Smartless: Making People Smile
The Smartless podcast has been a favorite of mine for a while, it is something my mom and I listen to together and lets us bond over. They have had some of my favorite celebrities in episodes, such as John Mulaney, Will Ferrell, and Daniel Ricciardo. When I saw the assignment, I knew that this podcast would be a perfect media to analyze.
As much as I knew that this was what I wanted to analyze, I had a hard time starting. I did not know what angle to approach the podcast from in reference to the textbook. When I was rereading chapter two of the book, I remembered the concept, “Why are media important for individuals and society?” As soon as I saw that concept, I felt the podcast fit perfectly as it covers three out of five of the categories, diversion and entertainment, sharing knowledge, and mobilization and action.
I also had to figure out what episode to use as reference. Every episode is extremely funny and thought provoking, making it hard to pick one. And as much as I loved certain episodes because of how humorous they were, I knew they were not suited to the assignment. I had to scroll back a while to find the Joe Biden episode, but when I saw it, I knew it was the perfect fit. I had heard it when it first came out and remembered how great it was at balancing all the different aspects that makes media important.
When I approached making the video, I had to listen to the podcast three times through to make sure that I was confident in what was being said and what I could use in the assignment. I had dozens of sticky notes all over my desk that had random notes jotted down or key moments that went to support my thesis. As I noted key moments, I realized that the easiest way for me to integrate them into my video was to screen record them on my phone and play them as the select moment came for each clip to be heard.
However, that was not as easy as it sounded. I had to first get to the specific moment in the podcast, which was hard to scroll exactly to, then screen record the moment, go to my photos and edit the clip down to only the necessary content. There were a few takes where some of the videos were muted and I had to start over, and others where I would accidentally start another clip right after. There were many other scrapped recordings because of me fumbling over my words, saying the wrong thing, or forgetting to switch the slide.
This assignment was unlike any other that I have ever done, and I found myself enjoying it. I was able to engage with something I love and explore it on a level that I had not thought to.
View My Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqFH0QDhxwM
