Audio Critique “Year of the River”
The Year of the River is an audio clip that shows various pictures of the Cedar River during the 2008 flood. The audio is a collection of various comments regarding the flood and the river. The commenters appear to be local residents living near the Cedar River that witnessed the flood first hand.
I found this audio clip to be very interesting. One particular reason is that I, like many other Iowans, witnessed the flood first hand. I lived 100 yards from a river and our house recieved substantial flooding last summer. I am now living in Iowa City and repairs from the flood are still underway. The collections of audio and pictures reminded me of the general feelings of Iowans during the flood.
I believe the audio collections are one pro in this clip. The samples of audio are not experts or scientists from california or New York. They are the local everyday people from Iowa that gave a first hand account of the flood. I also thought that the background sound of a running river was a good touch.
One con in my opinion was the choice of pictures. I think the picture selection could have been better. The flood of 2008 devastated towns and cities, reshaped river banks, and forced hundreds of people from their homes. Instead of pictures of these things, we are provided with calm, tranquil pictures of a river. It is hard in some pictures to tell if there is even a flood going on.
Overall I liked this clip and thought it was well put together. One difference that I would make if I were to do it differently would be to ass some more dramatic pictures of the flood. Other than the picture selection, the audio clips were good, and the background sound was fitting.
I agree with you on the selection of pictures. It seemed as though some pictures were just everyday pictures people would see of rivers, rather than seeing the devastating damages it did around towns and cities, as you said. The only pictures that showed any damage was the one with the picnic table but the rest seemed to be a little vague.
hydeikim
12 Jul 09 at 1:47 pm
I appreciate that you gave your personal account on the flood. It is nice to see how this clip impacted you based on your experience as a flood victim. Your compassion for this topic is shown in your critique of the clip and I agree with the photography suggestion. One thing I would probably suggest in the future is possibly adding the hyperlink into the title, this may prompt individuals to watch the clip first.
srace
16 Jul 09 at 9:44 am