We where asked to create a 5 minute pitch to Ed Stagg about what we plan to do in our slot of the 60 minute. I created a few key points and wrote out a script to help me during it so i could add enough content and meet as many of the key terms i had to during the pitch. The key terms i refer to where given to us on the project brief we where sent by Mrs Merrick. Below is a screen shot of what we was instructed to try and include.
Here is a script i wrote out in the lesson before we where intended to do our pitch. During though, I didn't stick to it as i rushed it and got straight to key points, i simply picked out the most important parts and improvise from there.
"Our initial brief is to create a 60 minute radio show, which will give us 7.5 minutes individually to create our own part to it about a topic that is appropriate to our target audience, which is teachers, pupils and parents. During my 7.5 minute slot, i plan to discuss interesting and exciting news or facts about teachers here at Bluecoat that pupils didn't know, in other words teacher profiling. The aim of this is to provide a fun and more exciting touch to the 60 minute mix we are creating. To involve the students i will create a survey to find out what sort of topics they want to hear about the teachers and what they want to hear about specifically. A suggestion made was to talk about teachers careers before they got into teaching, for example Mr Cook the PE teacher used to be a proffesional swimmer before he got into teaching. Questions like this will not only be interesting but could inspire the students to fulfill their dream jobs and know that it is possible to achieve.The teachers will be shown as a role model and an admirer to the pupils. This will hit the target of what our most important target audience will want to hear from my slot. The questions I will ask the teachers will be appropriate in regards to there ethnicity religion and gender to ensure no-one is offended. For this project we dont have a set budget and it will take place withing the school. We will record interviews either in the studio or with ipads to get the best quality for our show. I also plan to do a vox or questionnaire that the teachers, parents and students cant get involved with so i have a wider knowledge and idea of what to talk about within my interview."
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Unit 65 Blog
A formal blog containing your
understanding of web animation
technologies. You will explain the differences between banner ads, animated
interface elements and e-learning content, and technical issues such as compression
and file formats, using technical vocabulary correctly and confidently at all
times.
Animated interface Element
Animated interface element are commonly seen on smart phones and tablets world wide. This animation is highly recommended to make any website have a modern effect and is used across many media platforms.it is simply a list that comes up with relevant links or words when pressed a letter on a keyboard. not only do smart phones or other devices have this element, many websites do. For example in Google instead of waiting you to right out the whole thing you want to search, as soon as you type the first letter a number of results come up. THIS IS SHOWN I THE SCREEN SHOT BELOW. It makes the site the individual is on a lot easier to work around and get to information you want a lot quicker, adding a professional touch at the same time. However it could be suggested to have a negative side to it. This is because the element will come up with the most common results or any results at random from the word wrote in. This could come up with inappropriate suggestions, and as they are based on phones that younger people could see, it could cause many problems on the content they will be allowed to see.
An interactive animation is one that an individual can become involved in, for example by clicking on a specific section can adjust the animation. A very common website that uses this is google. These links show a two interactive animations they have used over the years. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpZBIdgNez0 ) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1P91to26oA)
This refers to the instructional videos that are used on many websites such as wiki how and sometimes even revision websites to teach you how to do particular things, like maths problems. For example on wiki how, it uses very crisp, clear videos that are easy to see whats going in. Such as in this video used at the bottom of the website to see how a reef knot is made, (http://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Reef-Knot). There is the option to change the quality so you can see it clearly, and to set it to full screen. As it is a YouTube link on the website there is a chance it can buffer as it is a lossless compression. This is a feature used on many websites and is a very professional one at that. As well as having instructional purposes, similar videos provide information to the individual would highly benefit from.
Animations have changed over the years and has been visible through the different developments in technology. For example...
