Factual Project - Evaluation

Factual Project: Evaluation
David Lee

Research
• Strengths
• Although attending college on a rotating two-week basis could have easily disrupted the development of my
finished product, due to not having access to certain bits of software at home (Adobe Premier Pro in
particular), these problems ultimately did not occur as the podcasts I was listening to, such as Intrigue:
Tunnel 29 (Parts 1 and 2), Radiolab: War of the Worlds and Sound of Cinema, could easily be accessed from
home if required. Throughout this stage of development, I would listen to short snippets from each of the
podcast to identify the context in which they were made as well as how each were linked together i.e.
Tunnel 29 was created as a response to Donald Trump’s announcement that American was planning to build
a wall around the Mexican border while the retrospective on Orson Welles’s infamous radio adaptation of
The War of the Worlds was created as not just a celebration of Welles’s work but to give people a glimmer of
hope as well as something entertaining to listen to, during Donald Trump’s term as President.
• In listening to each of the podcasts individually, I immediately began mapping out ideas as to what form my
podcast could take. As I began leaning more and more heavily towards the concept of creating a podcast
based on music, which would ultimately become the basis of my finished product, I came to realise the
format I wanted my finished podcast to follow was similar to that of The Sound of Cinema series, with one
person talking throughout the product’s duration while music linked to the podcast’s main theme and/or
subject would play at regular intervals while trying to get their point across. This proved to be particularly
helpful in the final stages of my research, as it allowed me to listen closely to how the host carefully linked
musical cues to the dialogue of his script. As such, this allowed me to develop my own editing style during
the post-production phase which followed a similar principle.

Research (cont’d)
• Weaknesses
• Although I feel I have been extremely thorough in choosing which
podcasts to research in order to guide development forward, I feel it
could have easily benefitted from the addition of other podcasts such
as the gripping political thriller Passenger List on Radiotopia (or
alternatively its own website) or Grounded with Louis Theroux on BBC
Sounds and, as with the other podcasts I had chosen, discuss the
context they were created in response to, instead of simply relegating
them (particularly the latter) to audience research.

Planning
• Strengths
• While I have been particularly keen to do an audio project based around music since Creative Media Level 2, I
have ultimately been unable to find a suitable subject to study either due to the complex portfolio he or she
carries or because I felt it wasn’t suitable to the needs of the product I was creating at the time. As a result, the
project itself lingered continually in development hell. However, as I was keen to make music the focus of this
project in some capacity, I began mapping out and formulating ideas about the type of music I would focus on.
Although I was initially tempted to explore the use of classical music in films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey
and The Shining, or popular music being used in the films of Danny Boyle and Quentin Tarantino such as
Trainspotting, Jackie Brown, Shallow Grave or Reservoir Dogs, I knew straight away that I wanted to do a
podcast on John Williams’s film scores and the influences behind them. Having grown up watching the films of
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, this proved to be a key influencing factor in choosing the direction that I
wanted to take my project in.
• With the final direction of my audio project effectively in place, I immediately set to work writing a script that
would pay homage to the musical work that Williams has done over the years in the hopes that the finished
project that would hopefully satisfy filmgoers with a passion for film scores while simultaneously satisfying me
creatively. Despite initially feeling overwhelmed by the scale and enormity of the project, not to mention
Williams’s expansive musical portfolio, this problem was ultimately solved through the creative decision to
break the script down into three sections, with the first two focusing on his contributions to the Star Wars and
Indiana Jones franchises (both created by Lucas) while the third would focus on his score for Richard Donner’s
Superman. This approach would later allow for the inclusion of 30-second snippets (in accordance with
copyright laws) from each of the aforementioned films during the podcast’s post-production phase.

Planning (cont’d)
• Weaknesses
• Despite having thoroughly planned out the course I wanted to take for the first two sections of my podcast,
namely talking about Star Wars and Indiana Jones, I found myself struggling to decide on the podcast’s third
and final subject (before finally choosing Superman) which nearly caused a setback in the development of
my script as well as my finished project. This temporary halt in writing was brought about due to a
combination of writer’s block and indecisiveness, the latter in turn coming about due to the complex nature
of Williams’s music portfolio. If I could develop this project further, I would have considered a few more
possibilities, including some of his more obscure film scores such as The Long Goodbye, The Witches of
Eastwick or even The Book Thief, though with the exception of the first, this would have required extensive
research (both through watching the films themselves and listening to the scores thoroughly) which, due to
time constraints, would likely not have been possible.
• Additionally, due to remote learning taking place on the first week of November across all working college
groups, I was ultimately unable to conduct recording experiments as I had initially hoped to do, forcing me
to head straight into the production phase the following week with little time to write a satisfactory
conclusion to the script, although this would later come about during the penultimate day of production as a
result of feeling unsatisfied with the original written conclusion. If I could try one aspect of planning again, it
would undoubtedly be conducting test recordings, which would most likely have taken the form of me
reading a Shakespearean speech (either from one of his plays or from a loving homage to his work, namely
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher) or reading a piece of dialogue I had written myself.

