A Documentary: Kohn Ashmore

Kohn Ashmore Illustration
by Jacob Boll, RadioLab

          Documentary:

                                                       KOHN  

                Producer:

                            Andy Mills

                Narrator:

                            Andy Mills

                 Length:

                             08:05

A Brief Introduction

Andy Mills, the producer of the documentary KOHN, is a friend of Kohn Ashmore. According to a blog from Radiolab, Kohn’s voice is what drew Andy’s attention to him in the first place. Over time they created a friendship in which Kohn shared some of his personal stories that led Andy to create this documentary.

What we don’t know is that, Kohn is slow. Slow – he speaks slowly and he walks slowly. This is a cause of an unfortunate accident when he was only 8-years-old. And what is remarkable about this story is that Kohn never realized that his voice had changed, due to two deaf parents, until one day when he recorded himself singing … which left him terrified.

The documentary is narrated by Andy Mills.

Capturing Interest

This documentary is definitely interesting to the average person, one who is not aware of these issues. Andy Mills found a personal story that is unusual, with the added bonus of actually capturing the audiences’ interest by having them ask: How can Kohn not know how his voice sounds like?

Like the little description found under the audio file, we all know how our voice sounds but how can Kohn not know? The documentary sheds light on the life of a disabled individual. Because Kohn shares with us his personal story, we see through his eyes how he sees the world and his reactions to it.

Easy on the Ears

The quality of the audio is smooth and good. I would not call it amateur but perhaps better audio experts may. The transition in the background sound did not disrupt my concentration at all. The producer’s voice was clear and understandable. He also successfully integrated Nat sound that would create a sense of the moment.

For example, when he talked about Kohn’s crush in college, he used the sound of girls giggling. Another example is when he called his friends to talk about Kohn, he would use the same background sound you would use when using a phone.

Smooth Talking

The first thing I appreciated was the narrator’s voice. It was fun. It was clear. He spoke clearly making sure he pronounced every letter well-roundedly. Part of keeping the audiences’ interest was also Andy’s way of narration. He builds emotion with every scenario. He is playful and talks as if he’s talking with us. He also spaces out his words. If you concentrate on him talking, you will notice he may say three to four words fast and the remainder of the sentence spaced out thereby creating clarity and understanding.

Pen to Paper

“He began to cry, he felt angry, how come no one told him about this? He thought, well he could have told him about it. Kohn was the hearing child of two deaf parents.” [03:44 - 03:56]

The narrator’s script is very informal. He speaks as though he is talking to a friend, which brings us closer to the story. Not only that but he builds his sentence on a step-by-step basis on how Kohn felt and what Kohn did next. He also satisfied certain sentences with reasons.

Again, the best part about the way he structured the narration was the way he made it sound “home-y”. It was comfortable and easy on the ears.

Just the Right Size

The length of the documentary was not too long and not too short. The producer successfully provided a reason for every story. Why hadn’t Kohn noticed a change in his voice?—both his parents were deaf and there was no one to tell him. When did he notice he sounded different?—the mix tape story. And so on. All this information was not purposefully stretched out to make the documentary seem bulky and yet we are left satisfied.

Hello and Goodbye

Maybe some would argue but I would have to say that this documentary had a great beginning and a great ending. The producer was not afraid to use Kohn’s not-so-great voice to introduce us to what we should be expecting. He later started with the question, “Kohn, are you ready?” as a sort of enthusiasm or excitement.

The same goes for the ending. Throughout the whole eight minutes, Andy as well as Kohn mention how not-so-great his voice was and well … that kept me curious. It kept me waiting and anxious to hear Kohn singing and Bam! He sings at the end, which I would say put a strong end to a sad and happy story.

The Steering Wheel

The website Third Coast Festival, was very to navigate through. They had different documentaries one after the other marked clearly inside boxes. The word “LISTEN” is placed in the left side of every box that directs us to the audio file with available relevant information. It is not hard to read and the links are obvious and visible.

Perhaps the only difficulty or rather irritation with the website is the audio file. After you are referred to the audio by clicking on “LISTEN”, you will proceed by clicking the play button. Perhaps you’ve missed something and would like to move it a few seconds behind … no, you can’t. In order to do that, you will have to refresh the page and listen to the audio from the very beginning, which is an inconvenience.

Pointing It Out

Perhaps what made this documentary a success is Andy’s familiarity with Kohn. Andy approached Kohn and patiently listened to him. He learned about him and became his “friend”. I would point out that it is this connection they have that made it easier for Andy to create the script. He showed us a relationship between himself and Kohn, which made him create this “special” documentary.