SYLLABUS

(Such as it is...)

TURN YOUR RADIO & HIDE: AUDIO STORYTELLING & MULTIMEDIA COMPOSITION (AKA WORRY 101):

SHORT COURSE DESCRIPTION: Worry is suspense. And every story needs it. The course focuses on building apprehension, on urgency and discomfort, on hooking listeners by making them worry. Students will listen/respond to several vintage radio dramas and modern fictional podcasts and write/produce a handful of sonic stories/ear movies.

LONG COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Radio has two great strengths: the first is the mind's innate obedience, its willingness to try to see whatever someone suggests it see, no matter how absurd; the second is that fear, or suspense, or awe, are emotions that knock our adult pins from beneath us, often leaving even the most uninventive person with a suddenly activated imagination, a kid groping in the dark for a light switch. We'll talk about suspense. About how sound triggers terror more acutely than any other sense. How we're evolutionarily disposed to jump at noise before light. We'll talk about the closed door. How what’s behind it scratching (or at the top of the stairs creaking), is never as scary as the scratching and creaking itself. We'll talk about serialized storytelling and cliffhangers, about getting under the listener's skin and sustaining apprehension after the last word, about guaranteeing a listener will tune in for the next installment. We'll go cosmic. Microscopic. We'll travel to the top of Mount Everest, to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. We'll suck wet dog food out of cans with vacuum cleaner hoses and drop empty glasses into big buckets of yogurt. We'll punch slabs of meat. We'll filter voices for underwater or outer space conversations and we'll mix together sounds to create the yawp of a made-up monster. We'll talk with podcast writers and producers like Earthbreak's Will Rogers, Black Books' Paul Bae, and Clay McLeod Chapman. We'll let songs inspire stories. We'll watch David Bowie and Mick Jagger dance in the streets with no sound. We'll listen to classic radio drama like War of the Worlds and Sorry, Wrong Number and modern podcasts like The Truth and Limetown. We'll talk about radio auteurs like Orson Welles and his notorious Jersey-centric broadcast/hoax; about Lucille Fletcher, who knew that audio drama wasn’t simply sound effects, but a psychic space in the brain, a landscape of the unknown. And, finally, but most importantly, we'll write and produce our own sonic stories and ear movies.

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BREAKDOWN:

WRITING: A series of in-class creative writing and storytelling exercises, as well as two recorded projects, a sonic story and an ear movie.

PRODUCTION: Students will be assigned a range of sonic exercises and production prompts throughout the term. Students will produce/post two fictional podcasts (a "sonic story" and an "ear movie;" the ear movie will be accompanied by a slideshow of still images). 
 
BLOG: A relevant essay/article, podcast, or video (or combination of all three) will be regularly assigned and posted on the class blog. Students MUST post reactions (minimum 250 words) to the assigned reading/listening/viewing. Students are encouraged to additionally respond to other student reactions.
 
VISITS/PERFORMANCES: The term will be punctuated by a series of virtual visits by relevant industry professionals, as well as performances of classic radio dramas by the audio theater troupe Raconteur Radio. Guests are likely to include Earthbreak's Will Rogers, Black Book's Paul Bae, Tales From Beyond the Pale's Clay McLeod Chapman, The Message's Mac Rogers, and Serial Box's Marco Palmieri. Live performances are likely to include The Hitchhiker and Sorry, Wrong #.

INSIDE THE WRITERS HOUSE: Candid conversations with acclaimed authors. There are twelve to twenty sessions a semester. Two sessions will be scheduled during our regular class period. Any additional attendance beyond these two sessions will serve as extra credit. Calendar linked here.

LISTENING: Students will listen to a variety of professionally produced (and student-created) podcasts during/outside class. Professional podcasts are likely to include a few of the following: Welcome to Night Vale, Tanis, Lore, Limetown, Serial, Snap Judgement, The Moth, The Truth, The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Bernie's Bontanarium, Homecoming, Black Tapes, Alice Isn't Dead, and Orbiting Human Circus.

VIEWING: Students will also watch Chris Marker’s science fiction featurette La Jetée, constructed almost entirely from still photos, in preparation for the final ear movie/video project. 

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COURSEWORK:

ONE Sonic Story: 5 - 10 min; prioritizes narration (w. music/sound effects); think audio book; sound effects illustrate the narrative. To be listened to and discussed during class.

ONE Ear Movie: 5 – 10 min; prioritizes dialogue (w. music/sound effects); think radio drama; the sound effects propel the story. The Ear Movie is to be accompanied by still photos/art illustrating or enriching the work without undermining its integrity as an audio narrative. To be viewed/discussed during class.

FIVE - blog posts: 250 word response

NUMEROUS in-class writing prompts: with responses ranging from a paragraph to a page; responses are to be casually shared in class NOT formally submitted.

NUMEROUS production prompts: ranging from 15 seconds to 2 minutes. 

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IMPORTANT SUBMISSION DATES:


FULLY PRODUCED SONIC STORY due – Weds. March 20


FULLY PRODUCED EAR MOVIE due – Weds. April 17


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SAS CORE GOALS:


This course addresses the following SAS Common Core Curriculum Goals:

AH r: “Students will engage critically in the process of creative expression.”

ITR y: “Employ current technologies to access information, to conduct research, and to
communicate findings.”

Note: This class operates as a “Mac shop” - meaning that the programs and equipment that will be covered will be Apple brand. The skills that are obtained in the course are transferrable to a PC environment. All of the equipment for the course will be provided through Writers House and the Plangere Culture Lab.


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