Promotion is usually on every website used around the world. Either the website itself will be promoting a particular product, like (www.apple.com) where it promotes all its products individually with videos photos and specific colours to show off its best features or it will be an advert that hosts for example games with large promotional banners, similar to the banner adverts i have previously talked about. These mainly promote sales in clothes websites or the latest car (video 2 mp3). However an alternative would be an advert to promote a product which was video orientated. for example the (http://www.gofurther.com/#en-GB/content/easy-access-door-system) that has a photo related to the featured video in the center of the screen. Those are the only features present on the screen as it is a page purely for the video to promote the new ford car. The apple website mainly uses photos or takes advantage of the album photo of each song used on one of there products. For example when looking at the ipod touch (http://www.apple.com/ipod/) they have used a banner advert to promote their product. They have also used the brightest cases to add more colour to the page as it is very plain and simple colour scheme, that would make the product seem bland if it went along with it. They have also eased the intensity down by using a less bright but still colorful album phot on one of the 5 ipods shown on the banner. This is effective, eye catching and promotes the product well along side any text beneath it that can further attract a viewers attention and further promote the product. These three different types of promotion are all strong as they all use similar techniques to promote their product.
Linear and interactive Animation
An interactive animation is one that an individual can become involved in, for example by clicking on a specific section can adjust the animation. A very common website that uses this is google. These links show a two interactive animations they have used over the years. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpZBIdgNez0 ) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1P91to26oA)
This refers to the instructional videos that are used on many websites such as wiki how and sometimes even revision websites to teach you how to do particular things, like maths problems. For example on wiki how, it uses very crisp, clear videos that are easy to see whats going in. Such as in this video used at the bottom of the website to see how a reef knot is made, (http://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Reef-Knot). There is the option to change the quality so you can see it clearly, and to set it to full screen. As it is a YouTube link on the website there is a chance it can buffer as it is a lossless compression. This is a feature used on many websites and is a very professional one at that. As well as having instructional purposes, similar videos provide information to the individual would highly benefit from.
Animations have changed over the years and has been visible through the different developments in technology. For example...
However, a linear animations is an animation on a continuous loop, almost similar to a GIF. On many websites, such as the Simpsons website (http://www.thesimpsons.com/), the animation will immediately pop up. For example at the start as the website buffers, it has a spinning doughnut that goes from one point to another continuously until the loading has completed. This is just one of they many animations used on this website and on many others accessible world wide. The positive aspects of these animations is that as there is two different types, they could cater for different audience. For example both a simple linear and interactive animation could be exciting and entertaining to use on a children's website, as well as an adults depending on its topic or theme. A disadvantage however could be that it draws away the attention from the key elements in the rest of the website. For example google can use them efficiently as the only important part to it is the search bar just below it, however others may not. This is specifically aimed at interactive animations as they may be attractive and entertaining but very distracting from important other features.
Promotion
Promotion is usually on every website used around the world. Either the website itself will be promoting a particular product, like (www.apple.com) where it promotes all its products individually with videos photos and specific colours to show off its best features or it will be an advert that hosts for example games with large promotional banners, similar to the banner adverts i have previously talked about. These mainly promote sales in clothes websites or the latest car (video 2 mp3). However an alternative would be an advert to promote a product which was video orientated. for example the (http://www.gofurther.com/#en-GB/content/easy-access-door-system) that has a photo related to the featured video in the center of the screen. Those are the only features present on the screen as it is a page purely for the video to promote the new ford car. The apple website mainly uses photos or takes advantage of the album photo of each song used on one of there products. For example when looking at the ipod touch (http://www.apple.com/ipod/) they have used a banner advert to promote their product. They have also used the brightest cases to add more colour to the page as it is very plain and simple colour scheme, that would make the product seem bland if it went along with it. They have also eased the intensity down by using a less bright but still colorful album phot on one of the 5 ipods shown on the banner. This is effective, eye catching and promotes the product well along side any text beneath it that can further attract a viewers attention and further promote the product. These three different types of promotion are all strong as they all use similar techniques to promote their product.
Instruction/Information
Animation can also be used to help and inform others. For example, the website (http://www.explania.com/en) shows a site that provides animations which are only created educational purposes. They are based on things such as the human heart and about sports, more specifically what the off side rule is in football.
