Extension 2

Sound Medium – Podcasts

for the ETA

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Sound Medium – Podcasts
Student Requirements:
• Students present a podcast that responds to an area of special interest, yet it must be an
extension of the knowledge and understanding developed in Stage 6 English
• Playing time of no more than 15 minutes.
• Students must submit a print copy of the script, storyboard or flow chart.
• The audio file may include music and/or sound effects, which will not be included in the
running time, but will be considered in terms of the way it shapes/enhances meaning.

Advantages
 Exciting new form (since 2004)
 Many hybrid genres within
 Includes audio storytelling, drama,
investigative journalism, traditional
speeches, different types of Performance
Poetry
 Easy to produce
 Soundscape can enhance these and be used
effectively e.g. music, SFX, diegetic sounds
and non-diegetic sounds
 You can choose your audience – even a
narrow niche audience – its all about
considering form, purpose and audience
 Can suit a variety of types of voices eg
formal speech to a conversational tone-
depends on audience and purpose
Challenges
 Voice is important – need modulation,
intonation, variation of pace
 “Other voices” if used are important-
student should be the main voice
 Need to have some technical expertise to do
your editing etc
 It is a sound medium so it is more than
reading an essay or a story aloud
 Don’t over use sound effects or use really
obvious ones. Soundscapes have to
complement the form and be carefully
crafted
 Prepare a solid transcript prior to recording
and it should closely match the recorded
piece
 Make sure if you use more than one form,
poem, speech etc cohesion and continuity’s
important

Podcasts

Definition

 A new more informal genre of audio narrative

 Strong relationship between host and listener
 Content is “talkier” and less crafted

Shifts in audio culture

 Podcasting as audio storytelling occupied a post public radio space

 Unregulated environment

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  Dates from 2004 (broadcast  to podcast  shifts notion of audience)
 Podcasters – hobbyists, investigative journalists,
 Podcasting platform has breathed new life into largely forgotten forms and tropes –
rather than being the death of the “radio”
 Podcasting may be reinvigorating things such as radio drama
 Origin in radio content from 20s and 30s combining elements of documentary realism
with drama, poetry, music, oratory – link to acoustic film, radio documentary, reality
radio programs, investigative journalism, documentary feature ( more artistic hybrid)

Features

 Sound rich audio stories

 “Use sound to tell true stories artfully
 “More casual, less rigorous than radio in terms of craft
 More liberty taken with form than limits imposed by radio producers
 Many hybrid forms e.g. short, crafted storytelling segments in amongst commentary
 New relationship with the listener due to it being an “opt in medium”
 Ambiguity of term – essentially it’s a means of dissemination but means encourage
new and evolving ends
 A more familiar and intimate context- relationship with the audience
 Often less introductory contextual chatter

Is podcasting a new genre or just reworked radio?

Experimental storytelling (Kaitlin Prest’s Movies in Your Head)

 Tends to not have as richly textual sound scape as you might expect due to desire of
presenter to have connection with audience
 Often personal stories
 Engaging and intimacy of style
 Focus on entertainment not challenging a listener – as its often listened to on the
weekend
 Can be relaxed and familiar – occasionally bossy and manipulative

How is podcasting changing what is produced and who is producing it?

 Mix of short and longer features

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  European 60 min form – lean in listening, challenging, active listening,
 Weekly/ fortnightly is common e.g. Scene on Radio (SOR) so often less polished due
to frequency

Does podcasting offer a new model for audience listener relationship?

Raises a question as to whether it is art or journalism i.e. audio storytelling

Audience & purpose:

 In a speech: authentic audience – sound effects, appropriate language/ purpose clear. From
the activist at a rally to a writer’s festival.

 In a podcast - strong relationship between host and listener- the notion of an intimate
audience. Content is conversational and less crafted. New relationship with the listener due to
it being an ‘’opt in medium”. Audience and purpose broad from popular e.g. serial to the
chumcast. Purpose may focus on entertainment not challenges – as its often listened to on the
weekend

 In audio storytelling – sound rich audio stories with a clear audience – could be quite diverse
from live audience to specific podcast context

In performance poetry – from a live audience at a Poetry Slam to more intimate poetry

Does the student have to be the only performer and writer in a sound medium Major Work?

 The student should be the principal performer, the sole writer and sole director/producer. For
drama the student presenting the Major Work must be the sole writer and sole
director/producer. It is acceptable to use software to manipulate sound to create effects and
other voices, and this should be detailed in the Reflection Statement. It is the responsibility of
the student to direct or instruct all technical input. If commercial or creative commons sound
bites are used, these must be acknowledged in the Reflection Statement as per the principles
of All My Own Work. Students should refer to Assessment and Reporting in English
Extension 2 Stage 6 (2017) (p 14).

Is the student able to submit multiple speeches or pieces of performance poetry?

 Yes. Any decisions regarding the structural elements of the Major Work should be based on
intended purpose and audience. The textual integrity of the Major Work should be enhanced
by these decisions. HSC Marking Feedback offers further comment relevant to the specific
forms.

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What is included in the running time of sound media?

 Sound that is used as an interval or segue is not counted in the running time. For example,
sound effects such as significant musical interludes in speeches are not included in the
running time. Sound effects such as knocking or screams in a drama are included.
 Sound effects used must be included in the credits on the script – source etc
 Note: beware the “obvious sound effect”. It’s like the use of clichéd imagery in a Short
Fiction piece. Just doesn’t demonstrate effective and sophisticated understanfding of form.
(Nor does a lack of sound effects).

What does the script look like?

 https://artsonline.tki.org.nz/Teaching-and-Learning/Secondary-teaching-resources/Drama/
Reviewed-resources/Key-Collection/Radio-Drama-Bow-Down-Shadrach/Writing-a-radio-
play/Format-for-radio-play-scripts

 https://www.buzzsprout.com/blog/write-podcast-script-examples

 These are just a couple of examples. There are many more and it doesn’t matter which oneyou
choose, you just need to be consistent. A script is required, but remember, the marker’s main
focus will be the sound.

Give yourself time!

 Recording and editing takes practice and time. Make sure you don’t leave this until the last
minute. Remember to choose good, interesting, authentic voices if you need multiple
speakers.
 Finally try to access good recording equipment. Recordings done on a phone are often poor
quality.