This is my test recording. I used my phone to record, a tripod for stabilizing and a mix of natural light and artificial light.
Information on Equipment
For filming, I am going to use my phone. I’m using my phone because while I would have liked to use a video camera but my computer doesn’t have a space for a memory card insert and I don’t have an adaptor. It also helps that I’m familiar with my phone’s camera whereas I would have had to learn how to use the video camera. For my stabilizer, I’m using a simple phone tripod. My lighting is a mix of natural and artificial light. I put my tripod up by a window, but I also have a clip on ring-light to keep the lighting as consistent as possible. I chose the lighting mix because I prefer the way natural light looks but I know that the lighting levels won’t stay the same throughout the process if I rely solely on natural light.
Information on My Shot List
For my video, I plan to use a mix of videos of me talking and some B-Reel of footage of student. Using a mixture of these clips will format my video similar to a video essay. I think that if I filled my video of just me talking, it would bore viewers, but if my footage was all videos of students with my voice over top, that would make viewers feel unconnected to the content. Hopefully, I will be able to find the perfect mix of clips that doesn’t bore viewers but also doesn’t make the video feel like a podcast with stock footage. The main type of shots I want to get are students working, whether that be together or independently, the video’s topic is how getting involved effects students grades so I want to show the students studying or being academic. In addition, I will add students engaging in student involvement for the topic of finding a support network, because that part makes less sense to show students studying.
I am going to use my phone to shoot the video. I will use a tripod in some scenes. I will help with the shots that don’t have much movement to keep it steady. I plan on using the natural lighting of the room or place I will be filming in. If the lighting in the room does not look good in the video I will look into other sources of lighting, but the places I will be filming it is easier to use the light already in the rooms and that comes in from windows in the rooms.
What & Why
I am going to be filming various crochet coaster pieces and my hands crocheting and the yarn isle at Micheal’s. I think this fits with my podcast topic as I am talking about the coasters that I am making to give to my siblings for Christmas, so it fits ti show the completed product and the process of making one.
To record this audio I used the app simple recorder. It was very simple to use because it is an app through apple. I was able to edit it on the app as well so I didn’t need to use any other source. I used AI to help with my outline and speaking notes for this project.
Media
I used a song called Discipline from the website Artist. This site was easy to use and copy right free. Another site i used to help me and gave me tips on how to produce a good recording was this website called 9 tips for improving audio quality of recoding.
Hi, this Jenny and I’m here with Faith from New Beginnings and we’re going talk about homelessness in Culpeper. Faith. What can you tell me about homelessness in Culpeper? homelessness, in Culpeper is definitely a bigger problem than what people realize. There are many individuals that are chronic have homeless for five, 10, 15 years, and then there’s a large population of people recently, experiencing homelessness due to the job economy. The housing market, not being able to find affordable housing and availability or becoming evicted because they’re unable to Maintain their rent. What is? A housing. So, affordable housing is supposed to be housing that does not exceed about 33% of your monthly income. However, most housing in this area for low income, for one bedroom apartment runs. Starting at about 1100 dollars, and for someone that may be like on disability, that’s only making about 900 dollars a month. They don’t even make enough to make the payment. Let alone only a third that. So do you think Affordable housing will help the homeless population. Think affordable housing will help the homeless population if actually becomes affordable if they base it more on a sliding scale based the individual individuals income rather than on percentages of the national average or the regional average. And the actual population of this area is right. Well, thank you, faith. For enlightening us on homelessness. You’re welcome.
The Podcast Process…
I have never created a Podcast, and quite honestly, I never thought that I would. I found that the Soundtrap website was the easiest to used. After watching the “how to” videos it was very easy to navigate through and manipulate your recording to have them the way you want them. I did my original recording on my iPhone. I am not “tech savy” so using my phone was the easiest way for me to be albe to record audio files and send them to myself for editing. The only time I used AI was for the image that was included. In all honesty, I think that I enjoyed this project the most of all that we have done so far.
Attributions
David Roberts for his outreach and misinterial message that he gives to the homeless in our town.
Faith Smith from New Beginnings Outreach for her continuing support and for all that she does for the community.
Picture drawn by Coni Vigna. This work is licensed under CC BY-SA
Podcast
The Process
I started the process of making my podcast by outlining and scripting it. I outlined it by myself and then used Microsoft’s CoPilot to turn the outline into a scrift. I tweaked the script once it was generated to make it more applicable to my format. To record, I used my phone’s microphone and the voice memos app. To edit the podcast, I used Adobe Audition, which I had never used before but I caught on very quickly because it is very similar to Adobe Premiere Pro which I have used in years past.
