Honestly, I think we did a commendable job for our podcast episode Mein Kampf in Quarantine: Secret Hitler. According to me, It was the perfect amalgamation of our opinions. Eventually, we managed to be on the same page almost always in spite of having met each other only through Zoom.
We decided mutually to assume equal roles since none of us had experience making a podcast, rather none of us had listened to many. To decide the game to analyse for the podcast, each of us suggested a game and played it together. At the end of a fruitful discussion about our experience playing the respective games, we mutually decided to base the podcast on Secret Hitler. We were completely new to this medium of communication. Thus, the previously released episodes gave us a rough outline of how to proceed with it- what to do, what not to do. Picking up from our classmates’ episodes, we refrained from adding much background music to avoid overshadowing the main speaker’s voice. We took inspiration from them to carefully structure our content.
Our primary goal was to make optimum use of those ten minutes given to deliver the content and do justice to the game. Initially, we recorded the first take unscripted. Listening to it, we weren’t really satisfied because of the constant repetition of thoughts. So, to make it worthwhile for the listener, we formulated a script with rough outlines. We spent a lot of time editing and re-editing it. After that, it just took us two takes to get that right.
The biggest challenge was getting the audio right. Internet connectivity fluctuations and microphone issues made it difficult to work with. To overcome it, while editing the recording, we inserted re-recorded audio snippets wherever necessary. I think we would have been better off if we had at least one discussion in the same room. Zoom only serves as a medium to bounce off ideas. One cannot gauge the temperature of the room (how the teammates feel about a particular suggestion). Two days before the deadline, we thought of recording a background music by prompting ‘Heil Hitler’. It would have been fun but we weren’t able to accomplish it because of time and technological constraints.
Podcasts need to be conversational unlike traditional essays. They should seem natural because nobody as a listener would like to hear an essay being read out. We struggled making it natural because sometimes we would just sway away from the topic. So, it was challenging to have the perfect balance. In an essay, you only need to be concerned about whether a reader can comprehend it. While collaborating, I realised that I could have played a better role in regulating the discussion. We used to get distracted so many times.
All in all, podcasts are an experimental mode of media with no bounds. I look forward to working more around it.
Mudita Jain ENG 101 