5.02 Preparing an item

2.1 Make sure devices work 

The first thing you do when making an item, is making sure your devices are working. Nothing is more annoying than being on site at a festival or at an interview and your recording devices are not working. So make sure your devices have enough battery life and that your SD-cards are not full. 

2.2 Prepare yourself 

This sounds straightforward but it is important. If you are going to interview somebody, make sure you have some questions prepared. Some questions will come to you when conducting the interview, but it helps to write down some questions beforehand. 

When you are making an item at a festival, ensure that you know what you want to make before recording your item. Anything can happen at a festival, so make a schedule before the festival starts. Who do you want to interview? Where do you conduct the interviews? What recording devices are you going to use. Ask these questions before the festival starts. 

2.3 What does an audio item need to contain? 

Audio items need to contain the following things: Description, Interview, Emotion and Sound Atmosphere/Scenes. 

Description 

This is especially important when you are making an report from a festival site. Describe what you see, what is happening, how is it happening, how does it smell, how does it feel? When making an audio item you need to take into account that the listeners can not see where you are and what you are doing. It is very important that they get what the situation is and so your description needs to be adequate. 

Interview 

Here are some basic interview tips: 

1. Ask  the 5 W’s + H: who, what, where, when, why and how! Process the who, what, where and when usually in your presentation text, which the podcast presenters tell. In the item, the answers to the why and how questions are most interesting. 

2. Create a good atmosphere by means of positive and interested attitude.  

3. Stay in control; you determine whether a question has been answered sufficiently and “steer” the interview.  

4. Listen carefully.  

5. Be on the lookout for unexpected answers and comments.  

6. Have patience; let someone think too.  

7. Use normal language; no difficult words or sentence constructions.  

8. Avoid discussions; ask more in the spirit of, “I heard that …” (indirect question)  

9. Summarize now and then (good for 2 checks: interviewee notices that is listened to and can still rectify certain things if they are not right are being displayed).  

10. Ask short and “targeted” questions, to which a clear answer can be given. Ask few “closed” questions: “Is the color of the grass blue or green?” or “Is the color of the grass green?” This usually does not promote the conversation.  

11. Don’t ask “open” questions in the form of: “What do you think of…”. You often loses control of the interview and the interviewee can tell a story of five minutes that is not interesting. This certainly applies to small subjects of 2 to 5 minutes.  

Emotion 

Emotions you can here, give your interview more depth. Emotions really add to a story. So when a interviewee is frustrated, use it in your item. When an interviewee is laughing use it in your item! More emotion makes it more enjoyable to listen to. 

Sound/Atmosphere 

• In an item about that the market on Vredenburg should become smaller, market noises in the background work well.  
• At a demonstration, protesters shouting gives good atmosphere  
• On a goat farm with an item about Q fever, bleating goats color the item.  
• At the premiere of a play or music performance, applause from the audience.  

• Look for a background noise that matches the item. When you  interview the boss of The Rotterdam Harbor don’t interview him at home, but at the harbor with accompanying sounds 

Scenes 

A so-called “scene from reality” can be part of a report. Such a scene is a short report without audible intervention from the reporter: you records what happened without asking questions.  

Examples: 

• Discussion between fans of Twenty One Pilots and The National.  
• An argument between festivalgoers about how to put up their tents.  
• Chat about the sunscreen factor at Sziget.  
• Etc.  

Recording scenes from reality takes time; be sure to consider beforehand what the possibilities are.