After many months of hard work, here is my final radio extract. I hope you enjoy it!
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Evaluation- Institutions
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
A media institution is an established organisation that deals in the creation and distribution of advertising, entertainment, and information services. It helps in gathering information, and perceptions about different groups of people and their originality. Therefore, as a radio station, it is likely that there is a media institution who created and distributed my show. As a sports station, it is likely that the media institution that owns talkSPORT would want to own my radio station. The reason for that is because my radio station broadcasts live football. UTV Radio, the owner of talkSPORT, is the worlds biggest sports radio station, and is also a Global Audio Partner of the Premier League. My radio station fits the bill perfectly to be owned by UTV Radio. UTV Radio is a branch of UTV Media. UTV Media are likely to advertise my radio station on a variety of their owned media companies, for example, they own a London-based men's magazine called 'Sport', which would advertise my station because, not only are we owned by the same company, but because it is a sports magazine and is would attract the right audience to my station. They would also advertise my station on u.tv, their official website, which is available in Great Britain, but is mainly aimed to people in Northern and the Republic of, Ireland.
A media institution is an established organisation that deals in the creation and distribution of advertising, entertainment, and information services. It helps in gathering information, and perceptions about different groups of people and their originality. Therefore, as a radio station, it is likely that there is a media institution who created and distributed my show. As a sports station, it is likely that the media institution that owns talkSPORT would want to own my radio station. The reason for that is because my radio station broadcasts live football. UTV Radio, the owner of talkSPORT, is the worlds biggest sports radio station, and is also a Global Audio Partner of the Premier League. My radio station fits the bill perfectly to be owned by UTV Radio. UTV Radio is a branch of UTV Media. UTV Media are likely to advertise my radio station on a variety of their owned media companies, for example, they own a London-based men's magazine called 'Sport', which would advertise my station because, not only are we owned by the same company, but because it is a sports magazine and is would attract the right audience to my station. They would also advertise my station on u.tv, their official website, which is available in Great Britain, but is mainly aimed to people in Northern and the Republic of, Ireland.
Evaluation - Target Audience
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Once I decided what I wanted to base my radio show on, I knew what my target audience would be. As I created a sports show, I knew my target audience would not be a particular age or gender, but instead would be for general sports fans, and as my show would predominately cover Football, Football fans would be attracted to it mainly. As I knew what my target audience would be, that had a great effect on how I wrote my script, as I knew every little detail would have to be designed in order for the audience to enjoy the show. Ultimately, writing the script made me realise that, even though the creators of radio stations pump a lot of money into keeping the stations at the top of the game, the listeners are the decisive factor in whether a station is popular or unpopular, of which could lead to the deterioration of a particular show. If a show no longer appeals to its audience, then it becomes less popular and will end up being scrapped for something else. Therefore, I knew that in order for my radio show to sound authentic, it had to be scripted to suit the audiences needs. An example of the effect the target audience had on my extract was that, because it is a local radio station (based in London), the majority of the audience would most likely be supporters of London-based Football clubs. Therefore, these listeners would want to hear news about their club, otherwise they would feel that their club does not receive enough coverage if their is significant news about their club that could be told on a radio station. Therefore, I scripted stories about Barnet FC, Arsenal FC, and Chelsea FC, to give an example of how my radio station would consider the audience when deciding the content told in the station. I also looked on RAJAR which analyses the audience numbers of radio stations, and who their target audience is. I also looked at character of service sheets on Ofcom to understand radio stations in greater detail.
How did you attract/address your audience?
