When talking about the importance of sound I can’t help but think about sound stages where they produce the sound effects for movies. The sound of bones breaking is celery. The sound of head wounds? Cabbage stands in for the head. Their goal isn’t about making a realistic sound but in giving you the sensation that the sound creates for you. They give you what you think it should sound like not what it actually does sound like.

Moon Graffiti by The Truth Podcast tells an interesting story about what if the moon landing ended in failure. It relies heavily on what you think something should sound like during the moon scenes. I really like how they did the sound of the footprints on the moon. I heard the sound and instantly thought of the ripples in the sand at 6:15.

The way they did the audio of the astronauts speaking to each other tells you where they are without having to outright tell you. You can hear the scratchiness of the radio used for them to communicate. I love the camera sound effect at 6:41. You can hear the sound of the bulb charging. They drag the high pitch sound of the flash bulb charging to add to the suspense and eeriness of it all. You hear it again at 7:05 which bookends the picture sequence. You can just feel the dread in the air. They wonderfully stick to using tones and minimal music to create that sense of stillness and dread. At 8:11 you hear their footsteps and know they are walking. They set up the footstep sound at 6:15 so you will know what steps sound like on the moon. It moves the story along with having to have the characters announce everything they are doing. 11:56 appears to be when they start the time jump. They fade out the audio and make the music louder. At 12:05 you hear gasping, and you realize we are near the end of the astronauts’ oxygen. The program does a good job of letting you know that 2 hours have almost past in the story. You feel the moon rather than see the moon. Having to imagine it all puts you there more. It gives you more empathy to the characters.

Here Jad Abumrad explains his love of radio. More than that he talks about how radio connects you as the host to your audience. In some ways a radio show is like reading a book. The book has words describing sounds and you imagine them. With a good radio show they use the sound to paint the picture of what you should be seeing. like the footsteps on the moon. It is more than just a book on tape. A book on tape is still using words to describe sounds radio is more.

I couldn’t find the words to make a good segway into the next video. I love stories. They are magical, healing, teaching, warnings, sometimes living and breathing their own life. I love finding people that feel the same way. Stories are not a waste of time. There is a right place and right times for certain stories. I try to remember, when doing my projects for DS106, to ask myself “what is the story I want told here?”. Enjoy this last video clip.