Hello, Listener. Welcome to Coni 101. This episode is all about the benefits of getting involved at school. Have you ever wondered why some students seem to excel in both academics and extracurriculars? This is because getting involved at school leads to better grades.
Extracurricular activities have students develop essential skills that lead them to success inside and outside of the classroom. Skills such as leadership, time management, and teamwork are taught in classes, but the full extent of them can’t be understood until they are applied in the real world. For example, students will learn a little bit about teamwork in a group project, but they won’t understand the full extent of it because at the end of the day they just want the best grade they can get. Working towards a common goal, making mistakes, and learning from them is really how students can learn teamwork.
While in extracurricular activity, students can also build a support network. When a student spends a lot of time with a specific club or job, they build relationships with other students and staff. Alexander Astin said, the student is spending time on the campus, thus increasing the likelihood that he or she will come into contact with other students, professors, and college staff.
This takes us to our last point, personal growth and confidence. When coming to college, it is a lot of students’ first time being independent and managing their life. In Nancy Schlossberg’s Marginality and Mattering, she cites a study by Morris Rosenberg who says, quote, mattering is a motive. The feeling that others depend on us, are interested in us, are concerned with our fate, or experience us as an ego extension exercises a power influence on our actions, end quote.
In conclusion, it is important for students to get involved because it teaches them new skills, it fosters a strong support network, and it leads to personal confidence inside and outside the classroom.
For more information on what I’ve discussed, you can check out my sources. Alexander Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement, Nancy Schlossberg’s Marginality and Mattering, and Morris Rosenberg’s Mattering.
So, if you want to boost your grades, consider joining a club, job, or sports team at your school. It might just be the key to your success.
Hey, y'all and welcome to my podcast about making crochet coasters. So, overall break, I was with my mom and Michael's, and I ended up getting cotton yarn to make coasters. And I realized they are very easy to make the design I'm doing takes about an hour to make one. So, I wanted to make some for my siblings as a gift. They are an easy gift to make. And well we are all starting to collect knick-knacks and home items for apartments, dorm rooms, or just for when we're living on our own. You need to use cotton yarn because cotton yarn is more heat resistant then acrylic or polyester and I'm using the design called Sunrise coaster, design that found on the internet. It looks kind of like flower, so don't know if I'm gonna give that to my brother yet, but it's what I'm using right now. Each sibling is going to get a set of four and they're going be different colors. I have five different colors of multicolored yarn and I'm going to make all the sets and then figure out which sibling I want to give it to. I might make a holder for The Coasters I made or just give them to them in a bag, we'll see how it goes. Thanks for listening to my podcast about coasters. And hope you enjoyed it.
To record this audio project in my room and will be using my iPhone to record it. I will be using the app “voice memo” on my iPhone. For sounds I will include a recording of what it sounds like in the gym while my team lifting and I will also include a sound of what practice sounds like for my lacrosse team. I plan to use my phone to record this audio cover. I plan to use the app “voice memo” on my iPhone because it is simple and easy to do voice recording on the app. I have also used voice memo on my phone for previous recordings, so I am familiar with how it works.
Topic and AI Use
Explanation of topic: the topic I chose is sports at Mary Washington. This is something i am very interested in because I play lacrosse at Mary Washington. Most of my friends also play a sport at Mary Washington, so I am very informed about this topic. I used AI to help create my outline for this audio. It helped me break down my audio into detailed groups which will help me organize my content.
I would like to do a short interview/ have a conversation about homelessness and lack of affordable housing within our community. The goal of my project would be to inform people about the homeless and that it isn’t always for reasons that you would think. I know this is a topic that has been discussed before but there is always so much more to it.
For my audio project I will be recording with my iPhone 14. I am going to be recording outside. There will be the sounds of nature and possible traffic in the background. I believe that the background noise will be minimal.
Here is a snippet of the quality of the recording
Tentative Outline
0-20 seconds –Topic introduction of the podcast, myself, and the guest speaker
20-40 seconds – Background on affordable housing and homelessness in Culpeper
40-60 seconds – What are the main factors of homelessness in Culpeper?
60 – 80 seconds – What is affordable housing?
80-100 seconds – How would affordable housing help our homeless population?
100 – 120 seconds – Conclusion of the conversation, thanking the speaker and signing off
I chose to do a podcast where I talk about making crochet coasters. The coasters are going to be a Christmas gift for my siblings and the podcast will talk about how I thought of the idea and making them.
