Kennedy’s JOUR 240 Blog

In most documentaries, it explains different sides of their own stories. In Beware of Mr. Baker, it discusses the real life of rockstar drummer, Ginger Baker. Meanwhile, Winning Time: Reggie Miller v. The New York Knicks is about the never ending rivalry between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks. While both documentaries have the same interviewing techniques and shots, the differences, such as the present time filming of their subjects, made each documentary unique in their own way. 

Throughout Beware of Mr. Baker, they interviewed a variety of different people. In interviewing, they made sure to ask questions about their interaction with Ginger Baker. The interviewers selected different people that had a relationship with the rockstar once before, such as his previous wives and musicians like Mick Jagger. Each question that was asked had a story, which made the documentary very insightful. In Winning Time: Reggie Miller v. The New York Knicks, filmmakers included every player that was involved in the 1992 and 1993 playoff series. For instance, they interviewed John Starks, Patrick Ewing, and Spike Lee on their feud during this time. Each interview reflected on their past experiences with Miller. In both documentaries, each technique allowed for the interviewees to reflect on their own past experiences and have their story heard. 

When you interview for documentaries, you have to have a specific shot. In both Beware of Mr Baker and Winning Time: Reggie Miller v. The New York Knicks, all interviews had a medium close up shot; by using this shot, it allows the viewer to see all the nonverbal cues that the interviewee makes. For instance, when John Starks was reflecting his rivalry with Miller, you can tell by his facial expressions how infuriated he was. When you are interviewing, the words the interviewee says aren’t the most important thing, their body language can tell its own story.

Although both documentaries have a lot of similarities, the main difference was the storytelling in present day time. In Beware of Mr. Baker, the filmmakers made sure to follow up with Ginger Baker to see how his life is now. They showed his current wife, house, and life. Although they did reflect on his past life, similar to Reggie Miller in Winning Time, half of the documentary focused on his current life. This is significant because the difference allowed the documentary to tell a different story. While Ginger Baker reflected on his past experiences, Reggie Miller didn’t have that opportunity.

In conclusion, the differences, such as filming with Ginger Baker in the film in present day, and similarities, such as interviewing techniques and shots, in both documentaries made each film special in their own way. In the documentaries, Beware of Mr. Baker and Winning Time: Reggie Miller v. The New York Knicks, their originality forms a film that allows the audience to be captivated to the person’s story. 

It is easier to spot differences and similarities when it comes to listening to music; however, it is a difficult task when listening to podcasts. Slow Burn, hosted by Joel Anderson, talks about the murders of hip-hop’s most influential artists, the Notorious B.I.G and Tupac, while Dolly Parton’s America, hosted by Jad Abumrad, describes different parts of Parton’s iconic life. While both the podcasts productions are very similar and are based on musicians, the podcasts have different types of narratives and interviewing questions.

Without an organized production, the podcast wouldn’t be as successful. Luckily in both Slow Burn and Dolly Parton’s America, they had a production value that was captivating throughout the season. For example, in Slow Burn, they played the artist’s music and explained lyrics that correlated with what happened in the singer’s life. With the artist’s music in the transitions and the editing, both podcasts allowed Tupac, Biggie, and Dolly’s stories to come to life.  

When brainstorming an idea for a podcast, one of the most important steps is coming up with a topic. In the previous seasons of Slow Burn, the topics were political, discussing events like the Watergate scandal and Clinton’s impeachment. However, in the third season, they discussed the mysterious deaths of Tupac and Biggie. When it came to Dolly Parton’s America, covering Dolly Parton as one of music’s greatest artists was the perfect topic. Understanding Dolly’s life and understanding the murders of Tupac and Biggie prove to be essential themes that music lovers will enjoy.

In a podcast, the most essential part is storytelling. In Slow Burn, Anderson began each podcast with a story about either Tupac or Biggie; then, it included real-life recordings of the event. Afterwards, Anderson interviewed friends of Biggie or Tupac to see what their point of view was. However, in Dolly Parton’s America, it jumped straight into the interview with Dolly. When Dolly discussed a major event, like writing her song, “I Will Always Love You” or her relationship with her father, it transitioned to old recordings of Dolly talking about the event. Abumrad followed up to see if her perspective on the experience changed. The narratives in each podcast are unique to themselves and made the listening amusing.

