faithfully updating though still feverishly working

THE FIREHEAD CHATS WEEKLY UPDATE

• Printed off several release forms in order to record more audio for character and celebrity segments. Thinking about adding 3 more questions to round podcasts out.
• Heard about Lynda.com and plan to get the free trial to learn about WordPress.
• Added new info to the Sports episode - Congrats Andy Dalton! Terry Bradshaw's pick for best rookie quarterback.
• Worked more on layout of tri-fold board with input from director.
• Continued redhead recruitment and should meet with several redheads for audio recordings this week.
• Experimented with music in podcasts, still finalizing sound.

preparing for a modern day redhead roundup

Lack of time and stress has definitely started to catch up to me this week. I am, however, pushing through to the best of my ability, and I have some new tools on my side.

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS

• Started recruitment of redheads for round table discussion. Plan to continue into this week and book the conference room in the library.
• Purchased a digital audio recorder in order to get some sound bites around campus for character and celebrity segments of each podcast.
• Started adding music to the sports episode.
• Was granted permission by photographer to use photos of redheads for website summaries and tri-fold board.

Recording should continue this week, but I will also be working on the website portion of the project.

over 9000 (royalty free songs if you register and pay with your first born)

Instead of doing an entire podcast revolving around the history of redheads, which could have taken some serious time to research and obtain interviews for, the history podcast will now be a segment of each podcast that is a FUN FACT! kind of scenario.  I think the actors/actresses episode will now also be incorporated into the podcasts as a "guess the natural redhead celebrity" game. Hopefully this enhances the other three episode themes and makes the podcasts a fun, easy listen, not just a very cut-and-dry information + interview format.

I spent a lot of time this week working on finding royalty free music to use as intros to the podcasts, as well as general background and additional sound for episode segments. My days looked something like this--

Although it's not too terribly difficult to find royalty free music, or music under a creative commons license, a lot of music out there is not necessarily right for a podcast. You wouldn't play a song with lyrics loudly in the background of an interview, for example, and unlike This American Life, I don't have the rights to use Yann Tiersen's instrumental pieces whenever I please.

Classical music should be easier, but with the way copyright laws work, certain performances of the classical public domain pieces are copyrighted. Finding anything from Vivaldi (a redhead composer!) was practically impossible unless I wanted to add the song to my cart and pay an extravagant fee.

Meeting with my director helped me find some great royalty free music without cost. Hopefully, with just a bit more searching and some pure luck, I'll have everything I need to give my podcasts some life.

it is not something discovered, it is something molded

This week I mainly spent my time sending emails about permission to use music within my podcasts, as well as doing research for potential guests for upcoming episodes. While I was unable to accomplish much, I feel as if I learned a lot from this week. I took a moment to look back on what I have managed to finish so far, which helped me plan for what comes next.

I began to make decisions about what I can reasonably expect to complete come presentation time, and now will have to make adjustments. If I could focus 100 percent of my time on capstone, I think my original goals would be attainable, but unfortunately college doesn't function that way. Quantity does not make up for a lack of quality. I want to put my best effort into my project.

I am going to spend a few days regrouping, potentially changing 5 themes into 3 or 4. Sports, for example, had a great interview but not much extra information outside of football. I might be able to incorporate the sports information into a broader theme and expand some more. Or, I might scrap the idea of reaching out to actors and actresses, as it might take time away from contacting people who are more readily available.

I want to give myself time to really look into sound editing, and to give the podcasts the best look possible when uploading them to WordPress.

Time management has not always been my best friend, and if now is a time I can learn to adapt, then I'd like to do that and move forward. I think it was important for me to identify what I can reasonably handle. For the sake of redheads everywhere, I will continue to do my best!

gingers do have soles

The most exciting development for my capstone this week was conducting my very first interview. I brought my Blue Snowball microphone and laptop with me to meet Neal, the redhead football player, and recorded our conversation in the Academic Support Center. I remembered to bring a release form for Neal to sign, and he also agreed to meet up again if I need to rerecord any questions I had for him. It was a pleasant, relaxed interview session and I'm thankful to Neal for being so friendly and open to the project.

What I Learned:

• Group Study Rooms in the Library are now first come, first serve. This proved somewhat problematic, as Neal and I didn't have a quiet space to record. The background noise should be able to be removed in Audacity, but I hope to find a better environment for recording next time around.
• Redheads have softer skin on the soles of their feet. After asking Neal about the commonly accepted theory that redheads bruise and bleed more easily than those of other hair colors, Neal revealed to me that actually redheads blister more easily on their feet. I am constantly facing issues with the soles of my feet when other members of my family don't, but never connected the dots.
• Letting conversation flow naturally is a good way to go about podcast interviews. Although I came prepared with a series of questions to ask and an idea of how I hoped the interview would go, after the interview 'ended' I actually started to record once more because Neal and I had plenty more to say to one another. Being prepared, but also being casual and letting conversation go where it wanted made for a better environment overall. I'll remember that for next time.
  

Thinking about the ease of bringing my laptop and Blue Snowball microphone with me made me consider some options for interviews that I hadn't before. I'd now like to conduct a group meeting with a bunch of redheads for the beauty episode. Instead of finding one person at a time and asking a set number of questions, I believe it would be more fun to have a more full conversation about what it means to be a redhead in a world of "Do you like blondes or brunettes?" Because the project is about the shared experience of being a redhead, it's better to gather together!

Meeting with my capstone director this week was also incredibly helpful. I was able to discuss some of my concerns about my schedule, my final proposal, and how to put together my podcasts. I now have a better idea of how I should go about finding people to speak with for each episode theme, and feel more comfortable with taking the time I need to make sure this project brings out the best of my abilities as a communications student.