week3

Week 3 – Blog task

Write about what you have learned with your reflections on the experience from the seminar and workshops from Week 3 – Interviews

1. a) Write up what you have learned about the technical aspects of recording sounds for interview, such as the different types of sounds that will be recorded and mic placement techniques. 

There are three types of directional microphones, namely: omnidirectional, unidirectional and bidirectional. The microphone pointing type is a description of the microphone’s sound inspiration pattern from all directions in space, and is an important attribute of the microphone.

Under normal circumstances, we can use a single-pointing microphone to collect human voices. A microphone like Shure SM-58 can also be called a cardioid pointing microphone. This type of microphone can pick up most of the sound in front of the microphone and part of the sound on both sides. It is a perfect and wise choice when there is only one anchor or when each speaker wants to give their own microphone.

Then we will introduce the bidirectional microphone. You might guess that a bidirectional microphone may record sound in two directions. You guessed it, the bidirectional microphone can receive sound from the front and back of the microphone. If your podcast is a duo, then only a bidirectional microphone is enough. After you two face each other, put the microphone between you and start recording.

Finally, let’s introduce the omnidirectional microphone. In fact, it has no directivity and can pick up sounds from different angles. It is often used in choirs. If you have only one microphone, and you cannot set a microphone for each guest, you can choose an omnidirectional microphone. You can put the microphone in the middle of the table, and everyone surrounds it. Because the sound is recorded in a wide range, you may not be able to record the extremely clear voice of each guest, but it can definitely help you record podcast programs with good sound quality.

b) Write up what you have learned about interview techniques – these should include aspects of preparation and question development and your experience during the interview. What would make the interview even better next time?

  1 Learn as much knowledge and theories about the interview topic as possible.

   Learn the background information of the interviewee and the interview environment as much as possible.

 Learn and think as much as possible in terms of human nature, psychology, and journalism ethics.

• Write up your notes and what you have learned from the Core reading for this week and our discussion about interesting techniques and/or lessons that Ira Glass suggests make for a successful story and podcast.

1 Learn as much knowledge and theories about the interview topic as possible.

2. Learn the background information of the interviewee and the interview environment as much as possible.

3. Learn and think as much as possible in terms of human nature, psychology, and journalism ethics.

Short interview task – upload your completed interview task to your blog along with the questions you developed for the interview.

1. Write some reflections about how the task went – e.g. how successful was it (be honest)? Were there some difficulties that you experienced in making it? What did you learn about interviewing when you were making it? What would you like to do differently next time you make an interview?

If you cannot upload the interview directly to the WordPress blog, then post it to another sound site and then add a link to your blog. For example, Soundcloud. (Open a free Soundcloud account, upload your work there, then embed the track or put a link to it in your WordPress blog.)  WEEK 3

In my opinion, this was not a successful interview, because I was not well prepared, a little nervous and did not express the questions clearly, which led to some obstacles in answering the questions. However, I think I did a good job in question extension and conducted in-depth discussion on the background of participants studying abroad. The experience I learned from this interview is that first of all, the questions should be fully prepared and as concise as possible. Secondly, the shooting Angle should be adjusted. In the first interview, the light is too dim to observe the interviewer’s facial expressions effectively, which is also a very important point in the interview.