In both podcasts, the hosts used different interviewing techniques with different sources. In Slow Burn, Anderson interviewed people like Easy Moo Bee, Danny Boy Steward, and Chico del Vec. Anderson made sure to ask the intriguing questions about the nights leading up to their deaths and their actual death day. It was harder for Anderson to understand the truth because he wasn’t able to interview Tupac and Biggie. Meanwhile, in Dolly Parton’s America, Abumrad had Parton answer all the intriguing questions regarding her music career, friendship with Kenny Rogers, and personal life. Although the questions were different, both hosts acquired the information they needed to make an engaging podcast. 

In conclusion, In Slow Burn, hosted by Joel Anderson, and in Dolly Parton’s America, hosted by Jad Abumrad, the podcasts displayed different narratives and interviewing techniques; however, they had similar productions and are based off of music’s icons. When breaking apart the podcasts, it was easier to understand what makes a podcast engaging or repetitive.

In my podcast, I would like to interview a good friend of mine, who recently graduated from CSULB in 2017. However, her path toward graduation was anything but easy.

Now a 28 year-old mother of a daughter, she got pregnant when she was just 21 years old. At the time, she had just transferred to CSULB with a major in Child Development. I would like to discuss her early college years, her thought process on balancing her pregnancy and her education, and how she adapted to new motherhood while trying to achieve a degree.

I chose Krista Tippett’s interview with Jill Tarter. In the interview, it gave an insight on Tarter’s career in science. However, I began to notice that the differences in the edited and unedited version was observable.

In the edited version of the interview, Tippett’s and Tarter’s conversation felt like an interview. It was in the same format throughout, she would give Tarter a question and she would answer. There was a little bit of follow up questions. It seemed that she wanted to quickly jump to the next question.

In the unedited version of the interview, it sounded very relatable. The conversation flowed as if it was taken place on a living room sofa. While asking some of the questions about Tarter’s love of space, Tippett would stumble on her questions and would have to rephrase herself. She also used a lot of filler words, such as, “Like” or “Um”. However, I loved the unedited version of the interview because it made me realize that as an interviewer, it is okay to make mistakes.

Everything in Bryant’s life has always been about fashion. Throughout elementary school, high school, and college, his passion for clothing was rooted deep into his soul; he just had to dig up his true calling.

Tell me what you were passionate about when you were younger. Your elementary school days? Everything when I was younger was all about basketball. The NBA was everything to me. I mean, my name is Bryant. I’m named after a legend. I started playing when I was 5, so I always thought it was my ultimate goal.

So what happened in Middle School? What was your passion at that time? It was still basketball. I think I was beginning to realize that my dreams to go into the NBA were slim because of my height. But, overall, my passion was still basketball. I made the team in 8th grade, so it was still everything to me

In high school, what did you picture yourself doing in the future? I was in denial about the NBA, it was always in the back of my head, like maybe that can happen. But I would say around that time, I was beginning to get lost. But I always knew I wanted to do something with business.

So when your peers started talking about the future, how would you respond? In those years, I wouldn’t really talk about it. I always knew I wanted to own a business, but the passion on clothing I hadn’t found yet. I was interested in architecture, but I wasn’t passionate about it.

Where did architecture come from? [laughs] I was just interested in sketching. But, I would just sketch. I always liked math and sketching so I figured it was the right fit.

You graduated high school, What made you choose CSUN? It was the only school that accepted me [laughs]

That was the only reason? No, no, my sister was going there, my mom was thinking about going to that school, and a lot of my homies were going there too. I just wanted the college experience and living in a dorm. I never tried to major in anything clothing. But after living in the dorms, I realized it wasn’t fun. So I dropped out.

What made you drop out? Well my friend called me up and was like, “Bro, you’re never going to believe what happened. I dropped out.” I was also doing bad in school, so we met up at a McDonald’s and talked about it. We related and began to talk about our clothing dreams. We had both been dreaming since high school, so we decided to make it happen.

Do you think your underlying passion throughout everything was clothing? I was passionate, in the sense of that I love to dress. But it didn’t reach the point of me wanting to dress other people. We always had ideas throughout high school about a clothing brand, but it never worked out.

