Blog Post #2

 After listening to "The Hitch-Hiker," what are your thoughts on radio as a storytelling format? Did you find the story captivating? If so, what multimedia elements contributed to that? What do you think are shortcomings of this format? 

    I think that radio as a storytelling format is good. I did find "The Hitch-Hiker" by Mercury Summer Theater captivating. I think the story's use of music and sound effects help play a part in setting the scene and the overall set mood. I found myself getting chills when the hitch hiker appeared, the suspenseful music and the speaker's slow talking helped with that. The speaker changing his tone of voice help decipher what were the stage directions, speaking in a soft tone, and what was dialogue, speaking with a louder tone. I thought that listening to this radio story played much like a podcast, whereas when I actually listen to the radio now, it's in my car when I'm not paying as much close attention because I'm distracted by driving. But I found it much easier to focus on the story and its elements when I'm not distracted by other things. The speaker states straight forward descriptions of characters and sets that allow the listeners to picture them, but personally in my case, I found it hard to visualize those elements in my head. It wasn't the same feeling that one would get watching a TV show or film. Listening and visualizing a radio story takes a lot of effort. The cool thing is that the listener gets to be a little bit creative with how they picture a certain character or set. The overall format is engaging, but perhaps the listener can still get distracted when having to think more rather than all the other details being filled in for them like visual media does. 

                                                    Image Source (This is how I pictured the hitch-hiker)