Artistic Statement
Words I’d Never Say Out Loud is a poetic, digital storytelling podcast that follows three distinct narratives. Inspired by the film The Breakfast Club, the three narrators of this story are Basketcase, Jock, and Princess, juniors at the fictional West End High School. Essentially, this podcast tells the story of self-discovery and self-acceptance. Per episode, each narrator will perform a spoken word poem that portrays the emotions, feelings, and words they’d never say out loud. However, as the three slowly begin to fight for different trajectories and titles, they will eventually begin to defy the odds and finally speak out loud.
The goals and choices that governed this project catered to three main audiences: lovers of fictional storytelling, lovers of podcasts, and lovers of spoken word. To simplify, I wanted to create a multi-faceted genre by combining two popular literary mediums. I felt that in doing so I would be able to produce an unconventional yet enlightening story utilizing the cadence of voice and the beauty of metaphors.
To create this podcast, I first sat down and wrote a series of evolutional poems for each of my characters. I wrote dark, somber poems for Basketcase, sarcastic, ironic poems for Jock, and powerful, feministic poems for Princess. Then, I found my cast, recorded the poems, and uploaded the audio to GarageBand, a music creation studio application. In GarageBand, I was able to edit the recordings and create music to go with each poem/episode. While in the process of editing, I received extremely helpful feedback from peer reviewers in my Digital Storytelling class, who advised me on my episode format and musical choices. Finally, after revising in GarageBand, I subscribed to a podcast hosting site called Simplecast and made the project live.
From this experience, I gained a new love and appreciation for digital storytelling and podcasts. As it turns out, podcasts are a multi-faceted medium, which can be used and designed for anything. Before this project, I had a small-minded idea of narrative podcasts. I imagined they resembled audio recordings of books. However, now, I have learned that narrative podcasting is an art form, which can include several different aspects, elements, and trajectories. Narrative podcasts, as well as other digital storytelling mediums, are up to the creator. There is no “one way” to create a story –there are a thousand different ways. This digital storytelling assignment/final project taught me that. It taught me how to take full reign over my creativity and not let anyone or anything determine my style. I’m proud of the unconventionality of Words I’d Never Say Out Loud, and I am thankful, for I know this inventive experience will shape many others.
Meet The Cast!
Aysha Jerald plays the Narrator/School Coulselor. She is an fourth year English Education Major and New Media Studies certificant at the University of Georgia. In her free time, she enjoys writing, researching new media technology, and creating special projects. In the future, she plans on attending graduate school to obtain a PhD in Comparative Literature.
Shaolynn Betts plays the Basketcase. As a fourth year working towards a degree in Advertising and Emerging Media as well as a minor in Graphic Communication, Shaolynn has been involved in a range of creative pursuits from theatre and dance to that of digital manipulation and graphic art. In the future, she hopes to use these skills in campaign projects surrounding inclusivity, diversity, and above all else, humanity.
Jared Palmgren plays the Jock. He is going into his fourth year as a student at the University of Georgia. He has studied a wide variety of topics, majoring in Civil Enginerring and minoring in Political Science, and he hopes to use each of them in his career going forward. His next step is to pursue a Master's Degree in Business Administration.
Lauryn Waters plays the Princess. She is a fourth year at the University of Georgia studying Human Development and Family Science. She enjoys singing and making music, and she has a passion for walking with others through difficult situations. She plans to use this passion in a career in family support services or marriage and family therapy.