In order to understand what it is that attracts an audience to a radio station, apart from the content of the show, I listened to various different radio stations such as talkSPORT, Heart and BBC Radio 2. Despite the stations having different target audiences, different types of shows, and different content, I noticed that each of these stations do have things in common. For example, they all have well-known people as their presenters at certain times for the day, for example, Ian Wright on talkSPORT, and Emma Bunton on Heart. They all advertise their own station more than they advertise anything else, and they all engage with their audience to a great extent. I considered each of these three things when planning my radio extract, and I implemented the first two points into it, with the use of made-up famous ex-professional's, and the advertisement of my station's coverage of the upcoming Football matches. However, I did not implement the last point, which I ultimately believe, as a listener of various radio stations, that, depending on the station, engaging with your audience ultimately attracts an audience. talkSPORT would not succeed if it did not have people phoning in to talk about whatever they want, as it would be a bit boring listening to Stan Collymore and only Stan Collymore for a couple of hours straight, despite him having very interesting opinions. The point I am making is that radio stations have a disadvantage in that for most stations, the audience can only hear, and cannot see. Therefore, in my honest opinion, Radio lacks where other media outlets such as Television thrive. Therefore, as an audience member, Radio needs added entertainment where TV may not. On talkSPORT, there is nothing more entertaining than an angry, drunk Football fan calling in and complaining about their teams performance and the referee because, not only is it funny, but it is enthralling viewing. The same can be said about Heart. On weekdays, it is boring as a listener when Emma Bunton and Jamie Theakston talk during their morning slot, but it is entertaining when Emma is competing with a random audience member on a Quiz that the audience can get involved with and test themselves on, with that person having the chance to win a very handsome prize. Ultimately, the thing that attracts the audience the most is, in essence, the audience itself, as radio can often be seen as the link between every person/listener.
Evaluation - Technology
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
At the beginning of AS Level, I had very little knowledge about the equipment that I would need to use in order to turn my radio extract from a 4 page long script, to an 8-minute long, authentic radio extract. During this transition, I have learnt not just how to write a radio show, but how to create one as well. The piece of equipment that was used to make my radio show is called 'Adobe Audition'. Adobe Audition is a digital audio workstation from Adobe System that features both a multi-track, non-destructive mix/edit environment, and a destructive approach waveform editing view. Basically, Adobe Audition is the software that made my extract appear realistic.
When doing my Preliminary Task, I had no idea how to use Adobe Audition. By monitoring my teacher Jon, I slowly understood how it works and how to edit effectively. I was gradually able to understand how to use the software to enable me to get the clip how I wanted my extract to sound, and this practice gave me extra confidence and practice when it came to creating the main task.
For the recording of my radio show, a 'Sure SM58' was used to record the voices. This is piece of recording technology that is able to record sounds to a high quality standard. The recordings are then recorded on Adobe Audition. During the editing of my main task, the ability of Adobe Audition to edit and mix to a high standard highlights the quality of technology. As an A Level student, the technology is available for me to do whatever I want with something, and make it to a high standard. This is an extraordinary thing and this means that, despite the software costing money, it is available to anyone, and the opportunities are endless for those who use it.
Many editing techniques that I frequently used to make my radio extract were silencing and cutting (in order to create a smoother sounding flow in the content), adding frequency to sounds (in order to make sounds realistic to its setting), and creating layers (merging various different sounds, such as background music, a main voice, and special effects, such as crowd noises).
All my sounds were taken from the 'Indie Rock 2' CD, which contains various pieces of music recorded specifically for use in radio. All of my effects were taken from the 'BBC Music Library', which has recorded sounds for every situation, and is useful when creating a realistic scenario in radio.
At the beginning of AS Level, I had very little knowledge about the equipment that I would need to use in order to turn my radio extract from a 4 page long script, to an 8-minute long, authentic radio extract. During this transition, I have learnt not just how to write a radio show, but how to create one as well. The piece of equipment that was used to make my radio show is called 'Adobe Audition'. Adobe Audition is a digital audio workstation from Adobe System that features both a multi-track, non-destructive mix/edit environment, and a destructive approach waveform editing view. Basically, Adobe Audition is the software that made my extract appear realistic.
When doing my Preliminary Task, I had no idea how to use Adobe Audition. By monitoring my teacher Jon, I slowly understood how it works and how to edit effectively. I was gradually able to understand how to use the software to enable me to get the clip how I wanted my extract to sound, and this practice gave me extra confidence and practice when it came to creating the main task.
For the recording of my radio show, a 'Sure SM58' was used to record the voices. This is piece of recording technology that is able to record sounds to a high quality standard. The recordings are then recorded on Adobe Audition. During the editing of my main task, the ability of Adobe Audition to edit and mix to a high standard highlights the quality of technology. As an A Level student, the technology is available for me to do whatever I want with something, and make it to a high standard. This is an extraordinary thing and this means that, despite the software costing money, it is available to anyone, and the opportunities are endless for those who use it.