Banner Ad's
Banner adverts are used to promote a particular product or subject, and are on almost every website. They aim to inform the public that this product is available, and will highlight all its positive features. The adverts shown here are to sell certain offers and products from Boots. The use of bright colours will draw the eye of the viewer and make it look aesthetically pleasing. For example even though the bottom banner advert here is just white, the use of the particular shade of pink text and edging, as well as an image of a product available makes it more appealing to the eye. This is similar to the second banner as it has also gone for a simple yet effective colour scheme. However, instead of using pink they have used different shades of brown, that link with the shades of make up used either side of the logo.However, the top one has gone for a completely different approach as it has used a blue background colour and white text. To add more colour variation it uses the brightest coloured toys on the right hand side. This draws the attention to the banner as the background is not outstanding. These are very common ways that banner adverts use where they emphasise the colours to attract them to the product. An advantage of a banner ad is that on certain sites they will be catered to suit you. For example on Facebook, if you adjust your personal settings, adverts relevant to it will appear. It is an advantage as you wont have unwanted and irrelevant adverts on the page. Another example of this is on the website for 'How Stuff Works' (http://www.howstuffworks.com/banner-ad.htm). Along the side they have adverts all relevant to the tech section of the website. The picture below specifically shows the banner advert page and the adverts alongside it. A disadvantage of the colour scheme used on the one underneath is that is pink which is stereotyped to be a very feminine colour. This means that male customers may be drawn off when the advert could apply to them. As the specific product being 'clinique', a makeup brand, it might not appeal to men. But an example the website banner below is a good an example of a multi gender product that is advertised in a pink banner. Simply seeing this before reading it would automatically loose many mens attention.
History Of Animation
Hand Drawn and flick book
Many companies use hand drawn versions of an animation first as a run through of what the actual animation will look like. For example disney did this a lot in creating their animations and films so that they could plan each step out and ensure it was to the best standard it could be, with no jolts or un smooth transitions. However, as films are on average two hours long, it means a large amount of drawings have to be done by a big team of people. A flip book is a booklet that has a freeze frame of a particular picture that shows a gradual movement in the picture. This was used in the past often as is a very useful method to use. However, the issue with using flip books is that they would have to be hand drawn or printed, which takes a long time depending on how long and how detailed the animation is.
Animated Process
Processing the animation requires vital stages to help analyse each step of the animation. For example on the dream works website (http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/insidedwa/productionprocess) show the production progress they undergo when creating all their animated films. The first step is to create the script and imagine it. This will allow new interpretations to be made by others and allow the producer to develop it further. Depending on how long an animation is, this may not be relevant, as this is more set on films which require a large amount of speech. This leads to the disadvantage as it will take a very long time to create the script if it stretches over a long period of time. The second is to create storyboards, which is what we have done for our own animations. These will be simple yet still effective to tell the producers of each stage. This is a useful step to see how the animation will look before actually creating it. Again, depending on the length of the animation this may take a while to draw each scene in high detail. Thirdly, is visual development which involves paintings, blue prints, drawing and sometimes models, which are only really seen in movie animation processes. These will vary in colour type and style so a number can be viewed and chosen over the other. This again will take a long time to do and will not be too beneficial considering time. The forth is casting, involving voices to be portrayed in the animation. Many don't use these as they are very short in comparison to films. Finally they would create the product using certain softwares and programs to make it.
However, it is visible from the past animation process which used things like flip books and drawings how much it has developed. For example in the past, they just used free hand drawings where as now we go through a number of different digital as well as hand drawn processes. It can be further devekloped using CGI which means computer generated imagry. This is used in many 3D or 3Dsmax films to increase their quality, which is done by increasing the number of polygons, yet decreasing their size to make them fit into a realistic shape. They will then layer skins ontop to make it look more like the object they aim to make. The image below shows these steps when using CGI to create a horse for a film.
Hand Drawn and flick book
Many companies use hand drawn versions of an animation first as a run through of what the actual animation will look like. For example disney did this a lot in creating their animations and films so that they could plan each step out and ensure it was to the best standard it could be, with no jolts or un smooth transitions. However, as films are on average two hours long, it means a large amount of drawings have to be done by a big team of people. A flip book is a booklet that has a freeze frame of a particular picture that shows a gradual movement in the picture. This was used in the past often as is a very useful method to use. However, the issue with using flip books is that they would have to be hand drawn or printed, which takes a long time depending on how long and how detailed the animation is.
