I'll start by saying that this is a very powerful piece. After a 30 second introduction by producer Adeline Goss, the rest of the piece consists of narration by the young man who survived Katrina. It's a heart wrenching and gripping story, and the voice of the young man is captivating. But the piece lacks some production elements that would have made it even more powerful. Some editing and narration, or at least some questions from the interviewer would help his story flow better. Although the story pulls us in, it drags a bit near the end, and then the interview just ends, making the listener feel like the piece isn't quite finished. The raw material for this piece is incredible, and some judicious editing would bring out its full potential.
The beginning of this story is very captivating. The narriators' voice offers a smooth introduction to the first hand account of hurricane Katrina. The story telling is very linear and takes the listener through the harrowing expericans of loss. But the title of this story is "21-year-old Katrina Survivor signing up for U.S. Army". His army enrollment isn't introduced until the last minute of the story. In my opinion, this is way too late. Based on the title, I was expecting to hear how his hurricane experiance caused him to enlist. Instead the majority of the story was about loss and moving on with a small portion dedicated to his enlistment. Although this peice tells a beautiful story, it fails to address the presented topic at a substancial depth.
Marion Stearns, Stephen's mother, was my best friend for seven years. I never met her, but we spoke on the phone and emailed back and forth. To hear her son's voice talking about his mother helps me to heal the grief I felt upon hearing of Marion's death.
Very good introduction, amazing! I loved it so much because we went from the calmness of your voice and music to this real place that we heard very well. Some advice, I think this could have been a stronger and shorter piece if you did some good editing. Also it would have been good if there was some narration because his story gets confusing and he sometimes back tracks which makes it more confusing. But this was very cool, he did an amazing job in telling his story. I felt as if I was there sitting right next to him and experiencing everything he was talking about, and that?s what good radio does. Last constructive comment, when doing an interview like this you have to make sure the background noise (ambience) is not to loud, or the person being interviewed is not to loud (good ?micing? skills will go a long way!) when it then becomes to hard to understand what?s being said. Overall this piece rocked I liked it allot! The reason I like this piece is allot is because of the meaning and the message it got across, I watched hundreds of reports on this issue but not one of them took me into this part of the problem, the personal part. Great job!
This heart-wrenching piece personalizes all of the coverage of Hurricane Katrina that mainstream media has produced since the disaster. The introduction, with its skillful use of music and its vividly specific script, captures the listener's attention immediately. The intensely visual nature of the entire story, with all of its details and nuances, represents the greatest strength of an excellent piece. Some variation of sound within the piece, either through music or voicing, would enhance the overall quality. Still, this story deserves a place in any show covering Katrina's aftermath.
Comments for 21-year-old Katrina survivor signing up for U.S. Army
Produced by Adeline Goss
Other pieces by BSR Radio
Rating Summary
5 comments
Phil Corriveau
Posted on October 02, 2006 at 01:05 PM | Permalink
Review of 21-year-old Katrina survivor signing up for U.S. Army
I'll start by saying that this is a very powerful piece. After a 30 second introduction by producer Adeline Goss, the rest of the piece consists of narration by the young man who survived Katrina. It's a heart wrenching and gripping story, and the voice of the young man is captivating. But the piece lacks some production elements that would have made it even more powerful. Some editing and narration, or at least some questions from the interviewer would help his story flow better. Although the story pulls us in, it drags a bit near the end, and then the interview just ends, making the listener feel like the piece isn't quite finished. The raw material for this piece is incredible, and some judicious editing would bring out its full potential.
natalia brown
Posted on September 18, 2006 at 09:11 AM | Permalink
Review of 21-year-old Katrina survivor signing up for U.S. Army
The beginning of this story is very captivating. The narriators' voice offers a smooth introduction to the first hand account of hurricane Katrina. The story telling is very linear and takes the listener through the harrowing expericans of loss. But the title of this story is "21-year-old Katrina Survivor signing up for U.S. Army". His army enrollment isn't introduced until the last minute of the story. In my opinion, this is way too late. Based on the title, I was expecting to hear how his hurricane experiance caused him to enlist. Instead the majority of the story was about loss and moving on with a small portion dedicated to his enlistment. Although this peice tells a beautiful story, it fails to address the presented topic at a substancial depth.
Melody Long
Posted on August 24, 2006 at 04:45 AM | Permalink
Review of 21-year-old Katrina survivor signing up for U.S. Army
Marion Stearns, Stephen's mother, was my best friend for seven years. I never met her, but we spoke on the phone and emailed back and forth. To hear her son's voice talking about his mother helps me to heal the grief I felt upon hearing of Marion's death.
Rocky Tayeh
Posted on July 25, 2006 at 12:20 AM | Permalink
Review of 21-year-old Katrina survivor signing up for U.S. Army
Very good introduction, amazing! I loved it so much because we went from the calmness of your voice and music to this real place that we heard very well. Some advice, I think this could have been a stronger and shorter piece if you did some good editing. Also it would have been good if there was some narration because his story gets confusing and he sometimes back tracks which makes it more confusing. But this was very cool, he did an amazing job in telling his story. I felt as if I was there sitting right next to him and experiencing everything he was talking about, and that?s what good radio does. Last constructive comment, when doing an interview like this you have to make sure the background noise (ambience) is not to loud, or the person being interviewed is not to loud (good ?micing? skills will go a long way!) when it then becomes to hard to understand what?s being said. Overall this piece rocked I liked it allot! The reason I like this piece is allot is because of the meaning and the message it got across, I watched hundreds of reports on this issue but not one of them took me into this part of the problem, the personal part. Great job!
Eilis O'Neill
Posted on July 20, 2006 at 08:20 PM | Permalink
Review of 21-year-old Katrina survivor signing up for U.S. Army
This heart-wrenching piece personalizes all of the coverage of Hurricane Katrina that mainstream media has produced since the disaster. The introduction, with its skillful use of music and its vividly specific script, captures the listener's attention immediately. The intensely visual nature of the entire story, with all of its details and nuances, represents the greatest strength of an excellent piece. Some variation of sound within the piece, either through music or voicing, would enhance the overall quality. Still, this story deserves a place in any show covering Katrina's aftermath.