Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards began their "Out
of the Past: Investigating Film Noir" podcast in July
2005. The popularity of the show encouraged them to begin
another one year later, entitled "Behind the Black
Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed." "Out of the Past," a
film analysis program, has been downloaded over 100,000
times, in every continent but Antarctica. "Behind the
Black Mask," an author interview show, has generated
nearly 20,000 downloads in it's short life—as well
as many strong reviews from writers and listeners. The unusual
origins and evolution of these podcasts may help to explain
their popularity.
Simply put, podcasts are audio programs distributed via
the web using a technology called "RSS" ("real
simple syndication")—the same technology used
by blogs. Clute and Edwards began "Out of the Past" when
the practice of podcasting was still in its infancy, and
most podcasts still had content similar to that of blogs:
they tended either to be the amateur's attempt to break
into the commercial realms, or (as a New York Times article
on the emerging phenomenon of podcasting put it) they tended
to verge on the "sickeningly personal." Clute
and Edwards chose to podcast for quite different reasons.
Both were hired in 2004 to teach in the same small liberal
arts college in the Bay area, Edwards as a professor of
Communications with a focus in New Media, and Clute as a
professor of French and Italian with a specialization in
French detective fiction. Like most young professors they
faced the imperative of "publish or perish," but
they were concerned with trends in scholarship. It seemed
to them that academic publications were overly specialized,
and spoke a language so willfully obscure as to be incomprehensible
even to many scholars in the field—let alone the general
public. Clute and Edwards wanted to produce scholarly analyses
that would resonate with a broader audience, from the casual
fan to the most erudite scholar, and decided podcasts could
function as such scholarship; "Out of the Past" was
created as a proof of concept, an example of how this new
brand of scholarship might look and sound. Because the project
took shape in a Great Books institution, Clute and Edwards
decided to model it after Seminar-style discussion, and
the result was a podcast where each partner drew on his
own personal experience and professional training to craft
close readings of the source "texts." This deeply
interdisciplinary approach could accommodate an existentialist
analysis of "The Killers," a close reading of
the opening credit sequence of "Sunset Boulevard," or
an investigation into the visual style of neo-noir films
such as "Blade Runner."
Given their motivations for starting the podcast, and its
unusual scholarly methods, they were surprised that it quickly
found an audience and that its popularity continued to grow.
In the show's success, they saw proof that the general public
craves substantial discussion (too often unavailable in
the mainstream media), and that podcast scholarship could
be a means of establishing instructive dialog with the public
beyond the bounds of the campus. As one listener commented
on the "Out of the Past" blog site (http://outofthepast.libsyn.com), "the
information and analysis that Clute and Edwards provide
inside each of these podcasts is tantamount to a university
lecture...albeit one that I'd opt to stay awake for. These
guys know exactly what they're talking about, providing
insight into the black heart that drives these films."
Encouraged by such feedback, they decided to begin a second
podcast series addressing their other shared passion—mystery
fiction. Unlike "Out of the Past," this show was
never explicitly intended as scholarly publication; however,
Clute and Edwards use their academic training in literature
(in addition to Clute's French literature PhD, Edwards holds
a BA in English literature) to engage authors in serious
conversation about one recent publication in particular,
and the craft and business of writing in general. The show
is therefore of interest to avid readers who want to know
more about their favorite authors, and aspiring writers
who want to know more about the art of writing. Podcasting
has proven to be the perfect medium for such conversation,
since there are no constraints on content or format. The
show can be as intense or lighthearted as the author wants
it to be, and can expand or contract in length to perfectly
accommodate the conversation.
In an attempt to embrace the full range of mystery sub-genres,
Clute and Edwards have interviewed writers of humorous PI
fiction (Carol Higgins Clark), suspense (PJ Parrish), police
procedural (Theresa Schwegel and Danuta Reah), cozies (Jane
Cleland), pulp (Paul Malmont), caper heist fiction (Duane
Swierczynski), and throwback (Megan Abbott) and modern hard-boiled
(Charles Ardai, Reed Coleman, David Corbett, and Al Guthrie).
One listener commented at the "Behind the Black Mask" blog
site (http://btbm.libysn.com) that he is "greatly enjoying
the 'Behind The Black Mask' series. The interview process
makes for a more relaxed and less academic atmosphere."
There seems to be substantial audience overlap for the two
podcasts, which is not particularly surprising given that
film noir and mystery fiction share a deeply intertwined
history. To foster this interconnection, and to have a venue
to address noir happenings beyond the realm of film and
literature, Clute and Edwards started the "Noircast
Special," an occasional podcast series . In their first
episode, they interviewed the director, writer, and cast
members of an off-Broadway play inspired by film noir ("Kill
Me Like You Mean It"). In the most recent Noircast
Special, Clute and Edwards interviewed the creator of thrillingdetective.com,
and two Podiobook mystery authors: Seth Harwood and Tee
Morris.
The fact that aspiring, and previously published, authors
are willing to give away their work in the form of a serialized
Podiobooks —that is, an audiobook composed of distinct
podcast installments—suggests podcasting will have
a major impact on the publishing industry. The million dollar
question (perhaps quite literally) is exactly how fiction
websites, podcasts, and podiobooks will change print publishing.
What seems certain is that the very public nature of such
media is leading to greater transparency in the exchange
and publication of ideas. In this context, Clute and Edwards
were elated when one fan of the "Out of the Past" podcast
noted that they are "drawing a road map into the twisted
world of film noir, film-by-film, and it's great fun taking
the trip with them."
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Shannon Clute holds a PhD in Romance Studies from Cornell University, and works as a freelance writer in Atlanta. Richard Edwards holds a PhD in Critical Studies from the USC School of Cinema-Television, and is an Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences in Indiana University's School of Informatics' New Media Program. Their podcasts are available free of charge through their website (www.noircast.net), or through most podcast directories.
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2007 SPINETINGLER Magazine - All rights reserved
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