Kieran Bradley evaluates their research, methods, planning, and production for a project on alcoholism. For research, they conducted interviews in London which provided useful data, but travel was time consuming. A survey helped identify audience interests. Secondary research on existing shows was also effective. Planning interviews proved difficult due to the sensitive topic. Overall, planning went well but contacting services earlier could have helped. Experience presenting radio shows improved their live presentation skills. Problems included a late train during research and forgotten playback software during a live broadcast.

1. Evaluation
By Kieran Bradley

2. Evaluation
Effectiveness of research. What could have been better?
I’m pleased with how my research went, I conducted primary research when I
went down to London to interview my client, they gave me several PowerPoints
on alcoholism. I found this very effective and useful as not only could I speak to
them and pose my questions I was given access to data to analyse and include in
my segment.A weaknesses that I found was that travelling to London was very
time consuming, it took me longer than expected because my train was late. I
also conducted another method of research, this was in the way of a survey,
exploring this method really helped my product, because it gave me the chance
to see first hand what my audience wanted to see within my show, that’s where
the idea of an interview came from, because the people taking part in the
survey, had said they would most like to listen to an interview talking about
facts and real life experiences. I have also used secondary research as another
method, this was very effective because it gave me the chance to see existing
radio shows and jingles.A weakness to this method would be that it’s work that
has already been conducted by someone else.

3. Evaluation
Method used, missed opportunities?
I used several different methods, when creating my project. Firstly, I used Adobe
Audition to edit all of my audio, because having used this software several times in the
past to edit my audio, I have found that it’s reliable and quick and easy to use. Strengths
of this software that I found was, that it’s very easy to edit on and easy when it comes to
learning the different tools. A weakness that I found was it becomes competitive at
times. I used PowerPoint and Word, because I have used this software for all of my units
and it has served me really well. Strengths of this software are, I have found it very
reliable and easy to use. Another strength I have found is that it’s compatible with all of
the formats I use and it’s easy to save my work on. It also looks professional. Weaknesses
I have found using this software, are it’s been difficult at times to import my audio files,
for evidence as they weren’t compatible. These are methods I have used throughout the
whole year and therefore have given me an advantage when starting a new project as I
am already familiar with all the software and it’s also got strong reliability. In regards to
missed opportunities, I did miss the chance to go to “Minster FM Search For a Star”
audition, because nerves set in and I was busy with my final project schedule. If I had
taken this opportunity I would of gained a lot of experience, in the way of presenting and
working with equipment, the “Search For A Star” audition at the end would of given me a
12 month contract with Minster FM presenting The Breakfast Show if I had won, so
experience would have been endless. The only software failure that I had was on the day
of my live broadcast where the software to play my songs and interview was forgotten by
the station manger. Also the nature of this topic has been somewhat of an issue when
wanting to find interviewees, because it is so sensitive, I found that people were telling
me they couldn’t talk about it because they weren’t in the right position to or didn’t know
enough information.

4. Evaluation
Planning, what went well, what did not?
My planning was very in depth, I sent out dozens of emails to different projects and originations,York Hospital
to NorthYorkshire Police. I decided to contact these people because they are at the forefront of the epidemic,
and they would know information and facts that I couldn’t possibly get anywhere else. I hoped to get a real
insight on this subject. I got a response from a few local charity’s inYork, Door 84,York Hospital and the
Samaritans but that was to tell me that they didn’t feel comfortable discussing the topic because of the nature
of it and they felt that they weren’t in the right position to talk on the radio about it. I’ve found it hard to get
someone to speak openly about this subject which is something I didn’t fully consider to begin with so if I was
to do this project again in the future I would, make sure I had people I could interview and that are willing to
speak. I would do this by conducting emails and asking people sooner. I did think at a time about scrapping the
whole idea, because it just came near impossible to get a positive response, but I didn’t give up, I spoke to
some of my family and they knew someone that was a recovering alcoholic and they put me in touch with
them, before I knew it I was on a train down to London about to interview them. I understand in industry
sometimes these connections don’t happen so to be more organised I could have contacted local services a lot
sooner to same time. Planning for this project has gone well I think, having a good connection withTwo Rivers
Radio and doing a few shows there, has really helped me, because I could then use that as a platform to air my
show, and I did. I planned my script well, I looked at the BBCWriters Room, this gave me tips on how to write a
script, I also had taken inspiration from my work experience atYorkshire Coast Radio from a few years ago,
they showed me how they write there scripts and chose good music, I also chose music that tied in with the
topic I was exploring. So overall planning went quite well apart from getting responses, which in the end
worked out better than planned. I also did a lot of planning, I conducted release forms for people involved in
my production, the strengths of this were that it covered me, when wanting to use my audio that had other
people in it. I planned meetings with the station manger, the strengths of this were that it gave me the chance
to talk to him and explore how he could help me with my project. I planned jingles, music and voices. I also
conducted planning my running order, detailing my whole show.The strengths of this, were it gave me a good
idea of how my show was going to flow.