Time Management
• Strengths
• Despite not being able to use college voice recorders as a result of safety precautions brought about by the
COVID-19 pandemic, which would have necessitated items being quarantined for several days, I was
ultimately able to save time by using a voice recorder I had installed on my phone with the intention of
creating a few test recordings beforehand. While these tests ultimately did not take place due to my
preoccupancy with the Aesthetica Film Festival, it nonetheless proved useful in two recording sessions
during the production phase. Having recorded two versions of the same script, one already clocking in at
three minutes without any editing and the other featuring the script being recorded in full along with a
newly-written conclusion, I ultimately decided to use the second version feeling it to be more thought-out
and less rushed than the first which, in turn, provided freedom for multiple editing opportunities in keeping
with my methodical working nature.
• Although I had not decided upon incorporating tracks written by Williams into the finished product until
early into post-production, save for the opening Star Wars fanfare (which I had planned on using during the
project’s early development phase), I was nonetheless able to acquire the tracks I needed within two days
while still meeting the deadline that had been set. To do this, however, I would have to purchase the tracks
digitally, thereby allowing me to legally use them in my podcast without fear of incurring a copyright lawsuit
(something which I feel could have easily benefitted my yoga project, had I thought of the approach back
then).

Time Management (cont’d)
• Weaknesses
• Although I am satisfied with the finished results of my John Williams podcast,
there were certain areas during the product’s development that could have
either been improved on or, more accurately, decided on faster. While I knew I
wanted music to be the driving force of my podcast from the very beginning (as
mentioned in the first Planning slide), it took a long time to narrow in what I
actually wanted to do and which direction I wanted my project to go in.
• In addition, I feel I could have sped up the research phase of my product by
focusing solely on podcasts related to music (as I had done with the Matthew
Sweet-hosted podcast The Sound of Cinema) which could have taken the form of
listening to Desert Island Discs (in a similar approach to my yoga podcast) as well
as a few classical music podcasts, which could have been an analysis as to how
they were created or simply a compilation, for inspiration.

Technical Qualities
Similarities:
Although Sound of Cinema (left) and my podcast (right) are radically different in
their use of resources, both podcasts utilise music extensively according to the
theme/subject the podcast’s host has chosen to explore. With the former,
particularly in the Deep Space episode, the theme is adventuring to the
unknown which, depending on the film, can often give the viewer a sense of
excitement or dread. With the latter, the theme is more or less the same with
the focus being, based on the choice of tracks, the sense of triumph that comes
after taking such a leap of faith.
Both podcasts are structured as a one-person show, with the host recording
material based on a script they have written. While the content is mostly
analytical in nature, their passion for the subject they are studying shows in
their delivery and tone of voice, which is always extremely important to how
the finished product is perceived by others.
Differences:
One of the key differences between my podcast and the Sound of
Cinema are the resources (briefly touched upon in Similarities) used
to create them. While the former will undoubtedly have been
recorded using a recording booth in the BBC studio or software set up
by the host himself, such as a microphone, sound speakers and a
laptop, my podcast was recorded using only a voice recorder installed
my phone.
Additionally, the length of time both programs run for is another key
difference. Episodes of The Sound of Cinema usually vary in length,
often clocking in at half an hour but, if the subject requires a long
time, can last up to 45 minutes or even an hour. By comparison, my
John Williams podcast is considerably shorter, clocking in at three
minutes as a result of a mandate set by college.

Aural Qualities
• Strengths
• During one of my recording sessions, the use of sound absorbers in one of the college’s
nearby music studios proved particularly useful in isolating external noises from my voice
recorder. As a result, this permitted my recordings of each section of the script the best
form of audio quality possible. I found this became even more noticeable as I began
editing the recordings on Adobe Premier Pro into a singular, three-minute piece.
• Although the John Williams tracks that were incorporated into the finished product could
easily have drowned out the script recordings, I had made the creative decision
beforehand (just as I had done with previous audio projects) to lower the volume to a
suitable hearing quality that one may expect when watching a film, a documentary or
even listening to a podcast telling a story about a daring mission to rescue thirty people
from the east side of the Berlin Wall. In doing this, I feel this allows the audience the
opportunity to listen to both sides of the recording in equal measure, without one side
taking away from the other.