Animated Process
Processing the animation requires vital stages to help analyse each step of the animation. For example on the dream works website (http://www.dreamworksanimation.com/insidedwa/productionprocess) show the production progress they undergo when creating all their animated films. The first step is to create the script and imagine it. This will allow new interpretations to be made by others and allow the producer to develop it further. Depending on how long an animation is, this may not be relevant, as this is more set on films which require a large amount of speech. This leads to the disadvantage as it will take a very long time to create the script if it stretches over a long period of time. The second is to create storyboards, which is what we have done for our own animations. These will be simple yet still effective to tell the producers of each stage. This is a useful step to see how the animation will look before actually creating it. Again, depending on the length of the animation this may take a while to draw each scene in high detail. Thirdly, is visual development which involves paintings, blue prints, drawing and sometimes models, which are only really seen in movie animation processes. These will vary in colour type and style so a number can be viewed and chosen over the other. This again will take a long time to do and will not be too beneficial considering time. The forth is casting, involving voices to be portrayed in the animation. Many don't use these as they are very short in comparison to films. Finally they would create the product using certain softwares and programs to make it.
However, it is visible from the past animation process which used things like flip books and drawings how much it has developed. For example in the past, they just used free hand drawings where as now we go through a number of different digital as well as hand drawn processes. It can be further devekloped using CGI which means computer generated imagry. This is used in many 3D or 3Dsmax films to increase their quality, which is done by increasing the number of polygons, yet decreasing their size to make them fit into a realistic shape. They will then layer skins ontop to make it look more like the object they aim to make. The image below shows these steps when using CGI to create a horse for a film.
Animation
computer generation
frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device creates consecutive images called frame. It is often expressed in frames per second and involves the speed it takes for the object to move to the next stage in the animation. If you don't get the correct balance of speed, it can make the animation rough and not flowing smoothly, therefore laving you with a poorly created animation that will look unprofessional. The following website (http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/learning_guide/animation/part02.html) is from the software flash that gives you a general understanding of flash rates.
Also, in animation onion skinning is used. This is found in 2D animations and involves layering each stage or key frame of the animation on top of each other, to see several at once. This way it will show the editor where they need more frames or less, and need to edit parts to improve it. It is a very useful technique but also is a very technical one and may not be a function on many players.
Tweening is yet another technique used that has developed over the years. It means the process of generating the intermediate frames between two images to give the impression of it evolving smoothly into the second image. Traditionally, hand drawn sketches where used on light tables to see and adjust any issues with the animation. However now, it is all computer based, for example on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbetweening) , it provides an example that shows the colour tweening used on the a ball which bounces from one side to the other. An advantage is that they are more accurate in comparassion to frame by frame animations. For example when considering the speed of the animation, tweening can ensure it runs more smoothly and appropriately.
Digital Animation
Vector animation and Bit Maps
A vector animation is where a motion is controlled by vectors rather than pixels. Vector usually allow a smoother animation as they are displayed and adjusted using numerical values instead of stored pixel values. Many players like macromedia have this technique on it. Advantages of using vector animations are that they are only small scale files which make it able to scale the image without the risk of loosing any quality. Bitmaps are a computer file which is used to store pictures. it is made up of tiny blocks. For example this (http://www.animationpost.co.uk/tech-notes/bitmaps-vs-vectors.htm) shows us two images. One is where the bit map squares are larger than and the image is unclear and poorer quality. Where as the other shows the same image with smaller block making a fuller clearer image. These can effect the quality of the animation depending on how focused and concentrated the blocks are.
file formats and animation softwasoftware's
nimation, a number of different file formats are used and have their own particular advantages. A few examples are fla, swf, gif, mng and svg. Fla stands for flash which is a multimedia platform that is used to create vector graphics, animations and games. this is the software that we will be using To create ny animation as it is a very strong player. An advantage of this software is that it has a wide range of technical aspects that you can use for example many players don't allow tweening etc where as flash provides this. On the other hand, to a beginer it could be very complicated to use and take an awful long time to understand it. For example I struggled when I first used it and had a lot of help from others who had already got exoeriance in using the software.
