Storytelling (education book) review of others work and own Experimentation

Education books/Documentaries

Brian Brain's National Curriculum KS1 Y2 History Mixed Topic

Written by: Russell Webster
Narrated by: Brian Brain

Target Audience: 6-7 year olds.

This is a short extract from the book

Vocals

For this book we have a male voice actor, he is an adult based on the maturity in his voice.

He speaks openly and makes use of initiation throughout. This helps particularly with younger children as it will keep them interested rather than letting their minds wonder.

He puts emphasis on important pieces of information e.g 'Columbus', 'Santa Maria', 'in the year 1492' (said 14 hundred and 92)

I feel this is effective for this audio type, because the most important information is being emphasised, this will mean it is more likely to stay in it's target audiences head, in this case children aged 6-7 who are more likely to listen to the information that's emphasised.

He has a friendly tone throughout and encourages the listeners when asking questions, for children they are more likely to listen to someone who is friendly because they would be less put out by them, they will also be more willing to listen and participate when being encouraged.

there is one moment where he says Americas as a pose to Americans, when considering doing these types of audio work yourself, it is important to listen back and look out for small things like this as it could mislead the young audience.

He uses good diction throughout and you are able to understand everything he is saying. For educational books this is Key as it is important for the listeners to be able to hear every piece of information.

Music/ Sound effects

They add a gameshow element to the audio book with their use of music when they've asked a question, it acts a countdown giving the children a chance to try and answer the question before he gives the answer. This allows the kids to test what they know of the subject already.

They also use music to separate sections of the audio recording, this can help children follow the book more as they know it is moving onto a new subject and hasn't just suddenly changed.

Own Experimentation

This is the Book I will be doing some audio recording work for. I will be experimenting with Education style audio recording, targeting children of around 7 years old.

Why were mummies brainless
Why were mummies wrapped in bandages

Although both these sections of information appear on the same page, I chose to have them as separate units because I felt it would be easier to record them separately as they discussed to different pieces of information.

Which were the most dangerous animals

I Wonder Why The Pyramids Were Built, 1st Take Thoughts


Inspiration

Although a T.V show, this program tells History from throughout History for young children. The Vocals are animated and energetic, they make use of actors to act out the stories, But also have narrators of sorts. the news reporter in this is like the narrator giving the information in an exciting way, he uses a lot of levels in his voice and makes it sound like the History is a sport.

I want to apply some of the vocal techniques here into my recordings, I feel like they would catch the target markets attention more.


Why were mummies wrapped in bandages (2)
Why were mummies brainless (2)
Which were the most dangerous animals

I Wonder why the pyramids were built (second evaluation