A Conversation of Memories
The Story Corps has so many selection of stories that will captivate their audience, so I had a difficult time choosing just two. In the end, I listened to “Two Friends Look Back on Y2K and The Apocalypse That Never Was,” as well as “He Knew She’d Be the Love of His Life. But He Needed an Opening Line.”
A Building Experience
For the story covering the speakers’ Y2K experience, I first noticed how they spoke to the audience, as well as each other. They would build upon the setting and the plot as they were reminded of details by the other speaker. They asked questions in order to draw the story out of each other, which is different from an interviewer guiding the conversations with questions. There is more context shared with such specific and targeted questions.
There is no music present within this story until the speakers conclude their thoughts at the end of the segment. This allows space for their voices to be heard clearly and their words to carry the weight of the audiences reactions or emotions to what is happening, without the influence of music. In the center of the clip, there is an excerpt from a broadcast that takes place presumably after the year transitions to 2000. It juxtaposes with the speakers’ thoughts and reflections regarding the year changing over, and being different from their thoughts. The clip juts into their dialogue very abruptly, almost as if to bring forth the new realization they had at the time in the same fashion for the audience to experience.
Meeting in the Middle
Finding the words to speak to someone you admire can be difficult, but this pair didn’t have any trouble telling the story of the first few words they spoke to each other. The fact that both parties are present and recalling the story together gives the audience a fuller perspective. The speakers recall how they met, with each taking turns to describe the thoughts they had of the other. Eventually, after describing their separate perspectives both speakers meet up at the end of their story by speaking to each other. The two different perspectives meet to become one. The voice of the interviewer is not present within this segment so the dialogue is purely the two parties involved with the story.
There is no music in the background of this story. It only surfaces at the end of their dialogue with each other, allowing their words to be the most prominent piece of this media. The music jumps in the very moment one of the speakers concludes her thought as if to continue the idea that they are still building their story together. It doesn’t fade in but rather proclaims itself, just as they both did in their meeting. In the end, the music fades out on a tone that sounds as if it continues on and on, just as their love has for each other over these many years.