Hannah Megill
SPE 181
Content Analysis
05/01/07

All Movie Talk and the Podcast

	The Internet has become a way of life for many people. It offers a chance to voice your opinions, find out new information, connect with others, and enjoy other media, among other things. One website that allows people to do all of that at once is www.allmovietalk.com, the site of a podcast called All Movie Talk. As the title suggests, its subject is movies, and it is one of just many podcasts that have become popular over the last few years.
	Why are podcasts so popular? What would make someone choose a podcast over a magazine or a television show that provides the information? All Movie Talk has gained a fairly good-sized following since it premiered in October, so in looking at it we can discover some of the appeals of the podcast in general.
	All Movie Talk released its very first episode on October 3, 2006. Hosted by good friends and movie buffs Samuel Stoddard and Stephen Keller (referred to on the site as just “Sam” and “Stephen”), this first episode ran just a little under an hour. Its features were divided up into several segments, usually 10-20 minutes in length. Some of these features included a trivia question, where they revealed the answer at the end of the show; a “director spotlight,” where they gave an overview of films directed by Christopher Nolan; and the hosts’ Top 6 lists of romantic movies that aren’t sappy. Some of these features, such as the Top 6 list and the trivia question, have remained in almost every episode. Others have fallen by the wayside, or only appear once every several episodes. For example, the second episode contained a “Good Bad Movie” segment, which featured a specific movie that was so terrible it was fun to watch. The hosts gave us a synopsis of the movie and then related all their favorite ridiculous parts. These have been very popular with the listeners, however, there have only been four of these features in the first thirty episodes. 
	The format of the podcast and its corresponding website is simple to figure out. Every Tuesday morning, a new hour-long episode is posted on the site. There is a spot for the listeners to leave their own comments on the episode -- feedback is highly encouraged, in fact. The listeners can respond with their own Top 6 lists, request topics to be covered, or even offer suggestions on what they like and don’t like on the show.
	Throughout the week, other, non-podcast blog entries are written on the website. These entries are often movie reviews, or links to other interesting movie-related websites. Reader response is welcomed here as well, and usually encouraged, making that portion of the site more of a community than simply an entertainment blog.
	One of the hosts, Sam, also runs a fairly popular entertainment website called RinkWorks, so initially a lot of the listeners (including myself) were faithful members of that site, friends with the hosts, and simply transferred over when this new section opened up. However, as the months went by, more and more people began commenting on the podcasts and listening regularly, people who had never heard of RinkWorks and had found the podcast on their own through recommendations or on iTunes. 
	So why have the fans of All Movie Talk chosen a podcast instead of a magazine with the same content?
	On a purely technical level, it’s practical and easy to carry around throughout the day. Several of the listeners on the site have said that they listen to the podcast during their commute to work. They just burn it to a CD or load it onto their mp3 player and connect it to their sound system in their car. Others listen to it while working out at the gym. I listen to it on nights when I’m restless and need to relax. Podcasts are very easily transportable. Frequent Internet users are obviously going to be the ones who listen to podcasts, as well as the ones who are most likely to carry an mp3 player around with them. It’s quite easy to transfer the podcast over to it and listen to information on movies instead of just listening to music as you travel or work. Even if you don’t carry the podcast around with you, you can go to any computer with Internet access and listen to the entire program directly from the browser.
	Another factor is the feel of the podcast, which is very personal. In the particular case of All Movie Talk, this sense of intimacy is partly built on the fact that the original listeners of the podcast already knew each other from elsewhere, but it also comes from the nature of podcasts themselves. A podcast is essentially someone sitting down and telling the listeners their opinion. It tends to be casual and conversational, and can sometimes feel very literally like someone leaning over to whisper their thoughts in your ear. A good book or magazine may intrigue you or interest you, but seldom does it evoke the feeling of having an actual conversation with the author.
	Another essential part of the podcast’s tone is the interactive nature of the website. Any listener is able to converse with not only other listeners, but with the hosts of the show as well. A suggestion made in the comment board will very likely be taken to heart and used three or four episodes later. This is not just two experts sitting around giving the expert opinion on movies, but more of a conversation between two guys who love movies and a bunch of their friends.
	One particularly interesting example of how feedback is received on the show came after the eleventh episode, where Sam and Stephen did a “Double Feature” segment. The purpose of the segment is to suggest two movies that go together well but might not be an obvious choice at first. This particular episode, the feature was done more as a comedic segment than it had been previously, since the double feature they suggested was the French love film Amelie and the slasher series flick Jason X. It’s hard to think of two films less similar, which was part of the joke, although the two managed to come up with several interesting reason. The ridiculousness of the pairing was exaggerated even further by the tone they took in discussing it. It was done as a sort of parody of intellectual film reviewers, using overly pretentious phrasing and movie technobabble that was very difficult to follow. The feature went on for nearly 20 minutes, and got very mixed responses from the listeners. Some thought it was hilarious all the way through, others were annoyed with it from the beginning, and the majority thought it was funny at first and then went on far too long. The feedback went back and forth, and it was revealed at the end that even the hosts were somewhat divided on this. However, every comment made by a listener was taken seriously, no matter what the opinion was. I believe that responses like this have the effect of building trust in the listener. Even if you disagree with an opinion being expressed on the show, or dislike how a topic is being handled, you should be able to have confidence that your comment won’t simply be dismissed because it’s a differing opinion.
	In this case, while most podcasts are either mostly informative or mostly comedic, All Movie Talk attempts to strike a balance between the two, which I believe it succeeds at. The variety of segments used in each show allow for both serious segments (such as the “Film Style Spotlight,” which gives a bit of background on film styles such as film noir or the French new wave) and humorous ones (such as “How To,” which laughs at film stereotypes by suggesting how to best survive a horror movie or pull off a heist). The hosts themselves also aid in this balance. They are clearly enjoying themselves, and will laugh at each other and themselves throughout the episode, but they also know what they’re talking about and have something to say that isn’t overshadowed by their humor. There’s enough variety to appeal to various personalities. It is also worth pointing out that not only does All Movie Talk vary its tone, but very deliberately covers all different kinds of movies. On the show they have discussed silent films, foreign films, modern blockbusters, family films, musicals, and Japanese anime, just to name a few. One thread on the website asks for recommendations for other movie podcasts. It does have a few listed, but nearly every one is named by a listener as having a specific type of movie or era of filmmaking it focuses on. A podcast can certainly be used to reach a very specific audience. Although All Movie Talk is encompassing all genres from all eras, someone who is not at all interested in classic movies would probably be better off listening to a different podcast that is more likely to give them the information they are interested in.
	The podcast is fascinating in that it is combines several other kinds of media -- in this case, it’s a combination of radio, Internet, and movies. All Movie Talk even incorporates some sort of print media due to the written entries created on the boards, probably most similar to articles in a magazine. Although it is unlikely that this crosses people’s minds when they are choosing what media to consume, it is nonetheless a factor. Some people who are interested in talk radio might listen to a podcast if they run across it, although they might not read a blog on the same subject. The meshing of different formats allows most people to find something in there they are interested in.
	Although All Movie Talk is relatively new as an available podcast, its continued growth indicates that it is succeeding in its area and meeting its target audience. Examining it can give us a good idea of what draws people to podcasts in the first place, what keeps them coming back, and how the trend might change or grow in the coming years. Even more tightly connected combinations of media? More interactivity? More available access? Although it may be difficult to imagine how this could be taken further than it already has, the fact that this new medium exists at all is a tribute to the way we continue to change and mold the technology around us to make it fit our exact needs.