15th July 2013
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Evaluation of three websites
I will evaluate three websites ... these are the BBC sports page ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/ ) , The BSC sports college ( http://www.bcsport.org ) and the Adidas website ( http://www.adidas.co.uk ). These three use different digital graphics to suit a certain audience, to show a certain level of professionalism and to promote or inform the audience about sports. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these that i will discuss.
The BBC sport website is simple yet very formal and professional. From the colour scheme to the positioning of the key digital graphics tells us it is thinking of the audience and considering what they will want to get from the website. Their website is 2 in 1 in away, because there is the BBC original logo then their is the sports subsection logo underneath it. They add there logo into their web banner as it looks professional without over crowding, which is what we plan to do in our own website. We feel it looks professional leaving enough room for the highly contented features to go in the middle. The logo is in a yellow web banner which is colour coded to the navigation bar, where a yellow line appears at the bottom of the box when rolled over. This means that the text of the word sport is black to stand out and link with the box' used in the BBC website. The colour and the way the colours are relevant makes it look to a professional standard and look formal, yet relaxed. The BBC use a brighter colour , as the rest of the items on the page are very text related with a few pictures. they use yellow in their logo and blue in the centre of the page to show a news headline, and to highlight the scrolling marquee. This breaks up the colours in the website making it more appealing to the eye and less crowded. Using a wide selection of images and videos, that are different sizes makes the viewer look straight towards the most important ones. For example there is a large picture that changes every so often to a new headline. Then next to this is 3 pictures that are a little smaller but again link to the rest of the latest headlines.
The British Colleges Sport website takes a completely different approach in designing their website. They have used 3 different colours that are again relevant to the colour scheme used through out. However, they have done this wisely, thinking of their audience to ensure it will be able to be familiarized and also not use to many clashing colours along with the original colour scheme seen in the logo. They have used red, white and blue to emphasise it is the british sports college, that is further seen through the presence of the flag within the web banner. The issues with this could be that even though it links with the rest of the colour scheme, it could be suggested to bold and that they should have gone for a more basic design idea colour wise. However i feel it is appropriate and works with the rest of the graphics within the website, not making it look over crowded or tacky. We will be sticking to a similar idea of using brighter colours in our backgrounds to relate to the school, being Bluecoat. It is a very modernized and current site as has links to social networking sites at the bottom and a scrolling marquee in the center of the page. You don't usually see these on school or college websites as they are not made for that purpose. The positioning of photos and calendar and map looks very professional despite the lack of flowing text. The lack of text could be said to be a problem as many other websites have a few sentences somewhere on their site to link photos, For example the BBC links a short summary with a photo of a news story. However others may see it as a more efficient way as it is not the type of website that needs to do this and therefore only requires key comments or photos. Particularly this website as the most text it needs is a twitter feed of the latest updates. This is a tidy and less crowding way to layout a website, that i would like to use in my own. I will however add a small count of text somewhere on the page more than this so that i can ensure it has both pictures and information.
The Adidas website however goes for a completely different look in comparison to the British Sport College. This website sticks to basic and bold black and white colour scheme that are continually used through the site. This logo uses three black horizontal lines next to the word 'Adidas' which is in black. This is just using primary black and white colours that may be basic and 'boring', but yet makes it look professional and simple yet effective. The web banner of these websites is very different. This is just using primary black and white colours that may be basic and 'boring', but makes it look professional and simple yet effective. Adidas website has a main flash image presentation that advertises each section of the website, EG the football section. As there is little text and the presentation brightens up the site, it means the logo doesn't have to be filled with a number of different colours or made too extreme. Doing this immediately gives a highly professional look to the website as it shows they have considered there audience and layout fully. I like the way they have designed their website and have used the similar idea with my web banner. This is because i have a gradient effect linking to my background from my web banner, and therefore has already made it simple. As i will not be using a large animation similar to the Adidas website i will use lots of pictures and make my logo more dynamic.
