Part 1: Pre-Production: Introduction to Audio Stories

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Activity 1A.1: What Do You Hear?

Sound Effects Resources

Sound Board www.soundboard.com/

Partners in Rhyme: Royalty Free Music and Sound Effects www.partnersinrhyme.com/ PacDV:

Free Sound Effects www.pacdv.com/sounds/index.html

Music ccMixter: A music use, share, and remix resource from Creative Commons http://ccmixter.org/

Audio Clip “Sound as Touch” audio clip www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/04/21

Activity 1B: Introduction to Audio Stories

General Resources for Finding Audio Stories

PRX www.prx.org.
Note: To listen to full pieces on PRX, users will need to create accounts with the PXR site at www.prx.org/users/new. However, this is very easy and fast, and will require no more personal information than each user’s name, city, and e-mail address. In addition, users who create accounts will be able to upload and publish their own audio pieces.

Generation PRX—The Youth Radio Producers’ Hub generation.prx.org

Hearing Voices www.hearingvoices.org

This American Life www.thisamericanlife.org/

Sample Audio Stories

After the Flood, Act 3: Social Studies Lesson Duration 5:00 A comparison of different accounts of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/296/After-the-Flood

Bouncing Girl Duration 4:00 A story about The St. Paul Bouncing Team—a quirky tradition in the St. Paul Winter Carnival, in which a girl is thrown in the air and does an aerial gymnastic move. Several girls and women of all ages talk about why they are auditioning to be the bouncing girl. http://hearingvoices.com/story.php?fID=363

Brooklyn Christmas Trees Duration 2:36 A story about a man who has been selling Christmas trees on the same corner in Brooklyn, New York, every holiday season for 30 years. http://hearingvoices.com/story.php?fID=437

El Salvador to L.A: One “War” Zone to Another Duration 4:09 A teenager, whose mother fled civil war in El Salvador, talks about the violence in her own community of East Los Angeles. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89760907

Family Vacation Duration 4:26 A story about being “trapped inside a family car trip gone horribly wrong.” www.prx.org/pieces/528-family-vacation

Father Returns to Mexico; Should Son Follow? Duration 3:49 A teenager talks about his father’s decision to return to Mexico after decades in the United States, and his own struggle to decide whether to stay and finish college or take his chances finishing his education in Mexico and job-hunting there. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98718795

First U.S. Christmas Duration 3:22 A young single mom, who is a recent immigrant from Mexico, talks about spending a holiday far from home. www.prx.org/pieces/7953-first-us-christmas

From New Orleans to New England Duration 2:31 Two teenagers talk about moving from New Orleans and starting life over at their new home, near Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. www.prx.org/pieces/6880-from-new-orleans-to-new-england

The Graceful Art of Breaking Up Duration 2:19 A collage of young voices that explore different perspectives on various aspects of breaking up. www.prx.org/pieces/3416-the-graceful-art-of-breaking-up

Grad Student Discos for Dollars Duration 5:19 A story about a student who pays for his living expenses by disco dancing on the street in Chicago. www.prx.org/pieces/2197-grad-student-discos-for-dollars#description

The Greatest Moment I Ever Saw on a Stage Duration 4:20 A story about a musical theater class for troubled teenagers. From This American Life: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes, Act 20, 52:40 www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=241

A Hard Life at the Top Duration 4:30 A story about a ritual that West Point cadets participate in on their first day. From This American Life: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes, Act 19, 48:50 www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=241

Hip-Hop Summer Camp Duration 4:08 A story about a free summer program, where kids learn the business side of the hip-hop industry. www.prx.org/pieces/13749-hip-hop-summer-camp

Joey’s Phone Call Home Duration 5:16 A recording of a phone call made by an adolescent at a juvenile detention facility to his family. http://transom.org/?p=47

Let’s Talk About Sex Duration 3:16 Several teenagers give humorous accounts of talking about sex with their parents. http://transom.org/?p=47

Liverpool Rummy Duration 3:49 A story about a card game that a group of family and friends play every summer. www.prx.org/pieces/15482-liverpool-rummy

Miracle on the Streets Duration 2:27 A story about Miracle, a homeless girl who is also a crystal meth addict, told mostly through clips of interviews with Miracle. http://hearingvoices.com/news/2009/02/miracle-on-the-streets/

More Lies Duration 2:45 An interview with a woman about a humorous babysitting mishap she had in college. From This American Life: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes, Act 13, 31:36 www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=241

The Old College Try, Costing More Duration 2:29 A teen discusses how the global economic crisis has caused her to rethink her college plans. www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96206278

