In the second episode, we did not really make that much progress except for getting introduced to two new characters, as well as getting a recap and the discovery of a second barrel. The third and fourth episodes snowballs us into more action compared to the second episode. Jason Moon, the narrator for this podcast, gives us background information to start off with, just like how he has been doing in the past couple episodes. This is to reel in the listeners and keep them listening and interested/hooked. In episode three, he was recapping the previous episodes and explaining the event of a press conference on the cold case. And in episode four, he goes off to cover a case regarding a woman named Eunsoon Jun and her “interesting” love interest.
In both episodes, however, we do not get introduced to the podcast until a little later into the episodes, unlike the first and second episode, where we were introduced pretty early on. Like I said in the previous paragraph, he spends the time not introducing the podcast to get the listener hooked to keep listening. After listening to the first three episodes, I came to realize they all have similar structures. It usually starts off with background information and recap, as well as an introduction of what is to come. I thought it was odd though that Jason Moon introduces the case with Eunsoon Jun out of nowhere in episode four because it seemed pretty unrelated to the previous episode. At the end of the third episode, we were left on a slight cliffhanger when they mentioned a woman who might fear a certain man. The introduction of Eunsoon Jun seemed out of left field, but the introduction combined with the cliffhanger from the previous episode is also a way of hooking the listener because of how unrelated it might have seemed.
Like with the previous episodes, the music in all the episodes really help build up the drama and suspense, as this podcast is all about mystery. The music is always important to help build-up, setting the tone, and transition. In episode three, they used a lot more dramatic music whenever we learned of new information or developments in the case, and in contrast, the narration had more static-like music. With the plot being pushed forward now, adding the dramatic music really helps create a more intense suspenseful build-up. What I found really interesting too was that they used certain sfx to make the listener feel like they were immersed in the situation with the narrator. It really feels like we’re on the journey with them to finding the truth.
Adding in the new developments, this would get anyone hooked on the story, in my opinion. They do really well with building up and giving us background information all throughout the episodes and help us try to create our own ideas about the situation. The episodes are structured pretty similarly, so we as the listeners know what to expect when we start listening right away. I think the structure they use is also really helpful because if you haven’t listened to the podcast in a while, you’d get a really good summary/recap of the previous episodes. Personally, this podcast has kept me pretty interested, so I will listen to the last couple episodes in my own time when I get the chance.
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Your analysis of the podcast Bear Brook is interesting and does a great job of breaking down the elements of the podcast. I found it interesting when you say that the added sound effects made it seem like you were in the scene that the podcasts described. I completely agree with you that special sound effects immerse listeners into the story. To expand on this idea, I believe that special sound effects are a powerful tool because they can trigger memories from listeners and help them relate to the content of the podcast more easily. For example, in Serial, the podcast I listened to, the producer includes a sound clip of a printer running to describe the office of a bunch of lawyers. This sound effect reminded me of a large business type printer like the ones in Odegaard Library, so I was able to the picture the environment with ease.
Something that surprised me about your podcast is that you mention that there was a disconnection in the plot of the story from episode three to episodes four when a new character, Eunsoon June is introduced. In comparison, in Serial the information is presented in chronological order thus making the story very linear. Therefore, I had not given much thought of the rhetoric effect of putting a listener in an unfamiliar setting. After thinking about it, I believe that this is a great technique to appeal to a listener’s curiosity and persuade them to think more closely about the podcast and connect the dots between the two different plots. A disadvantage of surprising listeners like this in a podcast is if the author doesn’t clearly spell out how the two separate ideas are related then it will ultimately confuse listeners and lose their interest.
In your conclusion you state that adding new developments to a podcast is important because it keeps listener entertained. From the perspective of the podcast creator I believe that this is very important to remember when creating a podcast. Many times, when I was working with my podcasting group to record our podcast, I kept wanting to go back to points that we had already discussed but I stopped myself because doing so would have been unproductive. Therefore, an advantage of adding new developments to your podcast ensures that it doesn’t get repetitive or boring.