Transient Spaces

Week 6

Agenda

More tips on ways to find great online content

Interview tech options

Interview tips

Vox pops v. ‘proper’ interviews

Using the zooms

Let’s get the zooms

More ways to find online content

1. Using the voice memo function on your phone

Audio quality can be quite good, but remember to keep the phone close, and find a quiet place.

But not too close or it might distort!

The problem is that you can’t test the levels, except by doing a test recording and listening to it through headphones.

Interview recording options

2. Using a Zoom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T9GIzarhwyE

Most important things:

Check the levels

Make sure you are actually recording, not on pause.

Interview recording options

3. Recording a Skype interview

My test with quicktime resulted in poor quality

As usual, I’m more concerned about audio than video, if the vid is too bad, you can always just use a still.

Great tips for audio improvement here, but rather technical – and you may not be able to get around the Firewall

http://www.blogarithms.com/index.php/archives/2007/12/23/skype-for-interviews/

Interview recording options

Summary of the easier things:

Quit all applications except what you really need

good broadband

Make everything as quiet as possible

Both parties should use a headset USB mic if possible

Eg, http://shop.skype.com/headsets/#/#categoryid=1&sortby=3&subcategoryid=&filter=&manufacture=&price_range=~30|30~60|60~90|90~&page=1

Interview recording options

They recommend audio recording software called CallBurner

http://www.callburner.com/ Free 30 day trial

And post-production audio level software called The Levelator:

http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator FREE

You’d also edit out the clicks, umms, stutters etc in Audacity (or similar)

Note: don’t edit the audio if you’re going to marry it up with video, it will get out of sync.

Interview recording options

4. Recording a phone call to the Zoom / computer

Interview recording options

Interview recording options

Interview tips

Interview tips

Interview tips

Interview tips

Interview tips

A vox pop is a stranger off the street who you ask a couple of questions to as they walk by. You will get an unreflected, off-the-cuff opinion rather than a carefully thought through response. They are useful for capturing the public mood, but it will be superficial.

A proper interview is organised in advance, you’ve given the interviewee warning about the subject matter, you’ve found a good (quiet, well lit, uninterrupted) location. You will get more interesting answers this way.

Vox pops v. ‘proper’ interviews