Prison Visiting Hours Duration 2:14 Eighteen-year-old Jennifer recalls the last time she visited her brother in prison. www.prx.org/pieces/24298-prison-visiting-hours

Quinceañera Duration 3:01 A sixteen-year-old girl talks about getting ready for her quinceañera, which is like a Latina sweet sixteen. www.prx.org/pieces/17906-quinceanera

Ricky, The Banjo, and Me Duration 4:09 David Barber-Callaghan talks about growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, listening to his parents and their friends play bluegrass music on summer nights. www.prx.org/pieces/16359-ricky-the-banjo-and-me

Should I Stay or Should I Go (To the Prom) Duration 5:19 It’s considered by many to be a rite of passage, but Blunt Youth Project reporter David Barber-Callaghan isn’t sure whether he wants to go to his senior prom. In search of advice, he turns to his classmates, past graduates, and his own mother. www.prx.org/pieces/25998-should-i-stay-or-should-i-go-to-the-prom

That One Guy at the Office Duration 3:33 A story about a man whose coworkers only know as “the guy who sits next to the printer.” From This American Life: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes, Act 16, 42:15 www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=241

Who Killed Santa Claus for You? Duration 1:58 Teenagers from Chicago remember the exact moment they found out that Santa wasn’t real. www.prx.org/pieces/22465-who-killed-santa-claus-for-you

Activity 1B.2: Elements of Good Stories

Resources for Weekly Critiques
General Resources

PRX www.prx.org
Note: To listen to full pieces on PRX, users will need to create accounts with the PXR site at www.prx.org/users/new. However, this is very easy and fast, and will require no more personal information than each user’s name, city, and e-mail address. In addition, users who create accounts will be able to upload and publish their own audio pieces.

Generation PRX—The Youth Radio Producers’ Hub generation.prx.org

Hearing Voices www.hearingvoices.org

This American Life www.thisamericanlife.org/

Third Coast International Audio Festival www.thirdcoastfestival.org/

Historical Stories

This I Believe Archives of the original This I Believe radio program, hosted by Edward R. Murrow. www.prx.org/series/11672-edward-r-murrow-s-this-i-believe

Fictional Stories

2 Minute Film Noir www.prx.org/pieces/39132-2-minute-film-noir#description

Old time radio dramas www.radiolovers.com/

Stories That Provide Perspective on Different Cultures

Global Guru A collection of stories produced by Rachel Louise Snyder. Each story answers one simple question about somewhere in the world www.globalgrit.com/globalguru

Activity 1C.1: Getting Started

Sample Audio Story to Deconstruct

Grad Student Discos for Dollars www.prx.org/pieces/2197-grad-student-discos-for-dollars#description

Story transcript: www.prx.org/pieces/2197/transcripts/2197

Activity 1C.3: Using Anecdotes as Story Building Blocks

Video clip, Ira Glass on Storytelling #1 The video clip can be accessed at any of the following links:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7KQ4vkiNUk
http://lokeshdhakar.com/ira-glass-on-storytelling/
www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/03/ira_glasstips_o.html

Activity 1D.1: Record Practice Interviews

Sample Interviews

Inside the Actor’s Studio: Johnny Depp (Part 1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt0eqVAwhP8

Interviews 50 Cents by Alex Chadwick www.slatev.com/li_50cents.html

News story: “Interviews 50 Cents” Documents Stories from the Everyperson by Alex Crowley http://www.tubefilter.com/2009/06/17/interviews-50-cents-documents-stories-from-the-everyperson/

Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One www.wgbh.org/programs/programDetail.cfm?programid=12

POV Filmmaker Interviews: Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg www.pbs.org/pov/soldiersofconscience/video_interview.php

Activity 1D.2: Plan Project Interviews

Interviewing Tips and Resources

How to Interview for a Documentary Film by Kevin Lindenmuth (video) www.ehow.com/video_2384816_interview-documentary-film.html

Interview Tips from Youth Radio’s Newsroom http://dropthatknowledge.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/interview-tips-from-y…

Making Documentary Videos: The Interview www.videomaker.com/article/12551/

The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide by Marjorie Hunt www.folklife.si.edu/education_exhibits/resources/guide/introduction.aspx

Teach Youth Radio: A free, online curriculum resource to integrate youth-produced radio stories into school classrooms https://youthradio.org/for-teachers/

Fifty Questions for Family History Interviews: What to Ask the Relatives by Kimberly Powell http://genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm