Category: Student Posts

In this podcast episode where I was the assistant producer, we focused on the game Tetris. In this episode, the producer, Rachel, and I divided the tasks in two ways. First off, we both played Tetris individually and compared our experiences to one another to get a glimpse of what we would talk about in our podcast discussion. Then we made a script that addressed the topics in our description of the podcast, and then split up the script evenly to discuss.

In this episode, we focused a lot on probing. We realized that there was a lot of people that were noting probing and how it was a useful technique in the game, so we analyzed the game to see if it related to out game as well. In fact, we noticed that Tetris was a game of probing all around and therefore we analyzed it. This was very effective for us because it not only enhanced and related strongly to the mentioning of probing the previous episodes, but it also strongly enhanced the purpose of the podcast as a whole. It allowed us to break down a simple game like Tetris into something that is perhaps overlooked while playing the game which is probing. In addition to making sure that we were enhancing and following the objective of the podcast as a whole, we also tried to discuss why the game is so addicting. I mean, Tetris revolves around placing a bunch of different pieces that have different shapes to match up and align before it gets to the top. Although it sounds so simple, its so addicting and intellectually complex. In fact, there is even worldwide competitions for the game. So, in this podcast we dove into how Tetris produced an addicting phase within the brain where it is intellectually stimulating. There wasn’t many challenges in reaching these outcomes and goals that we had for this podcast, but in the beginning it was a little challenging. It was a little difficult to think deeply about Tetris and how we can possibly analyze such a simple game, but after playing the game a few times and discussing the strategies, we were able to effectively think deeper about the game and the techniques required to be successful at it.

For this podcast episode, while there all of the learning outcomes for the course were touched on, there were two learning outcomes that were really utilized in this episode. One of the learning outcomes that was really touched upon was collaboration. This episode, there was a little road block because I caught coronavirus (unfortunately). However, I could not leave my peer (Producer Rachel) hanging so I had to tough it out. When I first got sick, Rachel produced most of the script. But then after rehearsing it, we realized that it was not enough time. So, I had to jump in and we collaborated on the topics and ideas we can add so that it can extend the time. Adding on to this, another learning outcome that was greatly touched upon during the creation of this podcast episode was writing as a process. Like previously mentioned, it was a bit of a struggle to write and discuss for Tetris. It was an easy game that we both had access to which made it ideal, but the simplicity and commonality of it made it hard to discuss. But like the title said… it’s a process. We had to play the game multiple times, edit and take out things that did not completely make sense, plan, plan some more, and make sure we relating to the description of the podcast. It did not come easy, but good writing that has substance did not come easy, and this podcast episode really taught me that and allowed me to endeavor into it. I can use these skills for future writing projects in several ways. One way is that I can not give up. We could have easily given up in the beginning when we thought that we were not going to be able to produce creative discussion around it, but we stuck out with it. And we were able to have pretty good outcomes of it. Another way is brainstorming. Usually, when I write I do not thoroughly plan things out and sometimes that can cause my writing to not be as sophisticated. However, Rachel started a planning document and it really helped us remain focused and narrowed down our writing, which was super beneficial and I feel like it will also help with the concision and depth in my future writing

For this Podcast I was the assistant producer, Greg Lawrence was the lead producer and Michael Mariam was the line producer. Greg and I began the process of creating the podcast by conversing about the games we have played. When he suggested The Last of Us I was immediately intrigued, having loved the story after watching walkthroughs of the game some years ago. I decided to play the game myself for a few hours to refresh my memory and to better understand the game mechanics. Our meeting with Dr. Morgen steered us away from focusing on simply the plot of the game, and got us thinking about the relationships and analysis of the characters, which we decided would become the main goal of the podcast. Along with this, we set goals of relating the story of The Last of Us with that of the Covid-19 situation currently unfolding.

Because we weren’t able to meet in person, Greg and I recorded the podcast through a zoom call. We structured the podcast in a similar way as the first podcast I led about Minecraft: we had a scripted introduction and conclusion as a solid base to work from, but the middle was more our freehand discussions about our primary goals. We spoke extensively about Joel’s character and how he showed clear sociopathic signs. Similar to serial killer Gary Ridgway’s relationship with his wife, which I learned about in my Psych 111 class, Joel could only feel emotions for Ellie, and anyone else he could brutally murder without thinking twice. We mainly used the game’s ending to describe this effect, where Joel essentially dooms the world for his own selfish desires for holding onto Ellie. We also discussed Ellie’s good-heartedness and relative helplessness on her own, which causes her to retain her relationship with Joel throughout the game, even though Joel betrays her without her knowing. Lastly, we discussed how the current Pandemic, while clearly not as severe as the one in the world of The Last of Us, served as a cautionary tale if we don’t take future viruses seriously, that post-apocalyptic world could become our own.

Our podcast was created using multiple modes of english, including written for our scripted paragraphs, aural for our analytical discussions, and digital in which we utilized a video call to communicate across the country to create this podcast. We managed to summarize the important parts of our game efficiently and analyze the character’s actions for our audience. I also managed to collaborate with my partner to create an informative discussion on our game. The Last of Us podcast improved my rhetorical, critical thinking, and collaborative skills in a way that resulted in a strong outcome.

I have played Portal a couple years ago in my high school when one of my high school dorm parents was generous enough to lend us his Xbox and game CDs. I’m glad George decided to do an episode on this game, because I had fun playing it with my friend for a while. I’m not an expert on the game compare to George, and to be honest, I got a little bit, just a little bit frustrated when I was playing a trial with him to gather information for our podcast seeing him pop out ideas almost instantly after seeing the set of the “maze”, and took me a while to even figure out that this machine cause you to lose this and that, and that block or sphere can do magical things such as this and that. But we soon realized that it’s totally a valid point we could talk about in our podcast when an experienced gamer and a newbie plays cooperate toward the goal, and also a healthy competitive mind set between teammates even we are aiming for the same goal. It is different from my podcast, as we came up with ideas while we are recording for the podcast, instead of having everything planed out, which is a little harder for me, as I do not express arguments very well in English without having them planned out in my head. As a result, there were a ton of repeats and unnecessary conversations that George had to edit out that it was too much for him to edit. So, we gathered some of the valid points and arguments and decided to record again. Now that’s not how we planned to reach our goal, but even it took longer than expected, I personally like it better than mine with everything planned out but just a little improvisation. The biggest technical difficulty might be the sound quality in the recordings, which there’s nothing we could do about it. Overall I felt more confident co-producing for the second time, and thus enjoy the process more. This was definitely a brand experience to record materials through zoom and seeing it being edited into a coherent podcast episode.

Detroit: Become Human is one of my favorite games, it not only has those amazing art design, twisted plots, but also a reflect on a current social question. Not that I realized the deeper meaning behind the game when I was playing it, I was pretty much drawn in the stories and pictures that the game presents, at most I was thinking “wow this is deep!” the few minutes after I finished the game, without knowing what’s deep about it. That made me wanted to make a podcast on it: to stand from a different angle and look at the game objectively. I started off thinking I have to try so hard to come up with a topic that I have to bluff about for ten minutes. And I discussed with David about some of the ideas I have, and soon I realized the harder part was to pick from what I have and how I can confine those into a ten-minute limit. I met with the assistance producer, Jessica twice and finished up a rough draft of what we were going to talk about in this episode. I outlined the main points I wanted to hit, and she was contributing some analysis of the ideas and examples. She came up the brilliant thought that we could interviewing how would a player (George) response in certain situations as we were provided during the game. I thought it turned out great as our audiences would probably pondering the same questions we raise and potentially be more familiar with the game if not already. We did meet technical difficulties; the one button studio would not work for us. We were trying for like an hour to record and run out of the studio to see whether anything was recorded on my USB, and then borrowing another USB from the library and tested it for multiple times. Luckily the media library was still open during weekends and we ended up getting a microphone and we used that to record. The sound quality turned out surprisingly well. The editing after we have finished recording was a lot of fun for me. I am a music major and I enjoy scrolling through the potential background music so much. I actually usually sit there and play random songs and music videos for hours without realizing it. This is something that I have never done in my life, to choose my back soundtrack to fit the bumper and the point I’m talking about. Adjusting the volume and sound effect depending on whether we are going to move to another topic or at the beginning and ending of the episode was also a new experience. I spent around almost four hours cutting out unnecessary conversations, edit the music, and put everything together. I usually get distracted real quick, but I was a hundred percent focused when I was doing the editing, figuring out Audacity. For example, I found out that I cannot edit the sound effect while I’m just pausing, I have to completely stop playing the excerpt in order to edit. I did not find it tedious or tiring. Side note, I didn’t dislike my voice, although I could tell I had accent when I was listening to it again.