This is a great, emotional story that makes a local politics real for a listener anywhere. Unfortunately, it’s buried under some crummy production – with a few key fades and some more deliberate scene setting, this could be a story straight out of This American Life that could also fit great in any human interest, local politics, or government series.
Ben Mueller has encountered what a lot of young radio producers come up against early on when they have to record themselves. It’s clear in his writing that Mueller knows how to set a scene with his words – he’s descriptive and to the point. He just needs to catch up with his voice. His tracks need more variation – think Ira Glass, Jad Abumrad, and other great storytellers that use a range of intonation and speed, mixed with (or even interrupted by) other voices and scenes from the story. This will help the pacing, which starts slow and doesn’t take full advantage of the great overall storyline. Mixing up Mueller’s voice with others from Hamden/New Haven, combined with natural sound that plops the listener’s imagination right in the middle of the action (let us hear some typing or computer noise, bring me to the roadside by the fence and keep me there until we move on, or bring the listener inside the home, let them hear what the bat or gun sounds like when it’s picked up) and some more music throughout (instead of close to the end) will really bring this story to life. The script is creative and informative, but without some better tracks, great natural sound, and more gradual fades at the end of his actualities, (the crowd, roadside, and office scenes end too abruptly, for example) the effect is lost. Overall, a well-written story on a great topic with lots of potential.
Review of Good Fences Make Bad Neighbors
A.D. Quig
Posted on December 10, 2012 at 03:09 PM
This is a great, emotional story that makes a local politics real for a listener anywhere. Unfortunately, it’s buried under some crummy production – with a few key fades and some more deliberate scene setting, this could be a story straight out of This American Life that could also fit great in any human interest, local politics, or government series.
Ben Mueller has encountered what a lot of young radio producers come up against early on when they have to record themselves. It’s clear in his writing that Mueller knows how to set a scene with his words – he’s descriptive and to the point. He just needs to catch up with his voice. His tracks need more variation – think Ira Glass, Jad Abumrad, and other great storytellers that use a range of intonation and speed, mixed with (or even interrupted by) other voices and scenes from the story. This will help the pacing, which starts slow and doesn’t take full advantage of the great overall storyline. Mixing up Mueller’s voice with others from Hamden/New Haven, combined with natural sound that plops the listener’s imagination right in the middle of the action (let us hear some typing or computer noise, bring me to the roadside by the fence and keep me there until we move on, or bring the listener inside the home, let them hear what the bat or gun sounds like when it’s picked up) and some more music throughout (instead of close to the end) will really bring this story to life. The script is creative and informative, but without some better tracks, great natural sound, and more gradual fades at the end of his actualities, (the crowd, roadside, and office scenes end too abruptly, for example) the effect is lost. Overall, a well-written story on a great topic with lots of potential.