Carrying the torch of the Spark HD Voice of Generation Now podcast, senior Hunter Ah Loo stepped into the role of lead producer for Season 3, taking on the project as his Multimedia Practicum.
Why a Podcast?
Ah Loo is from Hawaii and came to Olivet Nazarene University mainly for football but has since found a passion for multimedia communication. When it came time for his Multimedia Practicum class, Ah Loo wasn’t exactly sure what project to choose. However, after discussing with Professor Mark Bishop, he knew that continuing the Spark HD Voice of Generation Now podcast would not only be great real-world experience, but also something that would help him after college. According to Global Media Journal 2024, “Podcasting has experienced exponential growth in recent years, with millions of podcasts available worldwide and billions of episodes downloaded annually”.
“Podcasts are taking off…it looks good on a resume to say you produced, edited, and hosted a podcast.”
hunter ah loo
Behind the Scenes
Recording a podcast isn’t as simple as just hitting record on cameras and microphones, it requires specific pre-production, production, and post-production steps. The biggest challenge for Ah Loo during pre-production was finding guests to have on the podcast.
“Since two other practicum students had produced this podcast before me, it was hard to find new people,” Ah Loo said. “You want lively guests who keep the conversation going.”
A podcast also requires some initial research on the guests to have a rough idea on where the podcast could go as well as allowing for the host of the podcast, Owen Smith, to know more about the guest beforehand.
Screenshot from Spark HD3 Youtube (Click to Watch)
During production, Ah Loo set up three separate camera angles. One for the host, one for the guest, and one for the audience. Adding video to a media which is dominantly audio is a key part of the project.
According to Olivet’s Professor Brian Utter, “out of the top 100 podcasts in the world, the ones that have stayed all include video.” It allows for the audience to see the emotions of the participants. Ah Loo believes that it makes the experience more engaging.
Post-production was the bulk of the work, taking the longest by far. Ah Loo commented that not everyone would speak at the same volume and sometimes they would not be a consistent distance from the microphone, so adjusting audio to all sound smooth and natural was a challenge. A 20-minute episode would usually take Ah Loo three to four hours to edit. To stay on track, he edited every episode the same week it was filmed. Other students in the past would save all eight episodes for the end of the semester, but Ah Loo wanted consistent releases every Monday for season 3.
Reflecting on the Experience
For Ah Loo, the experience wasn’t just about the technical skills, but rather learning to stay patient, solve problems, and grow from mistakes. Looking back on the project, Ah Loo doesn’t regret anything, but is just happy with the mistakes, memories, and experience he made along the way.
“I accidentally turned off a camera once,” Ah Loo said. “Or set up a mic wrong. But you just learn from it. By episode six or seven, everything flowed better.”
According to an article from Ivy Tech Community College, “For college students, building a portfolio is especially important as it helps bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world application, demonstrating growth and adaptability to future employers.” The Multimedia Practicum project allows students like Ah Loo to devote an entire semester to growing their professional portfolio with something they are truly proud of.