Many editing techniques that I frequently used to make my radio extract were silencing and cutting (in order to create a smoother sounding flow in the content), adding frequency to sounds (in order to make sounds realistic to its setting), and creating layers (merging various different sounds, such as background music, a main voice, and special effects, such as crowd noises).
All my sounds were taken from the 'Indie Rock 2' CD, which contains various pieces of music recorded specifically for use in radio. All of my effects were taken from the 'BBC Music Library', which has recorded sounds for every situation, and is useful when creating a realistic scenario in radio.
Evaluation - Preliminary Task
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When preparing my preliminary task, I had a very minimal understanding of how to do a variety of things, such as, recording, editing, and scripting, although I had a vague idea as to how to write a script for a radio show. This was highlighted in my inability when confronted with all the equipment, and the task ahead. I got confused as to how the microphone works, what type of editing tools to use etc. This is in stark contrast to my preparation and production of my main task. I created my preliminary task in September with little preparation for what I was going to do. My main task, which I produced and created in April, was completely different. I had 7 months of research into radio in my mind, drafts and drafts worth of scripts, and experience in using the equipment. I knew exactly what I was going to do and how to do it, although there were various things I still needed help with, as it takes longer than 7 months to be a highly experienced teacher with a broad understanding of radio. Therefore, I have learnt, looking back at my preliminary task, how to create an authentic radio show, as well as all the skills required.
Evaluation - Conventions
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My radio extract uses many conventions that exist in real radio. Firstly, my radio station is a Sports-based station that was created around the format of talkSPORT radio station, with many similarities and differences. As talkSPORT is the only real station that is similar to my station, I took it upon myself to regularly listen to talkSPORT, not just the shows, but the adverts and jingles also, to see how a sports station is meant to be presented, and whether it was similar to the idea I had for my station. This helped me greatly because it helped me differentiate the difference between talkSPORT and stations such as LBC, which is similar, not in context, but in the strengths of the station, for example, talkSPORT and LBC both rely on debates and conversations, and people calling in to give their opinion, rather than music.
Listening to talkSPORT also helped me realise that every detail is heavily planned. Prior to doing this research, I took no interest in the adverts and jingles that radio stations used. I was only interested in the content of the station's shows, for example, what Adrian Durham had to say in the 'Daily Arsenal'. However, I realised that the adverts used by the station are strategically used because they are adverts designed for the stations target audience. I noticed a theme in the amount of betting adverts, and Lucozade adverts that appeared on talkSPORT, and realised that that you never hear these adverts on any other stations. I even listened to Capital FM, Absolute, and magic, and found that the only advertising they do, excluding their own shows, are of mainly artists who have a concert in the nearby future. Therefore, this made me realise that, in order to make my radio extract authentic, every area of the show needed heavy planning and thought going into it.
Listening to talkSPORT also made me differentiate the language and behaviour used in their shows in comparison to any other radio station. The conversations are very informal, and the presenters are almost always men, which perhaps explains the typical 'laddish' banter that goes on between the presenters and the audience. Also, the majority of callers into the show are men, with a lot of them calling up to express their feeling on a topic of their choice, or of a topic that is already being discussed on the show. These people often also speak in a very informal way, and can often lead to a heated debate among the panel that more likely resembles The Jeremy Kyle Show than Question Time. This helped me realise that, even though I didn't have a caller on my radio extract, I knew that in order to seem authentic, I needed my presenters on my show to sound informal and as if they were having a normal conversation. This effected how I made my characters speak and made me alter my script so as to have the show scripted but make it sound otherwise.
What I also realised whilst listening to talkSPORT was that the context of the news bulletins are different to many other radio stations. On talkSPORT they have a news bulletin, and a sports update. The difference between the two of them is simply that the sports update is centred completely around Sport, whilst the news bulletin is more general. This is not to mean that the news bulletin cannot contain sport at all, it just means that it can contain anything deemed important enough for the station, and for the audience. This affected how I wanted to present my news bulletin. I decided against copying talkSPORT's idea of a sports update. I did this because I didn't like the idea of the news and sports being separate and different. I believe that if something is news worthy, then it deserves to be on the news, no matter what it is. With this in mind, I made sure that my news stories were as news-worthy as possible. Therefore, each news story that is related to sport in my news bulletin is a story that would make the news even if it didn't relate to sport. I did this so as to make my news stories attractable to not just the sports-loving audience, but to the news-loving audience as well. With all of this in mind, I hoped that this would make my radio station seem as authentic as possible.
