Break-Up

I think something that makes a good audio story is a good voice. This might be a bit superficial, but it’s true. It doesn’t necessarily need to be deep, sexy, or soothing as long as it’s interesting and fits the mood of the story. I think, also, that audio stories should be visually descriptive, like in writing. The cool thing about audio stories, as opposed writing, is that you don’t have to use just words. You can use all sorts of sounds and music to accomplish this. As I start making audio documentaries, I hope to avoid a couple of things. The first is misuse of sounds. Aside from the artificial, inappropriate sound effects, I hope to also avoid annoying humming sounds and the like. I’d also like to keep from making a boring story. This is harder with an audio story (instead of a visual one) because the bore factor gets multiplied by ten if all you can hear is a voice.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/339/break-up

I like this story because of its personal, real-life nature. The beginning is good because the interview takes place in real time as they walk down the street. You can hear the car noises other people on the street (still without being distracting) and see the apartment building as she points and describes her break-up. I also like the back and forth cutting between the narration and interview. (On a side note, I was completely sucked in the moment the jazz music began in the background. I love Jazz.) On not a side note, the music is another element that makes the story interesting. I think it is good that the interviewer asks personal questions about the interviewee’s break-up. This makes the audio documentary much more personal for the listener as well. It brings in a deeper, emotional aspect to the story that makes it more interesting and relatable.