When composing my audio project, I had to consider completely different criteria to make a quality work; fluidity and clarity of sound are most important. In an essay, all of the words look the same. Syntax may be different or someone may use varying vocabulary, but the reader does that majority of the work: they just read what’s written. In audio, I was working with multiple different audio clips, daunted with the task to sound like one fluid solid piece. The volumes can’t be different, the end of one clip and the beginning of the next can’t sound choppy, and the story has to be cohesive yet creative.
I struggled in this piece, mostly because constructing audio is new territory, but my thoughts do not necessarily matter like they do in a paper. When writing an essay, I type exactly what I’m thinking into a word processor and then call it a day. However, when I was constructing my audio profile, I had to consider what the audience is hearing, adding a new element to the mix. I was thinking, “Will this make sense to the audience? Does the arrangement of the clips effectively portray the different arcs I’m trying to show?” That was the most difficult part, and I know I sound self-centered saying I’m just used to writing what I want, but the whole audio profile would be a waste if the audience doesn’t understand what’s going on.
In regards to rhetoric, I attempted to tell the story of Three Mile Island’s meltdown in multiple different ways at the same time. There are different sides to the story: the media’s take, the events of the meltdown, and the way the public responded. Instead of telling the completely stories consecutively, my goal was to move piece by piece to paint a larger picture of the day as a whole and stressing the severity of the situation. This is a reality that my hometown faces, and if we don’t do something to change the way we live, there is always the potential for meltdown again.
Sources
Sound effect is “Car Pass” by Volvieri (Free Sound)
Excerpts of announcements are from Democracy Now! Podcast from April 1, 2004
Music is Summoner of Winter by Lobo Loco
Information for narration comes from the following:
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/09/11/hits-of-1979