Introduction (20 seconds) Greeting: Welcome listeners to the podcast. (Sound effect: rustling yarn) Topic Introduction: Briefly introduce the topic of crocheting coasters. Why am I doing This (40 seconds) Idea: Fall break w/mom got yarn for coasters. Gift: After realizing how easy they are to make, I wanted to make them as gifts for siblings. (Sound effect: light tapping of crochet hooks) Why: Easy gift, they are starting to collect things for apartments. (Sound effect: snipping scissors) Process (20 seconds) Yarn: Have to use cotton. Design: Sunrise coaster design from the internet, might make another. Number: Each sibling will get a set. (Sound effect: soft background music) Finishing (30 seconds) Color: Have 5 different multicolor yarns, have to decide which sibling gets which. Wrapping: I could make a coaster holder or make a holder out of something else. (Sound effect: snipping scissors) Customization: Each sibling will get different colors, maybe different holder designs. Conclusion (10 seconds) Sign-off: Thank listeners and mention the next episode’s topic. (Sound effect: gentle chime)
I did use AI to help give me my script. I figured out the topic that I wanted to talk about and asked it for a script. I changed most of the script to better fit what I wanted to talk about but left the structure mostly the same.
For the podcast, I am going to be discussing why getting involved in school extracurriculars improves your grades. It will just be me talking, and I am going to record using my phone’s microphone and I will be reserving a study room in the library to record. I’m not exactly sure what my sound effects will be, but I was thinking the hustle and bustle in the CRUC could be cool.
My Rough Script:
Introduction (0-10 seconds)
Opening Hook: “Ever wondered why some students seem to excel in both academics and extracurriculars?”
Thesis Statement: Getting involved at school leads to better grades, let’s explore how!
Background (10-20)
For context, Alexander Astin describes student involvement as “the amount of physical and psychological energy that the student devotes to the academic experience.” That will be the definition I’m using when referring to student involvement
Point 1: Skill Development (20-50 seconds)
Explanation: Extracurricular activities help students develop essential skills like leadership, teamwork, time management, and problem-solving.
Evidence: Skills such as leadership, time management, and teamwork are taught in classes but the full extent of them can’t be understood until they are applied in the real world. For example, students will learn a little bit about teamwork in a group project, but they won’t understand the full extent of it because at the end of the day they just want the best grade they can get. A tea working towards a common goal, making mistakes and learning from them is really how student can learn teamwork.
Personal Anecdote: It also allows them to learn skills such as Canva or Microsoft Word from other students when classes don’t normally go over these applications. When I started working at SAE, I was working with a girl named Sky. Sky and I were tasked to make a post for the Instagram, letting people know that UMW’ club carnival had been moved inside. I saw Sky holding down the shift button while grouping objects that she wanted to move together. I had no idea this was a thing, and for years had been frustrated by the clicking and dragging method that would almost always pick up something that I didn’t want to be moved. Had I not worked with Sky on those posts, I never would have learned this much easier method.
Point 2: Building a Support Network (50-80 seconds)
Explanation: When a student spends a lot of time with a specific club or job, they build relationships with other students and staff
Evidence: Alexander Astin said “The student is spending time on the campus, thus increasing the likelihood that he or she will come into contact with other students, professors, and college staff… Retention suffers, however, if the student works off campus at a full-time job. Because the student is spending considerable time and energy on nonacademic activities that are usually unrelated to student life, full-time work off campus decreases the time and energy that the student can devote to studies and other campus activities.
This takes us to out last point:
Personal growth and confidence (80-100 seconds)
Explanation: When coming to college, it is a lot of student’s first time being independent and managing their life. Confidence is crucial for a student’s success, and they gain it through those newfound skills and support network.
Evidence: In Nancy Schlossberg’s “Marginality and Mattering” she cites a study by Morris Rosenberg, who says ‘mattering is a motive: the feeling that others depend on us, are interested in us, are concerned with our fate, or experience us as an ego-extension exercises a powerful influence on our actions’ This leads to students caring about their academics and work. Students who feel they matter are less likely to act out and ruin what they have worked for.
Conclusion (100-120 seconds)
Summary: It is important for students to get involved because it teaches them new skills, it fosters a strong support network, and it leads to personal confidence inside and outside of the classroom
For more information on what I’ve discussed you can check out my sources: Alexander Astin’s Theory of Student Involvement, Nancy Schlossberg’s Marginality and Mattering, and Morris Rosenberg’s Mattering: Inferred Significance to Parents and Mental Health Among Adolescents.
So, if you want to boost your grades, consider joining a club, job, or sports team at your school. It might just be the key to your success.
My Audio Recording
Reflection
This topic is about how getting involved at school improves your academic success. I found this topic interesting because one would think that the more involved you get, the less time you have to focus on school. However, I have learned from personal experience in high school and college that my grades improve when I get more involved. I just used the microphone on my phone for my test recording and then used my AirPods to listen to the recording. I used Copilot to help me format the script. I needed some assistance because the way I was formatting the script was turning it into an essay. Copilot helped me with the timing and breaking up the ideas.
