Playing with Tears (Re-Edit)

Playing with Tears (Re-Edit) from Sorenna Brown on Vimeo.

Orange Is the New Black

            Orange Is the New Black is an American comedy-drama series created by Jenji Kohan. The first episodes aired on July 11, 2013 on Netflix. This is a show about a girl names Piper Chapman and her struggles with going to jail. As the audience, you start out not knowing why Piper is going to jail, but as the episode progresses you learn about her past and why she decided to turn herself into jail for a year. Piper Chapman went through a phase after college where she dabbled with smuggling drugs while dating another women named Alex Devas. This backstory is the reason that she went to jail, and as it happens Alex Devas is in the same jail as her.

            As a white women raised by a religious proper family (like Piper Chapman was) there are a certain set of expectations. Some of which include, getting married to a man (not being lesbian – which she was), finding a good career (which she doesn’t have), not participating in illegal activity (which she did when she smuggled drugs), and lastly don’t end up in jail! All which Piper failed to do the right/expected thing.

            As Piper Chapman comes from a religious family, being a lesbian is the last thing that should be okay. Her family didn’t approve when she told them about her lesbian phase – because she “should have” just been interested in men. As for going to jail, that is not what a “stereotypical white woman” should be doing with her life.

As I watched, I noticed that a majority of the women in jail were “black” or of African American decent. It’s horrible to say, but it was almost as if I wasn’t shocked to see that that race was the majority in the jail. It just goes to show that  many ideas as Americans are put into our heads, that are usual not true, and that we are just judging people based on their race or gender. The entire show challenges what a white woman is supposed to do with her life, and it’s very entertaining to get a fresh new perspective on the matter. In

            Watching the first episode wasn’t enough for me, I continued watching the season, and in one night I got to episode 6. That’s a lot of television to watch considering each episode is an hour long. But I found this show very refreshing and not just something like your typical sexualized vampire slayer show.

Radiolab Presents: TJ & Dave

            The radio program that I chose to listen to was an interview with TJ Jagodowski and Dave Pasquesi on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Robert Krulwich and Sean Cole interviewed them about their improvisational comedy shows. The interview was talking about how TJ’s and Dave’s improvisational style is so different from most. Their show is a complete guessing game; they themselves don’t know how the show is going to turn out. They start out the show, introducing themselves and talking to the audience, and then all of a sudden the lights turn out. They come back on after a moment, and the two of them stand there staring at each other until one of them speaks and the show is off. I was so interested in their show, that I YouTubed it and found the entire show that they were talking about on the radio program.

            Now, to get into the audio effects and/or techniques that were used in the radio program itself. Through out the radio program the use of music is very present and effective in making an emotional statement. When Robert Krulwich is talking about a moment in the show when the suspense is high, the music reflects the suspense. The music played was a series of bells that sounded like they could be in a haunted church. Next they introduce their guests, TJ and Dave, and when they do so they use a bunch of what sounds like wind chimes. Which gives the radio program a completely different feel to it than it was just a second ago with the mysterious bells.

            Another effect that they used a lot was the use of fading in and out between the interview and the pre-recorded comedy show. It was a very effective tool to use, so we, as the audience can transition easily between listening to the show and the commentary of the show at the same time.

            Robert Krulwich had a rougher voice while Sean Cole had a very soothing voice. The two combined made listening to the radio program very enjoyable because as the listeners we would bounce off one of their voices to another without effort. It’s a strange observation, but it was noticeable right away.

            You don’t notice all these things that go into a radio station, unless you really pay attention and analyze each aspect. But that doesn’t mean if you’re not listening for all these things, that they don’t add to your overall experience.  

Playing with Tears (Final Cut)

soccer 2 from Sorenna Brown on Vimeo.

Single Shot Video

IMG 7849 from Sorenna Brown on Vimeo.

Rough Cut

soccer 1 from Sorenna Brown on Vimeo.

Re-edit