RMIT Media Studio pods · Algorithms & How They Effect Gen Z – Henry Stuckey

Henry discusses how the viewing habits of Generation Z can be affected by algorithms on social media sights and how said algorithms can affect the narrative being viewed. Through the lens of past events on YouTube and Henry’s own viewing habits at the time, he attempts to unravel the potential harm that content bubbles create on a larger scale. But how does this happen and why is it important to understand how are viewing habits can be swayed by selective watching?

Production:

In the pre-production our group largely focused upon generating different concepts and ideas for individual stories. Some acting as personal anecdotes while others more in line with research focused topics. As production continued there was also the need to create a consistent identity within the work, not just with each story but to also other episodes. This section of the process also required scripting for intro’s to episodes and outro’s. This allowed for coherent through lines into each story without jumping into different topics of discussion.

Much of the recording sections were done at home on at hand microphones. I did my recordings in large chunks which created a large amount of dead air in the recordings. When removed it was almost a full minute of recording gone, just from editing. Sound quality and editing can make or breaks viewership in many instances.

The addition of music and sound effects into the podcast also play an important role. In many cases it’s best to match not only the music to the content your talking about but also to the voice speaking. The usage of sound effects helped to add some texture to keep the viewers attention, as simply listening to my voice could be boring.

Overall, I would say what I largely got out of this experience was an understanding of what goes into a podcast and the tools needed. I focus more in the visual areas of media but through removing that aspect to create a podcast really adjusted my skill set. Prompting me to work with not so familiar software and polish my work has allowed me to bring new skills to other projects. While also producing something I can say I’m proud of.

RMIT Media Studio pods · Action to Change? – Daniel Niva

Daniel explores the idea of social change across Gen Zoomers through his own story of having a unique voice. The road to social change is always considered to be a ‘slow change‘. But what happens you see no change over slow change. What is at the cause of this roadblock that Generation Z in Australia is pending to face. How are Gen Z’s voice being used? Are they being lost in the wind? Critical questions are asked about what Gen Z is doing towards sparking social change on social and political level.

– This episode went through the process of reflecting on my personal journey of using my voice and platform for social change. Writing the script for this episode was more of an introspective process, while reflecting on the issue at hand on social level. While anecdotal, the process of commentary on the society of my peers was required and felt much needed. Real clips were used from my experience in this episode to add to the personal story at hand, which helped in my efforts to give this episode a real personal touch. I created all the beats and personally worked on the sound effects throughout my stories episode. I aimed for a atmospheric and reflective sound for the listeners to enjoy the sonics at hand. Overall, the process of creating this episode was enjoyable and a great deal of expression for my journey so far. It was a great release to express my concerns through an anecdotal story and it helped put my concerns into perspective. I feel at ease in approaching the next step of my social journey via receiving this opportunity to create this episode. – Daniel

Boating Disasters explores the tenuous link between the prevalent phenomenon of existential dread amongst Generation Z and a humorous incident from Kyla’s family holiday.

The process of creating this story was a short and crazy whirlwind. Upon changing my story idea towards the end of semester, after everything we learned during the course altered my perspective on what a good piece of audio journalism should be, I redid my entire story. However, after listening to pieces by my classmates and revisiting the readings, I came to the realisation that personal stories could be combined with humour to create a far better piece than my original idea. After that, it was a rapid-fire process of writing, then recording, editing and adding texture until the final product was produced. Clearly, I got a lot out of this course and creating this podcast. There is an audible difference in my work from earlier in the semester, compared to my final product, and the process of storytelling, editing and recording is evident. I realised the necessity to back my own style and stick to authentic work, yet also listen to the opinions and ideas of others to cultivate something better than what I originally could have created.