5. Evaluation
Post-Production, what went well, what did not?
I have done several shows forTwo Rivers Radio, meaning that it has given me some great experience
and helped me to get better at presenting, although slip ups have happened along the way, it has
helped me develop the ability to fill gaps and “dead air” with a song or segment.Also all of this
experience has helped me when it comes to talking and conducting myself in a formal manner.
When I did my first live show I froze and didn’t know what to say, even though I had produced a
script of everything that I wanted to say.This happened because it was my first time doing a live
show, and what really didn’t help was that I was in a room on my own with all the equipment that I
didn’t really know how to use and I felt as if I didn’t really know how to conduct myself knowing that
there were people listening on the other end. It was all just a bit much. I overcame this by making
sure that when I did my next live show I had someone else in the room to help me. I have done both
live shows and pre-recorded ones forTwo Rivers, they both differ very much and they both have
benefits on each side, the benefits of live shows are, it gives me experience with equipment and lets
me get hands on.The benefits of doing pre-recorded shows is that it gives me a lot of safety in
regards to be able to do show and then knowing I can edit any bits out that I don’t like or didn’t go
well. Doing my shows these ways has helped inform my project, because I have chosen to a live
show as a result of this. Doing this has really helped me improve my skills in so many areas, for
example doing pre-recorded ones have enabled me to focus on improving my editing skills, using
Adobe Audition has helped me get much better at my editing and I now understand the tools more.
Overall my post-production went well, I had times where things didn’t go so well and were
unplanned such as when I had the day of my live broadcast and the software that I run all my songs
off and my interview was forgotten by the station manger, but they were all steps to this point.The
main elements which helped my project come together in post-production were when I came back
from London edited all of my audio on Adobe Audition.

6. Evaluation
Production, what went well, what did not?
My Production went well, it all fell in to place however the delay in getting a interviewee
initially set me behind schedule and I forgot the software to use in London. I got my interview
recorded and edited relatively quickly. I think if you know what you’re doing and know what
you have to do, it all just falls in to place and that’s what happened with this project. I think I
was able to execute this well because my experience using the radio equipment and the
different types of software have really helped me and also knowing how to use Adobe
Audition. I knew what I wanted to do as I had planned well, so I went out and did it being
efficient and organised. I knew how to edit all my audio on Adobe well, I didn’t have any
problems with that as I made sure I backed up my project and emailed it to myself each time I
had completed a PowerPoint.The only problem that I had was on the day that I had planned to
do my live show atTwo Rivers Radio, I was told by the station manger that the station was
taking a break from broadcasting. This was a shock to me, and made me worry, as I needed to
broadcast my show and it needed to be live because I wanted to deliver my show in that way, I
wanted to talk about what I had been doing, and why I had been away for so long. I wanted to
give the listeners some back story, I didn’t want to just play my interview and a few songs and
them listen to it and not have a clue what’s going on and to do this I needed Two Rivers help
because that’s the only place I could go and broadcast it live. After speaking to the manger, and
telling him my situation, we agreed on a “one off” broadcast, just for my show. I overcame this
as being professional and forming trust with the shows manager, so it didn’t set me back.

7. Evaluation
Does your product meet your intentions?
After now finishing my product, I can say that it has met my original intentions of what I
wanted my show to turn out like were met, although my plans changed slightly along the
way, such as not being able to do exactly as I had set out in the beginning, I had people that I
really wanted to interview and talk to regarding this subject, but were unable to. But with
that being said it all fell in to place and came together because I found someone that knew
this subject very well. I wanted my show to sound professional and be engaging with my
audience and I think I fulfill that, it had an engaging and insightful interview and after
looking at the survey I conducted, that’s what my audience wanted, so not only did I fulfill
my intentions, I also fulfilled my audience's intentions. My product met my intentions,
because I wanted to explore alcoholism and see how much of a problem it is in the UK, and I
successfully did this by conducting an interview with a recovering alcoholic and he gave me a
personal insight in to alcohol addiction, that I don’t think I could of got anywhere else, he
was ever so open and honest throughout the whole interview, my audience got an exclusive
insight in to this persons world and I think all the questions that they had answered. The
interview itself exceeded my expectations, the questions that I decided to ask were strong
and by that I mean they explore everything that I wanted to know. My show also met my
intentions because I had produced jingles and selected songs that I was pleased with and
they worked well in the end product because they all tied in with the main topic.The
intention of my show is to inform and educate my audience, my show informs my audience
with drinking facts and statistics. My show educates with the interview I conducted, where
my audience can listen to real life experience and learn from it.

8. Evaluation
How have you dealt with emotional problems?

9. Evaluation
How did you dealt with technical problems?
During my production, I didn’t encounter many technical problems.When I went
down to London to do my interview, I made sure I took a spare set of batteries to
make sure that my recorder was fully charged and working correctly.The only real
technical problem that I had was not having the correct software needed to play
my songs or interview on the day that I was airing my show. I dealt with this
problem by using iTunes to play my songs and interview on, although this wasn’t
a reliable solution because I found that my songs didn’t automatically stop when
finished as they do on PlayIt.

10. Evaluation
How have you dealt with management problems?
During each stage of my Final Major Product, I have found that my time
management has been good throughout, I have used my free time in-
between lessons and any other free time that I have had, I have also kept in
regular contact with my tutor for feed back and improvements on my
PowerPoints.

11. Evaluation
Final Concept?