Evaluation - Representions
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Representation is one of the most important things I had to look into when researching for my radio extract, and in its production as well. I had a very good idea after my research of what I wanted my radio extract to be; a Sports radio show. I knew what kind of people my characters are because I have experience of listening to similar sports stations such as talkSPORT, where the presenters are all men who don't necessarily sound like they've had an upper class upbringing. Therefore, I knew I had to be careful who I chose to play my roles. I prepared my script and analysed who my characters are, what I wanted them to sound like, and whether or not they are realistic as people on a sports radio station. Once I prepared my script, I knew roughly the type of people I could use for my radio extract from those who were available for use. For example, at the beginning of the extract, you hear a discussion between 2 presenters, Hill and Marsh, in their show. I knew that I wanted to blend a bit of youth and experience in this pairing. I wanted Marsh to be an older guy, in his 40's or 50's who has an experienced sound and edge to the way he talks. In my eyes, he is a journalist who is very knowledgeable about Football, and he makes a great partner to Hill, who is perhaps a younger person, very likeable, who knows his Football also, but relies on his co-presenter. Therefore, my teacher, Jon, played Marsh. He speaks very clearly, and sounds like the ultimate professional, but also sounds like someone, from a listener's point of view, like someone you could listen to and like. He also has great experience doing this so it was a no-brainer to have him play such an important part. Hill was played by Adam, a classmate of mine. He has a unique style voice, which would make him stand out on radio. He also sends young and raw which makes for an exciting and entertaining mix along with Jon's ability to sound like he is very knowledgable in this subject.
For my news bulletin, I knew that, despite it being a Sports station, that the news had to be taken very seriously, and had to sound professional. Originally, I decided to have 2 news presenters. Darren and Amy. However, after much deliberation with my teachers, I decided that it is very rare that a radio station has 2 news presenters on at the same time, and on the stations that do, the news may be longer and be on bigger stations. Therefore, I decided to get rid of the character Amy, and instead have my teacher Alex play the part of Darren. I chose Alex to play Darren because I knew how important it was that the news sounded authentic and realistic. Alex, like Jon, has the experience of performing in radio extracts and so, with the news bulletin being the most important part of the radio extract, I knew that what Alex could add to my show was necessary and important. Alex spoke fluently, and sounded very professional, which came with experience. I believe that Alex's role was key to the station being taken seriously; it is a Sports show, and the news may not necessarily be deemed important or interesting. However, Alex performed the role in such a way that he presented the professionalism of Darren in such a way that my audience would want to listen to the news and be interested by it at the same time.
The news contained an outside broadcast, and 2 archive clips. For my outside broadcast, I enlisted my classmate Ronit to take on the role of the female reporter. I decided to use her as my reporter because I felt like a woman could add something different to my extract. If I only used men, my station may be deemed to be sexist at the lack of use of women on a Sports station, so Ronit played an important part in the news, and delivered her part very well.
One of my archive clips was of an MP in the Houses of Parliament. I knew that I had to be very careful who I chose to play this part, as it is something that needed to sound perfect so as to maintain its authenticity. I knew this would require a lot of editing to the voice, as well as the addition of background noises so as to make it sound like we were actually in the Houses of Parliament. My teacher Jon took on this role as he was able to display his ability at using various different accents, as well as sounding like he could actually be an MP.
On the second archive clip, the owner of Barnet, Anthony Jackson, was talking to the media. I knew that the owner of Barnet Football Club would speak to the media in a very clear and professional way. He would try to use the correct dialect, and speak in a polite way so as to sound authentic, as people tend to take notice of how they speak when put under the spotlight. Therefore, my teacher Chris played the role of Anthony Jackson, as he was able to put on a very well educated, polite and media-friendly voice. He sounded very professional and was able to sound very authentic.
