2. Planning Task One
To start with we were asked to brainstorm ideas and come up with a name for our
radio station. Firstly we decided that ‘old timers’ would be a good name that went
well with our target audience and theme of the 1950’s. However, when we
researched the phrase we found that it could come across as offensive to some
listeners and may be taken the wrong way if out of context. Therefore we quickly
solved the problem by renaming the radio station ‘Greasers FM’, me and Daisy
came up with this name by searching through websites related to our theme of the
1950’s. I believe this name sounds more suitable to our target audience and is
more memorable. When we begin our main task I will know to research our target
audience and prepare at least three other name if this problem occurs again.
3. Planning Task
Two
In part two of our planning task we had to identify team roles.
Jack decided he wanted to be our guest (Cliff Richards), this is
because he didn’t feel as confident as me and Daisy while
recording. This meant I was given the role as the interview as
well as Daisy. When it came to finding an archive clip I found
one easily by searching for past Cliff Richard Interviews on
YouTube. In my eyes I think the archive clip was easily found
because I was specific when searching for what I wanted. It
includes Cliff talking about his new album which included this top
hits, this helped us in our interview as we discussed the release
for a new christmas single.
After finding an archive clip I then created a flow chart containing
the structure of our broadcast . The flowchart had a brief
description of when the jingle would play and when each of us
should speak. On the other hand when I edited our radio clip I
had the change some of the structure due to the changing of
roles in the group.
Lastly we decided to create a script so that when we came to
recording in the studio we were prepared for what we were
going to say and when. Creating a script helped cut down the
time in the studio and make our interview flow more fluently
rather than have us stuttering and pausing.
When I start planning for my main task I will include more detail
in my flow chart, also I think our script should be longer and
include more detail so when we talk it will sound more natural
and less rehearsed.
4. Creating a Jingle
Individually we all created a separate jingle. It took me a while to find a copyright free music to use
which suited our specific theme of the 1950’s, this caused me to waste time on looking through
websites just to find a certain type of music. However, once I had found a few clips that I was happy
with I began to create my jingle. Once I had imported all of my files and got used to using Audition I
found editing easy, I used three different tracks so I could layer them and make my copyright free
music clips sounds more natural. Before we created each of our jingles Jack had offered to introduce
Greasers FM so we could apply this in our jingles.
To improve next time I will try to have a wider target audience and try not to make a theme too specific
as I wasted time trying to find exact copyright free music to use in my jingle.
5. Editing using Audition
Towards the end of the preliminary task I edited our radio station clip which means I
joined all of the recordings and the jingles we made.
As a team we voted that Daisy’s jingle was the best one out of all of ours therefore I
opened the sequence with that. I managed to pick up using audition quite quickly as
importing and editing was simple. On the other hand when I wanted to export my work
the 2 minute track went mute and I could not understand how to fix this problem.
Eventually we found that we had to click a small button that put the tracks on ‘solo’.
Producing my work next time will be easier as my knowledge on the program has grown.
I would like to improve my edits therefore I hope to understand what more tool on
audition do, this could help my work stand out more and become more impressive.
6. Recording in the studio
Due to the preparation of our script I found recording quite
straight forward because I knew what lines I was saying and
when, this gave me confidence. On the other hand we did have
a few problems when in the recording studio, firstly we did not
speak loud enough into the microphone causing some parts of
the team to sound louder and clearer than others. Also after
recording our interview fully once Jack told us he was struggling
with his role and script. To solve this last minute problem I
offered to switch roles with him to make it easier for him when
saying his lines. JAck found this better but both of us
sometimes got confused with our timings causing us to pause
and re-record part of the interview. This problem also caused
me to speak unclearly as I did not feel as confident reading my
lines as I had not been able to practice them beforehand.
Eventually we managed to record our interview fully without any
problems.
When we used the recording studio next time I will know
to practice our script without recording it and to watch
the volume bar instead to make sure it goes into the
green zone instead of the yellow. Also we will have to
go over our script as a group to ensure everyone is
happy with their roles and lines.
7. Recording using a dictaphone
I found using a dictaphone was simple and we got the recording for our archive clip done
quickly due to this. Nothing went wrong while recording except for having to re-record
lines due to verbal mistakes. When using a dictaphone for our main tain I will speak more
clearly into the dictaphone so it will pick up my voice better.
8. Team Work
Planning was a high point of our team work as we all contributed to thinking of
idea’s and had constructed a well thought out plan including what direction we
wanted our radio station to go in. In our team we all have similar idea’s on what
music we wanted to play so it made it easier to mold all of our idea’s into one
project. Once we got further into the task I felt our roles had not been split equally
as some lessons parts of the team would be working while other had run out of
things to do. Therefore in our future tasks I will know to try and set out the roles as
equal as possible. Another downfall in our team work would be would lack of
communicate outside of college so we will have to try solve this problem by
exchanging contact detail in order to keep in contact when doing independent work
after college.
9. Blogging
Whenever I finished a piece of work I would
immediately post it to my blog. This is so I did
not forget to post it later on and it also notified
me what work I had and hadn’t completed. This
strategy worked well for me and was a great
when organising my work. Sadly my coursework
blog posts lacked detail and did not use
keywords frequently enough. Next time I will put
aside more time to work on my blog posts and
re-read all of them so I can add keywords and
explain my answers better. Also keeping an
updated blog post on what our team is doing will
provide evidence to the work we have created
and keep a log of what each team member has
been doing in each lesson.
10. Individual contribution to your team
As a team we decided that I would be best to create a final edit of the while 2 minute clip
for our radio station. This is because I felt most confident with using Premiere, it took me
around half an hour to create our finished clip. I made the preliminary clip simple however
for the main task I would like to layer more tracks and use for idents to try make the
interview sound less serious and more upbeat. My individual research was a highlight for
me as I found researching interview techniques very useful and helped us when
producing our interview. Sadly I was ill a few lessons which caused me to fall behind
slightly on blog post but I soon caught up with the help of my team. Making sure all of us
are present when making important decision will be a key improvement.
11. Class Work
Class work aims were usually met in the lesson which caused the whole team to keep
on track with time limits. If they weren’t I would finish my tasks at home so that I did not
fall behind. Due to individual absences it sometimes caused us to fall behind as we
needed to communicate with the other team member in order to complete some of the
work. Due to this we have agreed to plan a head incase anyone is absent.
12. Independent Work
When I was absent from a couple of lesson I had to complete my work in my own time
also research blog posts were all created in my own time, other than this our team was
up to date with all the work which we was given. Nonetheless I wish I had put more time
in checking all of my blog posts to make sure I was happy with all of them and they
included all of the information possible and were written as formal as possible including
keywords.
