If you would ask me what my dream job is,I would say working as a news presenter at a recognizable television or radio station. But why news? Well, that's not what I want to discuss here. Here comes the irony though, when it comes to listening especially to documentaries, I have different interests.I'm not into political or news related ones and that's why I fetched for something that would make me want to listen till the end ,a catchy and an emotional story, something that I won't find whenever I switch to a news channel. That's why I chose to listen to This Can Go On Forever or as I would like to call it "The Reunion".
Documentary Title: This Can Go On Forever
Produced by: Shea Shackelford and Virginia Millington
Narrated by:Carol Broback and Joel (the whole story was told by the interviewees themselves)
The length of the documentary: 10:25 minutes
Taken from: Third Coast International Audio Festival
Have you seen the picture above? That's whom the documentary is all about. Joel is the baby boy whose mother has sent for adoption after giving birth. Carol, the mother, was only 19 when she discovered her pregnancy after her break up with her boyfriend. Carol however manages to see her son after eighteen years. I bet you would like to know how they found each other!
Now let me give a review on how I found the documentary production wise. Let me begin with a point that I think should have been otherwise. The story begins with the mother reading an e-mail that her son has sent her after he has done some research and investigation to know who his mother is, in the hope that she turns out to be the right person. That's a really good start for the interviewee but I believe it would have been better, if there was a narrator who introduces the story first, or just give a glimpse about what is going on and then leave us with the mother reading the e-mail. If I haven't read the text before listening to the documentary, I wouldn't have understood what was happening.At the same time, the idea of getting the mother start her story reading the e-mail out loud was a catchy and a good start to make listeners engaged. I was so curious to know what Joel will say after 18 years of not seeing his mother.
A very creative way of picking the nat sound was picking up the sound of the paper (printed e-mail) she is holding. When I heard the sound of the paper, I visualized a scene in my mind ; the mother holding the printed e-mail in her hands and reading from it. I noticed however, throughout most of the interview, a sound that seemed like an air conditioner was turned on. It wasn't very obvious but when you pay too much attention to the background sound you will hear it, especially if you have previously taken editing courses and have worked in that field before, which I did.
The overall audio quality was excellent, the tone of both speakers, Carol and Joel, was the same.The words and sentences were all clear. The audio level was apparently adjusted well. Also, the quality of their voices was excellent. The way Carol and Joel delivered their stories made it very interesting to listen to. Carol's way of delivery changed according to what she is saying, she was not acting, she was feeling every word. She would laugh at times at her bitter moments and cries and gets too emotional when she speaks about her reunion with her son. Joel would speak with a neutral way of delivery but would emphasize on certain words to reflect a surprise or excitement regarding a certain thing.
A very recognizable aspect of this documentary which made it very well produced and enjoyable to listen to was that it was produced in a conversational manner; the mother would talk, then the son would speak and then the mother again and the pattern continues. They don't talk about different points, the sentences each says complement and are like additional information or points to what the other is saying, as if both are sitting together adding up and chatting with each other.
There wasn't a segment for a narrator, the whole documentary was told by Carol and Joel but what is unique about this piece is the use of descriptive words that make you envision how things are. The son describes to his mother ,in the email, how he looks. He uses the words "I'm sixty feet tall, 145 pounds, blue eyes and brown hair". Other descriptive words of looks and places are used throughout the interview, an effective methodology used in audio production pieces.
The documentary was neither short nor long. It's length was good enough to give us all the information that we would like to know, starting from the reason Carol gave up her child up till the moment she met her son and the story ended strongly, with Carol's comment "I will never lose him again", leaving us with no questions.
The documentary is very interesting because it makes you wonder and think and make you want to listen to the whole thing without missing a point.Throughout the interview, I was thinking to myself "what will he do when he meets his mother", "how will she feel"," what's next".It is one of the best documentaries I have ever listened to.
The website was very easy to navigate. The link posted in the assignment guideline directed me to the list of documentaries and I easily got to choose what interested me. The documentary piece loaded very quickly as well.
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Producer Shea Shackelford taken from: Third Coast International Audio Festival |
"This Can Go On Forever won the Best Documentary: Bronze Award in the 2010 Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition."
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Producer Virginia Millington taken from: Third Coast International Audio Festival |
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