At the end of my show, I decided to introduce the beginning of another radio show. I felt this was important as a time filler for my extract, as it is not the most important part of the extract. However, I thought I'd use all my research and be different. I thought it would be very unique to have 2 ex-professional footballers present the show. Therefore, I had one ex-English footballer and decided to have an ex-Portuguese footballer, both having played in England. I therefore wanted my English footballer to obviously have better English than the Portuguese footballer so it would make sense for the more comfortable speaker of the language to take on a more prominent role in the show. My teacher Chris played the Pitch, the ex-English footballer as he was able to speak very clearly, but was also able to pass as a footballer. The ex-Portuguese teacher, Vives, was played by my teacher Manni. I decided to enlist Manni as Vives because he is Portuguese, so, despite not having a thick accent in real life, he was able to put on an accent that is very authentic and would make you believe that he was Portuguese.
For my jingles and adverts, I did not decide who I wanted to play these roles as easy as I was able to decide my cast for the news and radio shows. Because of this, I decided to cast the roles for the jingles and adverts relatively safe. I cast my teacher Jon as the voiceover for the Jingles, as well as my second advert. I chose him because I knew what Jon could do and how he could alter his voice for different things. Therefore, for the voiceover for the jingle, I knew I wanted a deep, altered voice, and something that is catchy and would make my audience remember it and try and say as well. Jon was able to do that, and was able to produce a voice that fitted perfectly to the music that accompanied it.
For my first advert, there were only three parts; the Boss, the Worker, and the Voiceover at the end. For the Boss, I played it safe by casting Jon to play a Boss who I based on Matt Berry, who appeared in Channel 4's IT Crowd. Berry played the Boss in that show so when I was writing my script I knew that I wanted to use his characters voice as inspiration for this character. Again, Jon's knack at accents meant he was a necessity for this role, unless Matt Berry was available himself for the role. The worker was played by my classmate Sam. I wanted the worker to sound very upset and worried, as depicted in the advert storyline. The worker had a bad weekend, and Sam was able to produce a voice that not only sounded upset, but also sounded scared of his Boss, which ultimately changed at the end of the advert after he realised his Boss wasn't so bad after all. The voiceover was played by my classmate Zac, who was needed to play a specifically scripted part of the advert. He was needed to read out the offer and the slogan as well as bringing the curtain down on the advert. He spoke clearly and at a good pace, and he sounded very authentic in the process.
Representation is one of the most important things I had to look into when researching for my radio extract, and in its production as well. I had a very good idea after my research of what I wanted my radio extract to be; a Sports radio show. I knew what kind of people my characters are because I have experience of listening to similar sports stations such as talkSPORT, where the presenters are all men who don't necessarily sound like they've had an upper class upbringing. Therefore, I knew I had to be careful who I chose to play my roles. I prepared my script and analysed who my characters are, what I wanted them to sound like, and whether or not they are realistic as people on a sports radio station. Once I prepared my script, I knew roughly the type of people I could use for my radio extract from those who were available for use. For example, at the beginning of the extract, you hear a discussion between 2 presenters, Hill and Marsh, in their show. I knew that I wanted to blend a bit of youth and experience in this pairing. I wanted Marsh to be an older guy, in his 40's or 50's who has an experienced sound and edge to the way he talks. In my eyes, he is a journalist who is very knowledgeable about Football, and he makes a great partner to Hill, who is perhaps a younger person, very likeable, who knows his Football also, but relies on his co-presenter. Therefore, my teacher, Jon, played Marsh. He speaks very clearly, and sounds like the ultimate professional, but also sounds like someone, from a listener's point of view, like someone you could listen to and like. He also has great experience doing this so it was a no-brainer to have him play such an important part. Hill was played by Adam, a classmate of mine. He has a unique style voice, which would make him stand out on radio. He also sends young and raw which makes for an exciting and entertaining mix along with Jon's ability to sound like he is very knowledgable in this subject.