Now that you have a brand, what’s next? It’s honestly a step by step process. I’m always sketching. We have to get trademarked, and then we can go from there.

In Terry Gross’ interview with Tracy Morgan, I believe Gross has a good connection with Morgan. Throughout the interview, Gross made Morgan feel comfortable when talking about Tracy’s personal life

For example, Gross always let Morgan speak his mind, no matter how emotional he was getting. When he was talking about his mother, you could tell that Gross wanted him to have release that emotion. She never cut him off with “noisey” follow up questions on this topic. 

The only time she had follow up questions was when they began talking about Morgan’s career on 30 Rock.

I also believe she did an amazing job on her research on Morgan. She was very informative when it came to Morgan’s personal life, his run on SNL, his relationship with Tina Fey, and 30 Rock. She proved she was informative on his career because she played snippets of Morgan’s iconic SNL skits. She asked the right questions and made the entire interview a good listen.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is adding a new music landmark to its street.

According to Curbed Los Angeles, the iconic record store announced that it’s moving their merchandise at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue.

In 2016, the developer announced plans to replace the store with new apartments complexes and retail spaces. With the new move, Amoeba’s lease will end later this year.

The Hollywood Boulevard location will be smaller than the first location. It is half a mile from Amoeba Hollywood’s iconic Sunset Boulevard store.

In Amoeba’s statement, the big move will take place “after Labor Day.” The store may be temporarily closed but ensured fans that the new location will be better than ever. With rapper Tyler the Creator, he displays the new open concept for the new space.

The new store is also across the street from Metro’s Hollywood/Vine subway station, which will be easier for transportation.

“A Celebration of Life” for Kobe and Gianna Bryant will take place on “2-24-20” at the Staples Center at 10 AM, via Vanessa Bryant’s Instagram post.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the date “2-24-20” has a lot of meaning towards Vanessa Bryant. Both basketball players, Gianna wore No. 2 while Kobe wore his iconic No. 24. The 20 represents the number of years Kobe played with the Lakers and how long Vanessa and Kobe were together.

With more details to come, the memorial service is for the late Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, who were both killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas on Jan. 26, along with 7 other people.

Along with Kobe and Gianna’s memorial service, the Staples Center will also hold the Clipper’s and Memphis Grizzles game at 7:30 p.m. Getting ready for the game will be no problem according to Lee Zeidman, the president of the Staples Center, L.A. Live and Microsoft Theater. “Staples Center has hosted over 220 doubleheaders in its 20-year history,” Zeidman explained. “While this is going to be a very emotional day for the Bryant family, the Los Angeles Lakers, the city of Los Angeles, as well as for the men and women who work at the Staples Center, we are very confident we will be ready for 6 p.m. doors opening for the Clippers-Memphis game following the ceremony.”

Following the memorial, the next Lakers home games will be against the Boston Celtics on Feb. 23 and the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 25, both at the Staples Center

“Everybody has a story. And there is something to be learned from every experience.”

– Oprah Winfrey

I am Kennedy Beltran and I am a junior, majoring in Communication at CSULB. One of my biggest passions in life is Pop Culture.

Growing up, I had a major interest in everything in Hollywood. I would watch E! News and every entertainment broadcaster on my local news channels. I would also read blogs, such as Perez Hilton, to make sure I was up to date with everything. I was captivated about what really happened in Hollywood; when the Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Jennifer Aniston love triangle emerged, I told everybody I knew about the details on the drama. It was everything to me.

Although I was 7 years old, I knew that my job in the future would be an Entertainment Broadcast Reporter/Interviewer.

As I got older I started watching different reporters interview different celebrities. I studied their interviewing techniques and styles and I realized everyone had their own. For instance, Howard Stern has a completely different style than Barbara Walters. Eventually, I adapted my own, so when I begin interviewing celebrities, I will be prepared.

I still continue to watch E! News and my local news to be updated on what’s happening in the world. However, I try to be updated on sports by watching at least an hour of SportsCenter and Inside the NBA on TNT.

Being up to date with everything in the news is very important to me. I hope I will become a reliable reporter, which celebrities will feel comfortable to speak to me.