The BBC sport website is simple yet very formal and professional. From the colour scheme to the positioning of the key digital graphics tells us it is thinking of the audience and considering what they will want to get from the website. Their website is 2 in 1 in away, because there is the BBC original logo then their is the sports subsection logo underneath it. They add there logo into their web banner as it looks professional without over crowding, which is what we plan to do in our own website. We feel it looks professional leaving enough room for the highly contented features to go in the middle. The logo is in a yellow web banner which is colour coded to the navigation bar, where a yellow line appears at the bottom of the box when rolled over. This means that the text of the word sport is black to stand out and link with the box' used in the BBC website. The colour and the way the colours are relevant makes it look to a professional standard and look formal, yet relaxed. The BBC use a brighter colour , as the rest of the items on the page are very text related with a few pictures. they use yellow in their logo and blue in the centre of the page to show a news headline, and to highlight the scrolling marquee. This breaks up the colours in the website making it more appealing to the eye and less crowded. Using a wide selection of images and videos, that are different sizes makes the viewer look straight towards the most important ones. For example there is a large picture that changes every so often to a new headline. Then next to this is 3 pictures that are a little smaller but again link to the rest of the latest headlines.
The British Colleges Sport website takes a completely different approach in designing their website. They have used 3 different colours that are again relevant to the colour scheme used through out. However, they have done this wisely, thinking of their audience to ensure it will be able to be familiarized and also not use to many clashing colours along with the original colour scheme seen in the logo. They have used red, white and blue to emphasise it is the british sports college, that is further seen through the presence of the flag within the web banner. The issues with this could be that even though it links with the rest of the colour scheme, it could be suggested to bold and that they should have gone for a more basic design idea colour wise. However i feel it is appropriate and works with the rest of the graphics within the website, not making it look over crowded or tacky. We will be sticking to a similar idea of using brighter colours in our backgrounds to relate to the school, being Bluecoat. It is a very modernized and current site as has links to social networking sites at the bottom and a scrolling marquee in the center of the page. You don't usually see these on school or college websites as they are not made for that purpose. The positioning of photos and calendar and map looks very professional despite the lack of flowing text. The lack of text could be said to be a problem as many other websites have a few sentences somewhere on their site to link photos, For example the BBC links a short summary with a photo of a news story. However others may see it as a more efficient way as it is not the type of website that needs to do this and therefore only requires key comments or photos. Particularly this website as the most text it needs is a twitter feed of the latest updates. This is a tidy and less crowding way to layout a website, that i would like to use in my own. I will however add a small count of text somewhere on the page more than this so that i can ensure it has both pictures and information.
The Adidas website however goes for a completely different look in comparison to the British Sport College. This website sticks to basic and bold black and white colour scheme that are continually used through the site. This logo uses three black horizontal lines next to the word 'Adidas' which is in black. This is just using primary black and white colours that may be basic and 'boring', but yet makes it look professional and simple yet effective. The web banner of these websites is very different. This is just using primary black and white colours that may be basic and 'boring', but makes it look professional and simple yet effective. Adidas website has a main flash image presentation that advertises each section of the website, EG the football section. As there is little text and the presentation brightens up the site, it means the logo doesn't have to be filled with a number of different colours or made too extreme. Doing this immediately gives a highly professional look to the website as it shows they have considered there audience and layout fully. I like the way they have designed their website and have used the similar idea with my web banner. This is because i have a gradient effect linking to my background from my web banner, and therefore has already made it simple. As i will not be using a large animation similar to the Adidas website i will use lots of pictures and make my logo more dynamic.