Aural Qualities (cont’d)
• Weaknesses
• Although I am proud of the pieces of music I have chosen (and not would
change them otherwise, save for swapping out Journey to the Island with
the main Jurassic Park theme), I feel I have could used a different track
from one of the Indiana Jones films before using the Raiders March,
mentioned at the end of that section as using the character’s main theme
twice may have given off a sense of repetitiveness in the audience. Were I
to recreate the podcast again in the hopes of avoiding this, I would pick out
a track from said films (”X” Marks the Spot would be a suitable choice) to
use as a build-up to the main film and upon hearing the brief quote of the
Raiders March in said track, I would then attempt to make a seamless
transition between both tracks by first fading out of one and fading directly
into the next, despite having only the latter track mentioned in the script.

Audience Appeal
• Despite the challenges that came forward in working to a bi-weekly college
schedule, I feel I have nonetheless appealed to my target audience of young
adults of 25-30 years of age as well as additional audiences such as senior citizens
(70+), middle-aged individuals (30-69) as well as teenagers (13-18) by creating a
podcast that not only is informative and thought-provoking to the learned
listener but also enjoyable to those who are unfamiliar with the musical works of
John Williams and may encourage people to watch the films mentioned that he
has worked on mentioned throughout the podcast. In centering the subject
matter of my podcast around this renowned composer, I feel I have been
successful in retaining full creative control over the final direction of my product
while at the same time allowing the audience to contribute to its development, in
a minor capacity, by asking them questions such as what they look for in a film
score, what sort of tone of delivery they expect from the podcast's host or even
inquiring about the type of film genre that they feel is suited to an original score.

Feedback 1
• What did you like about the product?
• your narrative is clear
• The information was very informative and it was very well put
together.
• What improvements could have been made to the product?
• when the background music is playing and you are talking sometimes
the music is a bit louder than your speech.

Feedback 2
• We are incredibly impressed with this. We absolutely loved the music
choices
• The timing of the music linking in with your speaking was excellent
and we thought that worked incredibly well.
• Despite the source wracking her brain to determine what could be
improved, the anonymous listener could find anything to suggest,
apart from the short runtime.

Feedback 3
• Liked the humour, witty, amusing, clear diction
• Very interesting and educational
• Music could have been faded out a bit more, allow a gap between
music and dialogue.

Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
• Based on the feedback provided from at least one or two of my sources, I agree that the information provided in the podcast was
educational as it allowed the audience to learn things they may not already know or, if they do, remind them of it again I.e. John
Williams using the works of Gustav Holst as inspiration for creating signature Star Wars themes or discovering that he was the
main composer behind Jurassic Park.
• I also agree with at least one of my sources that the timing of the music with my dialogue was perfectly synchronised, despite a
few technical issues with the music nearly drowning out the dialogue. While I agree with my first feedback source on this and
that both could have been balanced out a bit more, I feel that I have nonetheless managed to get both elements to work together
as harmoniously as possible within the time constraints I had been set.
• Finally, I feel completely satisfied with the results of my finished product with one of my feedback sources (as mentioned above as
well as in slide 14) describing it as "informative", while another (slide 16) has described as being "witty, amusing, interesting and
educational". Additionally, they have also stated (slide 15) that the choices of music throughout the podcast were inspired, and are
looking forward to listening to more podcasts in future.
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
• Although I agree that the podcast could have benefitted from a gap between dialogue and music, it would not have been possible
to carry out this editing task, due to the mandate to make the product three minutes in length and any transitions between the
two would likely have exceeded said mandate.

Peer Feedback Summary
• Based on the feedback provided by my peers, whose identities are to remain
completely anonymous, I would be prepared to make the following changes:
• Editing – While I am nonetheless proud of my efforts in getting both music and
dialogue to work seamlessly as possible, a few audio glitches still remain,
sometimes causing the music to drown out my words and make them nearly
inaudible. Although it would have not been possible to do so, given the mandate
provided by college to give the finished product a maximum length of three
minutes, I would more than be happy to alter certain aspects of the podcast, such
as how the music and dialogue would work together. Through Adobe Premier
Pro, this alteration would have likely rendered my finished podcast similar to
more professionally-made podcasts, such as The Sound of Cinema in which the
host plays a snippet of music for a few seconds and then fades out to speak to the
audience about, repeating the pattern at regular intervals until the podcast ends.

Factual Project - Evaluation

More Related Content

Similar to Factual Project - Evaluation

More from DavidLee1474

Recently uploaded

Factual Project - Evaluation