Devices, Dynamics, & Dialogue
Learning about rhetorical devices, the role of sound in film, exciting stuff in Readwise Reader updates, SoundSource 6 is out, a 4 track recorder for iOS
Hey guys, here are a few things that stood out from my previous week.
On Rhetoric
A few days ago, I watched this video on rhetoric. I don’t remember ever having formally studied rhetoric (or perhaps only briefly, back in my undergrad days), but I find the topic very interesting. As usual, what attracts me about this is the same that I find across many creative areas, the deeply personal aspect. Rhetoric presents a way to infuse your own essence into words. I also love the idea of using sentences to paint images in somebody’s mind, or switching the order of words with the purpose of adding symmetry, shifting emphasis, or building powerful metaphors that strengthen statements.
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around a few practical devices mentioned in the video:
The Diacope (sandwich): This is repeating a word at the start and end of a phrase with something in between. A few popular examples are “Bond, James Bond” or “Run, Forrest, Run.” It’s simple, but it makes a phrase stick.
The Anaphora (repetition at the start): When you start consecutive sentences with the same phrase. Like saying, “It’s the reason I write. It’s the reason I read. It’s the reason I share.” It adds rhythm and emphasis. I think some parts of the famous speech “I Have a Dream” may have this.
The Tricolon (rule of three): I’d heard of this one before. For some reason, our brains just love things in groups of three. The tip here is that if you are listing things, try to stop at three. It just sounds complete.
Honestly, I do suck at this, and I don’t expect to go really deep in this rabbit hole. But still, it’s a small curiosity and I admire writers who are true masters of this. I even know a few people that just speak like this in real life. Huge respect.
On Sound
I watched this video essay on the film Raise the Red Lantern by Zhang Yimou. I’m a big fan of some of Yimou’s earlier works. This older piece in particular really shows his artistic vision in a way that I feel has gotten lost as his popularity increased. In any case, the essay explains perfectly one aspect of how this work stands out. Sound isn’t just “there” on the side; it’s communicating on a different layer.
Two things covered in the video essay that I still find very helpful to revisit any time I’m doing narrative work:
First, sound can create a “hidden character.” In this particular film, there are several important characters that we barely ever see, but we hear them. The “master’s” voice commands attention and creates fear without his face needing to appear on screen. In the language of cinema, what we hear but don’t see can be just as powerful as the image itself.
Second, sound can be a symbol. I love how the essay explains this. In the film there are these sound motifs that, when they appear, remind the viewer of a theme. There is this specific sound of little hammers pounding feet (which signifies a privilege of some characters in the film) that becomes a motif throughout the movie. Eventually, just hearing that sound triggers an emotional response in the viewer because we know exactly what it implies about the power dynamics.
For anyone interested in cinema and storytelling, this essay does an amazing job at explaining some of the power of audio. I’ll say that even if you aren’t interested, the film is an amazing experience.
On Reader
I was reading the public release notes for Readwise and saw that Reader got some major updates. The one that seems the most useful to me is that the Assistant (Ghostreader) has evolved into a proper chat interface on the side of your documents. We already had some form of this, but previously, every AI request would end up cluttering the notebook. Now that this lives in a separate tab is much more convenient. I can just hit a shortcut (Shift+G), and start a chat on the content I’m reading right away. Something really cool is that the answers ca include “citations”, links that jump you directly to the part of the text the AI used to form its answer. A great way to double check you are not getting hallucinations in longer pieces.
The release notes mention a future “Global Chat” where we’ll be able to chat with our entire library of documents. This sounds amazing. We’ll see when that lands.
Talking about Readwise, I finally got around to getting my highlights into Craft. Using the AI assistant in Craft with my Readwise data is INCREDIBLE. It might not have the full “chat with your highlights” power of Readwise yet, but being able to select documents and have AI help build connections with my highlights while I’m writing something is super helpful.
On SoundSource
SoundSource 6 came out this past week and it was an immediate purchase from me. SoundSource is a utility that lets you control the volume of every app individually and route their audio to different devices. It even lets me control the audio from my monitor using my keyboard volume keys, which macOS doesn’t do natively. This app plus Loopback are absolutely necessary for my everyday workflow, but especially when I’m recording videos. They let me route my microphone sound to the camera while simultaneously sending my keyboard and mouse sounds (which I play directly from Taptix, my Alfred workflow) to Screen Studio. At the same time, I can listen to my script through my earphones while doing a screen walkthrough.
I highly recommend Soundsource if you don’t have it already. It looks like this new version adds more automation opportunities that I’m excited to explore.
On iOS Apps
There was this season at the beginning of the App Store where developers were experimenting wildly, trying to find new possibilities. This was before the era of heavy subscriptions and too much advertising. Back then, we had amazing apps that were fully functional and didn’t require a commitment.
This past week I discovered an iOS app called 4Track that immediately made me feel like I was back in that era. It’s a four-track recorder meant for anyone who needs a quick scratchpad for musical/melody ideas. You can record on different tracks, apply effects, reverse audio, and move things around.
It is totally functional, totally free, and has zero advertising. I’ve had some fun playing with it and I’m keeping it in my app stack for now.
On Superwhisper
If you use Superwhisper and aren’t on the TestFlight for iOS (which you can find the link to join in Superwhisper’s Discord server), you are missing out. It has improved so much over the past few weeks. No more than a month ago I was still using Spokenly as my main dictation app on iOS, but Superwhisper has finally reached the point where it has everything I need. The latest feature allows adding custom LLM providers, just like on the Mac. This allowed me to dial the dictation setup I’ve used for a while now
For short, quick dictations: I use S1 Voice for transcription and Groq’s Kimi K2 for LLM processing. It’s incredibly fast and accurate for short bursts.
For longer dictations: I switch to the Ultra Cloud model with GPT-5.1. When I try to use the smaller models for long rants, they tend to reword me too much or hallucinate. GPT-5.1 is much better at handling the longer context.
Spokenly is still and incredible app, by the way. It also has a few tricks on mobile that Superwhisper is missing, like applying a prompt to existing text, but for pure dictation, I’m happy to see Superwhisper get to where it is now.
On Cinema
This year has been fantastic for films, and looking back at my previous week is just a sample that proves it.
I Swear (2025). I’ve been curious about Tourette’s syndrome. Fantastic acting. Wow. Synopsis: Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in life.
Urchin (2025). A very good start for Harris Dickinson as a director. Was not expecting it. Synopsis: Mike, a rough sleeper in London, is trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. Along the way, he encounters unexpected chances for a fresh start.
Dracula (2025). I watched Nosferatu not long ago, and this one still felt fresh in a very Tim Burton kind of way. Synopsis: When a 15th-century prince denounces God after the devastating loss of his wife, he inherits an eternal curse: he becomes Dracula. Condemned to wander the centuries, he defies fate and death itself, guided by a single hope — to be reunited with his lost love.
Left-Handed Girl (2025). I knew that Sean Baker was participating on this one as a producer and the director is a collaborator on several of Baker’s projects. I do think this one had the potential to be something bigger. It was good, and I’m happy to recommend. It’s just lacking something. Synopsis: A mother and her two daughters move to Taipei to open a noodle stand at a vibrant night market, but family secrets and tradition test their fresh start.
Bugonia (2025). I am so happy to see Yorgos Lanthimos coming back to his realistic + absurdist themes. Synopsis: Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
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