The Fair
From: Jason Rayles
Length: 00:10:29
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Piece Description
Every fair is essentially two fairs: one sunny and bright, full of cuddly animals and babies; the other dark and ambiguously dangerous, more grown-up and aggressive. The subject is one we all know, yet it is one that we have mythologized into a (somewhat treacherous) fantasy world of oddballs, oddities, misfits, and shysters. We know what to expect at the fair; we are delighted when we find it. I recorded ambient sound from a county fair using binaural microphones, and over that I give an impressionistic litany of the things I saw at the fair. We encounter farm animals, kiddie rides, easy games, The Museum of World Oddities, a baby contest, a pig race, a demolition derby, fireworks, scary rides, and more. This piece originally showed up on the internet as part of a Flash animation. It is a finalist for best story at flash forward NYC.
Featured on Transom.org. For more information and conversation, visit The Fair on Transom.
4 Comments
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Review of The FairThe mix of this is a lot different than most pieces, but even with my hard-of-hearing ears, I was able to pick out the main voice. I think it is this mix that makes this piece work very well. I drifted between hearing the V/O and the backgrounds, and the V/O became almost part of the background, as I got into the fair, substituting the essayist's fair for the ones I remember as a child. Fairs populate my memory with many pleasant thoughts, from my friends vomiting after too much cotton candy and too many twirls on the Round-Up, or my older cousin telling me how she'll probably be an alcoholic when gets older because she snuck a beer from the Beer Garden and really liked it. "The Fair" is perfect for the fair season, coming up in a couple of months. There are no shows that shouldn't run it, provided they have the time. |
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Review of The FairA lovely piece, available in numerous formats. Each one can be considered in its own right, but each has its own particular strengths. Regardless of the medium (audio or A/V) the producer's narration is a wonder. Maybe stations can make a deal: use the audio version to knock out tiresome stretches in WESAT or WESUN and mention that listeners can catch the A/V at http:www.wxyz.org |
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Justin Grotelueschen
Posted on July 11, 2004 at 03:33 PM | Permalink
Review of The Fair
I love this piece. I think the disaffected narration is the highlight -- the tone of voice is calm and drowsy, but the fairgrounds provide plenty of opportunity for interesting nat.sound to keep the piece rolling. The world needs more radio like this.