Podcasts/vodcasts

Our latest assignment in my media class was to evaluate three different podcasts or vodcasts. The first one I chose was the vodcast from the Wild Classroom and the topic was the Rainforest. It began with creative music that was fun and entertaining so that it would catch your attention. The presentation was relatively interesting but goofy. The audio was clear, and the background noise was minimal, the video was fuzzy and distracting since it hurt my eyes to watch. The organization also needed work. Although their lesson plan was to start at the top zones of the Rainforest, they kept jumping from topic (an animal specie) to topic (a tree specie), there were no transitions to lead you into the topics -- it felt as if they were just talking about anything that came to mind.

Next, I listened to a podcast from Storynory and an original story called "Sadie's Broken Heart". The content was artistic and interesting. However, after some background information about the characters and before the beginning of the story, the presenter did an advertisement for AccuQuotes Life Insurance for families. This didn't help me get into story-mode, and actually I resented it. Besides the side note, there was no introductory music. It would have been nice as a signpost that the story was beginning and the advertisement was over. All in all, the presentation was well-paced and punctuated so that the speaker was clear and crisp, easy-to-follow. There were some long, awkward silences that should be edited out, but the audio was clean and without extraneous noises. The organization followed the standard for a story with a dilemma, climax, and happy ending.

The final one I chose to evaluate was the podcast from the Jodcast, an astronomy podcast from October of this year. The content demonstrated a full understanding of the topic because the speakers were knowledgeable and used supporting materials. Except for the introduction which had a man snoring and being awakened by loud noises and a distorted voice there was no music or sound effects. The presentation could go without their introduction because it was horrible. The voice which awoke the man was distorted (like Darth Vader) but it was so garbled I couldn't understand anything he was saying. I skipped over that part and prayed the rest of the podcast didn't include him. Thankfully it didn't, and the rest of the audio was clean and without extraneous noises. The technical part was clean as well, and the organization was straightforward and well-organized.