Freedom is Mine and I Know How I Feel

Overall, from spending weeks at the library and trying to juggle other assignments as well I think we did a pretty good job! I mean it could have been better with proper sounds effects but other then that I wouldn't have done anything differently. We had quiet the few laughs and overdosing on caffeine that made this Pod-Cast a memorable experience. 

My piece of advice to offer is do not give up! It is easy to give up when you are having technical difficulties while recording, editing, and uploading the Pod-Cast. Just keep trying especially by asking your peers for help because they can be very helpful when comes to figuring out how to pave way through technical difficulties like knowing how to upload the Pod-Cast to the Blog. 

Anyways, like my title says Freedom is mine and I hope everyone enjoys their summer break! 

Podcast Killed My Radio Voice

Hi all,

I have come across an editing and recording software called Audacity. Audacity is a free downloadable program where you can record directly on it or import file sounds. The software setup is fairly simple and easy to navigate through. You can record your own voice by simply pressing record but make sure that you have a microphone to speak into. If you do not have a microphone, the other option is to record your voice on an Ipod or a similar device and upload it as an audio file.

Once, you have imported the sound file, by going to file and pressing import, the recording will appear as sound waves on the software. You have the ability to shorten the length by highlighting and pressing the delete button. You can turn down the volume on a sound or make it fade away. This is great when you want to have background music for the podcast or want to have a smooth way to end a sound effect. You can just as easily end the podcast with either fading out your voice or bringing up the volume on the background music. Another convenient option is the ability to import multiple sounds at the same time, cut the length, and move them around to make one file of mixed sounds.

Want more aesthetically and detailed tutorials check out these Youtube tutorials that I watched by Mitch Ward:

Audacity Lesson One The Basics
Audacity Lesson Two Editing

I am excited to start editing and recording except the part where I have to hear my voice. I have recorded myself and I am not to confident with the way I sound and I think it is partly because I just naturally cringe at the sound of my voice. Hey, I guess not all of us can have radio voices now can we? Other then that I think it will be a fun and creative experience especially since Audacity is easy to navigate through; considering that I am technology challenged. Good luck everyone.

It Looks Like a Centipede

This is my drawing for "The Fanatical Word." (Our podcast name) The first line is the pre-introduction where we use quotations and our reactions to sound effects to set the tone of our podcast. The vertical line indicates the actual introduction and our jingle. The series of dashes and commas is supposed to indicate the mix between facts, stories, and our own sparks of comic relief. The line that is slanted upwards and continued with a connected dash indicates the climax of the podcast. The continued line illustrates when the podcast takes a turn to an argumentative or debate-like segment. The comma and dash are back to indicate the mix of comic relief and facts that show up again. Then our podcast slowly dwindles, as shown with the slanted line. The period indicates the end of the podcast that is wrapped up with a statement.  

This diagram is somewhat similar to "The Other F-Word" because they do start off with a pre-introduction where they ask people questions and then they start with the introduction. The difference is their jingle starts before the pre-introduction. They have a mix of facts and story telling in between and then it continues on with implied argument (so does ours) the difference is the climax is more of a subdued argument it is not an obvious debate but it does lead up to the end of their podcast with a clip from the Simpsons. 

I counted 9 citations 

Boolean Rhapsody

Hi all,

After consecutively spending a week straight in the Scott library I have come to the conclusion that I do not particularly like the use of Boolean Logic. My Partner and I tried it, of course, and after two days of attempting to get the correct wording we gave up. 

What is the Boolean Logic? Boolean logic is the use of “AND,” “NOT” and “OR” in between keywords to help narrow down a search result. The use of “AND” is to make sure the keywords are both found in the search results. The use of “OR” is to have either one of the words come up in the search results. While “NOT” is used to indicate that neither of the words should be included in the search.

Boolean Logic is supposed to be helpful by narrowing down search results but I prefer to use short phrases. I believe the reason behind my use of phrases it is because that is how I have been taught to search at a young age. I also think it is because sometimes the keywords do not bring up helpful results, even after background research and the use of the thesaurus.  Although, the idea of Boolean Logic does make sense and should be useful, but I don’t think it is useful for me. Perhaps, I will give it another try but for now I will stick with searching with short phrases. 

