I want to interview some of the city’s Korean-Americans and their views about the current conflict with North Korea and the fears they might have about their families that are still living in South Korea. This is a big topic in the news as of late. I already got in contact with a friend that volunteers at a Korean church in Queens and she will be getting me in contact with some community leaders and first generation immigrants. For ambient noise, if I am able to arrange an interview in the church, there might be some great sounds there. I want to also try getting an interview with a family, so I might be able to get natural sounds of a Korean household, too.

For my second podcasting project I would like to cover the rising standup comedy community in Staten Island, New York. For natural sound I will conduct my interview in one of the bars where a popular open mic is held, and I will play clips from a Staten Island comedian’s gig. I have already contacted the facilitator of the open mic and he has sent me the contact information of several up-and-coming comedians from the island.

Due Dates

Pitches for Assignment #2, a 5-minute news radio feature (a “wrap”), will be due on Wednesday, Sept. 20. even though there is no class on Wednesday. This will give me time to give you feedback on your pitches before Monday’s class next week so you can get a head start working on your stories.

The script for this radio feature will be due Wednesday, October 4.

If you took my multimedia class, this is essentially the same assignment, but I’ll expect something produced at a higher level. This assignment required ambient sound and room tone throughout. The final mixed version will also be accompanied by a photo and a modified web version of the script. It will be due on Monday, October 16.

A wrap is a scripted radio piece that weaves together natural sounds, interview clips (known as “actualities”), and reporter narration to tell a story. The trick is to choose your actualities carefully to get the most memorable, interesting, powerful, or colorful sound bites possible, leaving the bare facts and background info for your narration. In your narration, you’ll write in and out of the actualities and provide any context that is necessary to help the story make sense. The natural sounds evoke a sense of scene and place. It’s also the reporter’s responsibility to script an introduction for the host to read.

Examples of wraps:

Solar in West Virginia

Fusion restaurant in Brooklyn

Child marriage in Tanzania

When brainstorming pitch ideas, ask yourself these questions:

Does this story have news value? (Aka, is it pegged to some big current news story? Does it involve a prominent person or event? Is there a strong human interest component that sheds light on a larger issue? Does it have some kind of novelty factor? Will it have an impact on a community? Is there conflict? Does it pass the “so what?” test?)

Is there potential for scene-setting natural sounds? (If the whole thing takes place in an office, the sound will not be very compelling.)

Can I confirm that I will have access in order to do the story?

The Script

Radio scripts follow a format that looks like this:

INTRO:

AMBI:

TRACK:

ACT:

TRACK:

ACT:

AMBI:

etc.

 

 

childmarriage_feature_tanzania2

What does it mean to write for the ear?

Descriptive

Brief

Conversational

Writing into and out of acts

---

Finally, let’s listen to a few of your finished podcasts from the first assignment.