Humbug! Hoaxes in Literature and Culture.

I really enjoyed listening to everyone’s podcast and how they utilized the podcast format. Although many of us were not used to using this type of media, I think everyone successfully created an engaging podcast with some very interesting and creative topics. One of the features that stood out to me was the use of background noise and interruptions, which made the podcasts seem very realistic. Both Kristi and Enzo’s use of realistic background noise stood out to me. Interruptions contributes to the overall tone of the podcast, creating both suspense and sometimes fear. Kristin’s podcast also stood out to me; it was very conversational and did not sound scripted. Also, the creative integration of sound effects made some of the podcasts more interesting and engaging.  Maya’s Taco bell sound effects were very entertaining and kept me interested. Some of the podcasts even included music from a “band,” much like War of the Worlds did. I also really liked how some of the podcasts ended with thought provoking questions and left the listener wanting more. If I could steal some ideas, I would make my podcast a live radio show; I would interview spectators and create interruptions whenever Kimo was spotted running. My podcast, rather than a sports radio show, would be a general radio show where I could reach a larger audience. I might also include more sound effects to make my podcast more engaging. Instead of editing my voice to sound like someone else, I would try to recruit real people who would create their own character.

Overall the podcasts were very entertaining to listen to. There were many aspects of others podcasts that I liked because they were unique, which is amazing all in its own how very differently everyone went about making their podcasts. No two podcasts were the same. I really enjoyed how comical and satirical many of the podcasts were, and I also liked the news -like ones too because many of the interviewees were funny to hear telling their first hand account. I’m not sure if it was always intentional or not, but it made it very enticing and pulled me in deeper to the topic at hand.

I really enjoyed Maya’s tone of voice in her podcast. It was extremely lively and interesting to listen to. The way she pulled together her information and the commentary in her own warped voice (which was absolutely hilarious) kept me hooked from the beginning until the end. I also really enjoyed Kristin’s intro and outro! I was crazily obsessed with Law & Order: SVU a couple years ago, so personally I got really excited when I heard the intro. She even had the transitions from scene to scene the same as in the show. That was a very unique way of going about doing it.

If I could I would steal actual voice actors that were invested in the role they were portraying. The podcasts were always more interesting when the actors got deep into a role. Someone had a entire crowd of people all giving their views on the rhinoceros prints in the snow and I thought that was very interesting how they were able to pull in a bunch of different views within a few seconds by just having them all talk conversationally with the host. I actually kind of wish we could do another one! They were so much fun.

What I enjoyed the most would have to be the moments of comic relief. I’m not sure if some or any, were intentional, but it really made the podcasts enjoyable. Just the fact that this was such a fun project, it was funny to listen to most of them in class and then chuckling with everyone or give nods of admiration at the moments of pure quality and moments of hysteria.

I was thrilled by the level of ingenuity and creativity of other people’s podcasts! Everyone did  a fantastic job. While the scripts, accents,  and ideas were great, what really set these podcasts apart, were the sound effects and music that were incorporated. Those two factors were definitely what Made the podcasts. Without them, there would be no credentials. Everyone was spot on and produced spectacular podcasts.

I particularly loved the ghost and haunting ideas. There two or three of those that had a creepy documentary style podcast that was then interrupted and just overall eerie. To improve mine, I would have used the high level of diction and jargon that others implemented in their podcasts that really made it sound so sophisticated during those moments.

Overall, I loved everyone’s podcasts; I thought they were very creative and engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed working with such a different medium and one of my favorite features was the fitting background music in many of the podcasts. It especially helped set the mood for the entire podcast, which would have been much more difficult to do if this were a written text instead. Particularly, in the DIA podcast, the dark and eerie music that began the podcast was so chilling I actually felt the fear within me as I was listening. Additionally, the use of humor in many of the podcasts was one of my favorite aspects because it lightened up the mood and made it more entertaining.

Many of the podcasts were so successful because they utilized interviews with outside guests to make their hoax more believable based on others’ credibility and their realistic insight. For example, many of the accents the interviewees had made things more interesting and it was just very comical in some cases. If I could steal any of the techniques people used, I would definitely consider having some of my interviewers falsify accents during their parts because I think that would make each character more intriguing. I would also have my voice actors add more enthusiasm or emotion to their parts like some of the podcasts had people speak very convincingly which added a nice emotional appeal.

Everyone took a really unique approach to the podcast project. I liked how people were creative with how they organized their podcasts. I think having a narrative kind of like an episode on an established podcast show made it interesting. That idea didn’t even cross my mind when creating my podcast. I also liked how some people did all of the character voices on their own. I think that was a fabulous idea, and was quite impressive. I know for my podcast I used limited sound effects and music. Other people, who used more sounds on their podcast made the narrative more interesting and kept the viewer’s attention well. The people who decided to talk about a hoax rather than create one did a great job and were very creative about it. Having a narrator made it seem story-like and it was cool how they jumped back into the past with previous first hand accounts from the event. Both Courtney and Kristin did this very well. If I could redo parts of my podcast I would probably want to do more interviews. Having multiple characters was engaging in other people’s podcasts and it added complexity and excitement the more voices there were. It was interesting to see how people used humor in their podcasts because though many people did, everyone did it differently and I thought that was great.

I really liked that other people not only used fellow students in their interview, but that podcast creators used their friends as the actual interviewers. It seemed to put the student whose project it was in the seat of a director, making them seem so in control of their podcast that they didn’t even need to hold the main role in the podcast. I really liked that aspect of everyone else’s podcast (my favorite) because it made the conversationality of the podcast so much more smooth. This, along with the different uses of sound effects made others’ podcasts so special. I used sound effects as well, but the transition music in association with humorous sound effects made their podcasts so success. An idea that I would like to steal would be splitting my podcast up into the hoax itself and then an explanation of the hoax and why it should/should not have been successful. Another part of others’ podcasts I would steal would be the use of different parts and subjects incorporated into a single podcast. One example was Kristi’s and how she used the snow as her highlighted topic, but then began to discuss the rhinoceros. It all still tied together and I really liked that.

Today in class, it was intriguing being able to listen to other people’s podcasts because it allowed me to not only compare them to my own but to realize the creativity of my classmates. My favorite features of others podcasts were their music, and voices.

Firstly, I think what made some podcast stand out was how interesting their topic was. It was easier for me to zone out, when I had no concern for the topic. However, I noticed that I was much more engaged from start to finish when the creator added lots of music, sound effects, and voices, that kept reminding me to pay attention. For example, when there was really suspenseful music or noises that made the podcasts seem very real, I was naturally more attentive.

If I could I would steal the different modulated voices. It was challenging to me to figure out how to change the technology in order to do that, so I just created my own accents which is funny but not as skillful. The different voices and music could make the listeners laugh or maybe even frighten them! I also enjoyed when music played throughout the podcast while the presenter was talking. I liked my brand of podcast, but I think podcasts that imposed the hoaxes were also very inventive and enticing.

Learn a lot about the new GenPets that will populate all homes.