Getting to the Nitty Gritty

My partner and I are still in the process of researching; looking through sources and taking notes, but we have come across a few sources that we would like to use.

We haven’t found a lot of scholarly sources yet but we have found one about Social Identity Theory. It describes how a person comes to create their social identity and how people begin to follow a group and how and why they, the followers, want to belong to said group.

With further research and a little luck we hope to find more scholarly sources that outline the psychological effects of following others (being a fan/fanatic) or scholar sources that depict how and why Nazi’s followed Hitler. Perhaps, a history analysis of Hitler's speech or things that Nazi's did and why they did them.

On the other hand, we have find quiet a few popular sources most are about Justin Bieber fans and why they are so obsessed with him. Also, we will be using twitter and the tweets that his fans write to or about him and the trends that his fans make.

For the most part, the popular sources we want to use are magazine articles preferably to do with Justin Bieber and his fans. We also want to use Youtube videos of fans, documentaries of the world war, and of course twitter.

Hopefully, we will hit the gold mine with good sources and be able to create a wonderful podcast about Hitlers fanatics and Justin Bieber fans.

Refinement

The pitch exercise did help refine our topic. Our initial topic was way too broad, and since the pitch requires a specific explanation of the topic of choice, it forced us to mold and narrow down our topic. I would definitely recommend the pitch as a pre-writing exercise because it is a mix of brainstorming, research, and an essay outline.
That being said, after lots of research, our refined topic is the similarities between Justin Bieber’s fans and Hitler’s fanatics and whether or not Justin Bieber fans should have a limit because they so closely resemble fanatic patriots. This is done through the exploration of the word fan and its’ derivation from the word fanatic.

Gathering Advice

I am a little nervous about presenting my pitch but after looking through these sources and the advice that Professor Bell gave I have gained a bit of confidence on how to pitch my idea. The following are three sources that I found helpful.

• CBC  is a reliable source because it is an established broadcasting company that has already established its credibility to the public through years of accurate news programs. CBC gives a lot of advice but these are the few that stood out to me. (This advice is under brainstorming for an idea but I believe that it can be taken into consideration on how to create a good pitch.)

1) To Be Realistic
 The idea being presented should be realistic and something that you can see yourself actually creating.
2) To like your Ideas Enough 
The ideas that your pitch establishes should be ones that you do like but you should also keep in mind that     they might change depending on how things will go with your podcast.  Therefore, it is important for your idea to realistic.
3) To Focus
CBC advises to ask yourself what makes your idea great. It is important to know why it is great because that will help you focus your pitch around that question. It is also because producers are looking for shows that have a unique aspect to them. Therefore, having a clear and focused idea can help producers find your pitch unique.

• This American Life is a reliable source because of it’s professional set up: it has an about us, contact us and staff links. This American life states that their shows are broadcasted to 500 stations and have 2.1 million viewers. They continue by stating that they are produced by Chicago Public Media and Public Radio International. Through further research I found that Chicago Public Media is home to two established radio stations: WBEZ 91.5FM and Vocalo 89.5FM. I also found that Public Radio International delivers radio shows about worldwide issues. They are also partnered with BBC and WGBH. The producers alone show that This American Life is a reliable source because the producers are established broadcasters who are also linked to other established Broadcasters. The advice that This American Life gives is right to the point and as result very helpful.  

1)Have a Story
The pitch should be given in a story like fashion. It should have a plot and characters because it engages the producers attention and adds quality to the pitch.
2) Be Clear
The pitch should be clear on the intention of the podcast when it is told through the story. It should be obvious what the focus of the podcast is going to be through the characters and plot of the story.
3)Be Brief
The pitch should be brief and right to the point. It is important not to bore the producers with long pitches because it can lead to subject changes and confusion.

• The Guardian is a reliable source because it is an established newspaper company that has been around since 1821 under the name The Manchester Guardian. It is later shortened to The Guardian and has recently branched out into online publication. Yes this is a newspaper company and has nothing to do with podcasting or radio shows but the advice about how to pitch can be used for podcasting. The following advice is similar to the advice given from the above sources but that reinforces that the advice given is correct. 

1) Have a Set Focus
The Guardian mentions that it is important to establish the idea of the pitch. It also states that the pitch should explain the research question (the focus) of the idea.
2) What You Do
Establish briefly what your purpose in the show will be—what will you do? For example, are you going to interview or are you going to quote sources or both.
3)Have Characters
 The Guardian advises to sell characters rather then concepts. It is important for your pitch to have characters because it will be more personal and will gain the audiences attention. Plus, usually concepts are associated with facts which are known to be boring while stories are captivating and impressionable.

        After gathering advice, I know that my topic should have a clear focus and should be told in a story like fashion. I need to be brief and to make sure to clearly establish why my pitch should be "bought." If I can create a pitch with the advise I have gained then my podcast will reflect the concepts that I bring forth in my pitch.

                                                                 Works Cited
 "CBC Radio Pitch - Index." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.
 "About Us." This American Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
"How to Pitch." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 09 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.

The Adventures of "The Other F-Word"

     After looking through the majority of the podcasts, my partner and I found Lexicon Valleys' The Other F-word a great show to emulate. Why have I chosen this show? I liked how Mike Vuolo took a controversial word and traced it back to its origins and how it helped form several meanings used today. I also liked how this particular podcast did not put me to sleep. I found myself being engaged and wanting to hear more about the topic. I think it is because of the pod cast’s informing and laid back style. Plus, the topic itself was presented in a personal story telling manner which is evocative since the topic is about a controversial word. That being said, I would like to emulate the style of the show. If it is possible I would start like he did, by asking a series of questions related to the word and then engage my audience with personal experience.

Our topic was formed after Mike Vuolo started talking about a word being found in novels. That got my partner and I thinking about the topic we wanted to do. We decided our topic to be an extension of finding controversial words in novels and how it has led to the banning of books that featured a controversial  word.

I gathered advice from Owl Purdue on how to select a topic. The site offered that to select a topic it is a good a idea to to brainstorm by writing ideas down. The site advised that writing can be a great way to form a topic. I agree, since I am one to write when I brainstorm. I find it a great way to form ideas and keep track of them. However, with this topic formation my partner and I just brainstormed by discussing our ideas out loud until we found a topic. I found that when working with partners communicating through speech is a lot easier when it comes to brainstorming then it is writing. Needless to say, it is an option to write down the ideas that both partners come up in order to help formulate a topic. Anyways, I am excited to move forward with this project and I cannot wait to start this podcast.

Greetings all,

            I am Lana; I enjoy copying quotes down on sticky notes, papers, calendars, and skin. In between the time that I am not sleeping, reading, or writing you will find me watching Slam Poetry, X Factor auditions, or TV shows. I major in Professional Writing and plan on entering the book stream because I find writing about people— creating characters— enjoyable.

          I am not too sure what I want to learn about research because I have been taught how to research academically and how to research for day to day knowledge at a young age. During my experience of academic research, I have and sometimes still, experience frustrations at a lack of finding a specific piece of information. Research becomes quiet tedious after hours of highlighting books, taking notes, going through Google searches, using Google scholar, and Refworks (I haven’t used Zotero before) to only finding an insufficient amount of information to back up an argument. At this point, I try to change key words in my search bar or I look at different sources. When that doesn't work I either change the subject of my paper or change the argument. I find that changing the argument to fit the information that I have already found can be useful and I end up not having wasted any time. On the other hand, my day to day research is a lot easier because I do not need to argue a point or site a source and Google tends to have most of the information I need.

My podcasting or radio experience is a total of nothing, unless listening to the radio counts. I do feel intimidated to do an episode partly because my relationship with technology is like my relationship with math; absolutely horrendous. I don’t understand some aspects of technology and the idea of recording my voice and having others listening to it isn’t my idea of fun. Other then technical issues, all I can do is use my research experience to help assist me in creating the podcast episode. In fact, I have Under the Influence and Lexicon Valley as potential topics. Under the Influence seems to be interesting because I love analyzing material. I blame it on my constant habit of close reading novels to find the implied meaning of a story. Although, analyzing advertisements might be a little different but I think I can make it work because I have looked at advertisements and their effects on culture in the past. I also like Lexicon Valley because of the sole reason that I love the way words sounds. I also believe that words can influence and change a culture so that would be fun to look more into. Other then that, I am excited to see what new knowledge and experiences I will gain from this class.