Do you have an idea for an audio documentary piece or podcast you’d like to produce? In this workshop, we’ll take your idea and put it through a variety of exercises that will help you find your main focus, craft your story effectively, plan your production, figure out your workflow, and solve the technical aspects in between. On top of that, throughout the weeks, we’ll be practicing the art of interviewing and narrating. So, think of it like a bootcamp for you to become an audio documentary producer.
Workshop Schedule
- Monday, May 11, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
- Monday, May 18, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
- Monday, May 25, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
- Monday, June 1, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Information and Requirements
- You should have at least one idea for a podcast before registering for the class. Expect that your idea may transform during workshop.
- The class is designed for documentary storytelling, not so much for talk shows.
- If you already have experience in documentary film making, this course might be redundant to you.
- Expect weekly homework (minimum 2hr)
- At the end of the 4 weeks, you will be presenting a short sound creation.
Class 1: FOUNDATIONS
- In-class hands-on exercises: finding your mission statement and target audience
- Theory: how to pitch, writing for audio
HOMEWORK: Complete mission statement and practice pitch
Class 2: CREATING A STORY
- In-class hands-on exercises: pitch your story, and how to use recording gear
- Theory: transcribing workflow, how to open a story, how to plan scenes
HOMEWORK: Prepare questions and schedule an interview
Class 3: THE ART OF INTERVIEWING AND NARRATING
- In-class hands-on exercises: interviewing the intimate
- Theory: preparing for an interview, preparing questions to an interview, narration
HOMEWORK: Record an interview
Class 4: SCRIPT EDITING + MUSIC AND SOUND EDITING
- In-class hands-on exercises: working with Adobe Audition CC, editing a sound snippet
- Theory: script editing methodology, how to use music in audio stories
Pascal Huynh first got into podcasting by having a topic he was passionate about. With the storytelling skills he learnt at film school, he created an 8-episode show Out of the Fog which aired on CKUT 90.3FM in 2016. Since then he had made an audio documentary piece produced by CBC and is currently working on a feature-length film documentary. He teaches animation at Concordia University, at Champlain College and at ESMA College where he enjoys designing courses in which students are engaged by hands-on learning and analysing.