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Working for the BBC: Codes and Conventions
Working for the BBC:
Codes and Conventions
The BBC stands for the British Broadcasting Corporation and has been running since 1922. They range in media platforms as they have there own radio station, TV channel and an online service that offers things such as BBC iplayer. It has been funded through the government and paid for by the tax payers. This is very different to many other companies and therefore means they have to be very careful of what they say on air. They have to be careful they don't offend anyone or cause distress to any guests as it could cost the presenters there job. This could also effect the running of the company as a whole as they may have to be closed down.
The BBC has a clear set of codes and conventions to ensure that everything spoken about is appropriate and concise. As the BBC has a duty to the people who pay for there media to produce projects that they will enjoy and that will have meaning to them. For example discuss current debates on radio stations and put documentries and news onto there TV channels. I will discuss 11 of the key codes and conventions that are considered in the BBC and many other companies.
Accuracy
Firstly, accuracy is vital when creating any radio program as you must ensure all your information is true and correct. It involves both getting the verifiable facts right, for example names, dates and quotes. It also means accurately reporting own opinions by those who you report in your program. The BBC suggest there are 2 levels in which accuracy in reporting opinions exists. level one is to ensure that you quote or report the opinion accurately and the second is that you ensure you correctly convey the broader meaning of the quote or information in your report. This means that if a report has a miswritten quote or a quote is incorrect, it will not be liable or useable on there reports. The BBC journaliasts have a reputation to provide the solid objective, verifiable ‘facts’ but accurately reporting opinions expressed by the people whom you report. They distinguish the diffeance between the facts and opiniopns of a certain debate and try to control there presance in broadcats etc so it is not bioast or objective. If it was it could cause major contraversy between the members of the public.(5)
The BBC say that " People wanty the truth when they listen to something, People come to us to find out what things mean, find out the significance of things, and in many cases find out the truth of something". This quote suggests as they know what their audiance wants, they are highly aware of accuracy and consider them in there reports. An example of this is in the London bommings on the morning of 7 July 2005. The suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured 700 more. The authorities initially said the incidents on the London Underground were “thought to be power surges”. The BBC and other news organisation began to report that the incidents were in fact a series of bombs. In relation to accuracty they had to consider whether it was the appropriate time to do so as more information can be discovered later on. They also had to consider the audiences emotions and trust at this time as it was a very important and personal matter to get incorrect data from.
Thirdly, privacy is key when creating a radio program and the BBC ensure they follow these rules. The BBC have to consider the public interest and that they may not want certain information to be leaked over the program. Especially interviewees who will be on the show may want parts cut out or not aired within the broadcast. It is important any radio organisations keeps these. Many could confide in people and it has to be certain it is not exploited. (3) When interviews or reports are live on a radio broadcast it is hard to control the element that certain information is kept private and concealed. If it isn't it could breach against laws and cause major stress to others in the public or an individual either way it is very unprofessional and not good for the reputation of the radio station. The BBC have written on the privacy policy section of there website... "The BBC is committed to protecting your and your families personal information. We want our services to be safe and enjoyable environments for everyone."(4)The BBC has a clear set of codes and conventions to ensure that everything spoken about is appropriate and concise. As the BBC has a duty to the people who pay for there media to produce projects that they will enjoy and that will have meaning to them. For example discuss current debates on radio stations and put documentries and news onto there TV channels. I will discuss 11 of the key codes and conventions that are considered in the BBC and many other companies.
Accuracy
Firstly, accuracy is vital when creating any radio program as you must ensure all your information is true and correct. It involves both getting the verifiable facts right, for example names, dates and quotes. It also means accurately reporting own opinions by those who you report in your program. The BBC suggest there are 2 levels in which accuracy in reporting opinions exists. level one is to ensure that you quote or report the opinion accurately and the second is that you ensure you correctly convey the broader meaning of the quote or information in your report. This means that if a report has a miswritten quote or a quote is incorrect, it will not be liable or useable on there reports. The BBC journaliasts have a reputation to provide the solid objective, verifiable ‘facts’ but accurately reporting opinions expressed by the people whom you report. They distinguish the diffeance between the facts and opiniopns of a certain debate and try to control there presance in broadcats etc so it is not bioast or objective. If it was it could cause major contraversy between the members of the public.(5)
The BBC say that " People wanty the truth when they listen to something, People come to us to find out what things mean, find out the significance of things, and in many cases find out the truth of something". This quote suggests as they know what their audiance wants, they are highly aware of accuracy and consider them in there reports. An example of this is in the London bommings on the morning of 7 July 2005. The suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured 700 more. The authorities initially said the incidents on the London Underground were “thought to be power surges”. The BBC and other news organisation began to report that the incidents were in fact a series of bombs. In relation to accuracty they had to consider whether it was the appropriate time to do so as more information can be discovered later on. They also had to consider the audiences emotions and trust at this time as it was a very important and personal matter to get incorrect data from.