For my news bulletin, I knew that, despite it being a Sports station, that the news had to be taken very seriously, and had to sound professional. Originally, I decided to have 2 news presenters. Darren and Amy. However, after much deliberation with my teachers, I decided that it is very rare that a radio station has 2 news presenters on at the same time, and on the stations that do, the news may be longer and be on bigger stations. Therefore, I decided to get rid of the character Amy, and instead have my teacher Alex play the part of Darren. I chose Alex to play Darren because I knew how important it was that the news sounded authentic and realistic. Alex, like Jon, has the experience of performing in radio extracts and so, with the news bulletin being the most important part of the radio extract, I knew that what Alex could add to my show was necessary and important. Alex spoke fluently, and sounded very professional, which came with experience. I believe that Alex's role was key to the station being taken seriously; it is a Sports show, and the news may not necessarily be deemed important or interesting. However, Alex performed the role in such a way that he presented the professionalism of Darren in such a way that my audience would want to listen to the news and be interested by it at the same time.
The news contained an outside broadcast, and 2 archive clips. For my outside broadcast, I enlisted my classmate Ronit to take on the role of the female reporter. I decided to use her as my reporter because I felt like a woman could add something different to my extract. If I only used men, my station may be deemed to be sexist at the lack of use of women on a Sports station, so Ronit played an important part in the news, and delivered her part very well.
One of my archive clips was of an MP in the Houses of Parliament. I knew that I had to be very careful who I chose to play this part, as it is something that needed to sound perfect so as to maintain its authenticity. I knew this would require a lot of editing to the voice, as well as the addition of background noises so as to make it sound like we were actually in the Houses of Parliament. My teacher Jon took on this role as he was able to display his ability at using various different accents, as well as sounding like he could actually be an MP.
On the second archive clip, the owner of Barnet, Anthony Jackson, was talking to the media. I knew that the owner of Barnet Football Club would speak to the media in a very clear and professional way. He would try to use the correct dialect, and speak in a polite way so as to sound authentic, as people tend to take notice of how they speak when put under the spotlight. Therefore, my teacher Chris played the role of Anthony Jackson, as he was able to put on a very well educated, polite and media-friendly voice. He sounded very professional and was able to sound very authentic.
At the end of my show, I decided to introduce the beginning of another radio show. I felt this was important as a time filler for my extract, as it is not the most important part of the extract. However, I thought I'd use all my research and be different. I thought it would be very unique to have 2 ex-professional footballers present the show. Therefore, I had one ex-English footballer and decided to have an ex-Portuguese footballer, both having played in England. I therefore wanted my English footballer to obviously have better English than the Portuguese footballer so it would make sense for the more comfortable speaker of the language to take on a more prominent role in the show. My teacher Chris played the Pitch, the ex-English footballer as he was able to speak very clearly, but was also able to pass as a footballer. The ex-Portuguese teacher, Vives, was played by my teacher Manni. I decided to enlist Manni as Vives because he is Portuguese, so, despite not having a thick accent in real life, he was able to put on an accent that is very authentic and would make you believe that he was Portuguese.
For my jingles and adverts, I did not decide who I wanted to play these roles as easy as I was able to decide my cast for the news and radio shows. Because of this, I decided to cast the roles for the jingles and adverts relatively safe. I cast my teacher Jon as the voiceover for the Jingles, as well as my second advert. I chose him because I knew what Jon could do and how he could alter his voice for different things. Therefore, for the voiceover for the jingle, I knew I wanted a deep, altered voice, and something that is catchy and would make my audience remember it and try and say as well. Jon was able to do that, and was able to produce a voice that fitted perfectly to the music that accompanied it.
For my first advert, there were only three parts; the Boss, the Worker, and the Voiceover at the end. For the Boss, I played it safe by casting Jon to play a Boss who I based on Matt Berry, who appeared in Channel 4's IT Crowd. Berry played the Boss in that show so when I was writing my script I knew that I wanted to use his characters voice as inspiration for this character. Again, Jon's knack at accents meant he was a necessity for this role, unless Matt Berry was available himself for the role. The worker was played by my classmate Sam. I wanted the worker to sound very upset and worried, as depicted in the advert storyline. The worker had a bad weekend, and Sam was able to produce a voice that not only sounded upset, but also sounded scared of his Boss, which ultimately changed at the end of the advert after he realised his Boss wasn't so bad after all. The voiceover was played by my classmate Zac, who was needed to play a specifically scripted part of the advert. He was needed to read out the offer and the slogan as well as bringing the curtain down on the advert. He spoke clearly and at a good pace, and he sounded very authentic in the process.
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