Balance
Secondly, balance has to considered when making a radio program. It is important to have an equal level of evidence and points to opposing sides of a debate. However, more specifically to radio, it can mean balance in song choice as it is important not to play the same genres or songs. If a number of genres are played then more people will be interested, and more listeners will tune in. Many radio stations only report very negative news and lack in emphasis on more positive news, where as others do it vice versa. It is important to have an equal balance in what you write about your reports to discuss over the radio and make sure that it is appropriate, and not to graphic for younger listeners. The BBC are sure to create balance, but mainly do it through having a number of radio stations that cater for different listeners. For example there is the Asian network that is based for religion which means they consider the best option for there program to suit the audience.
Privacy
Privacy
Access
Another code and convention used when making a radio program is access. Within relevance to the media industry, access means that the public should have the opportunity to participate in the broadcast and voice opinions such as phoning in. (2) This is mainly seen apparent on radio stations as they allow call ins and read out tweets and Facebook comments. This means they have access to the radio from other media platforms and gives the presenters points they may not have thought about in a particular debate. (11) It also allows a diverse range in topics to be discussed with no judgment of the callers opinions or thoughts. For example many radio shows have a specific show where they allow people to call in tweet and message the presenter about there ideas on topics discussed. For example, On radio four Anita Anand she has a show called any answers where you can discuss your thoughts on any topics discussed in terms of politics. This allows access from a number of different media platforms to show personal feelings towards cases that will give a good debate radio show.
Representation
Using information from the book, A - Z of Media and communication representation is described as "showing something in a specific context". (1) For example an area where this is seen is in radio where the text is interpreted in different ways depending on what type of show it is. By representing the information in a certain manner, you will have the specific audience you aim at listening intensely. Depending on the text given each radio presenter will represent it and interpret it in a different manner. Specifically to the BBC radio, they represent many news stories, varying in representation as some may be very sensitive and should be interpreted carefully. For example, news stories can range from stories about murder cases like the Phillpot trial, to stories about celebrities such as Kate Middleton being pregnant. However, it doesn't have to be something in relation to general knowledge such as they examples given. In other words many presenters use genres of personal interest that they feel strongly about to discuss. If the presenter doesn't have any passion for what they are discussing, it will most likely be inaccurate and therefore unrepresentative.
An example of a radio show is Anita Anand on radio four who talks about politics, and represents it based on her own way through her passion for the topic .In relation to the project i have been set, it is important i represent the school, students and teachers in a positive light and ensure that they are respected within my radio show. Especially as my piece will be on teacher profiling, it is important the teachers are represented well and not pointed out for possible flaws they may have.
Impartiality
Impartiality means an inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally according to wordwebnet.com(6). The BBC says that " Charter and Agreement requires BBC journalism to be impartial and the way the BBC does the differentiates it from other news sources. It is also part of the BBC's contract with its audience". (7) With this, impartiality is vital in a journalists script when preparing for radio shows as it is important to provide a breadth of views without favoring one in-particular which would then take us on to the subject of bias and subjectivity. For example shows under the science and nature genre of radio four are debates where a lot of different views can be discussed and it is important for the presenter to equal the opinions out to get a number of diverse opinions heard. The codes and conventions Access and representation come into this specific element as you have to be passionate in the area your representing in order to have a flowing and interesting debate. It involves access as it is usually from either the listeners view or someone of higher authority in the studio with them. If it is the audience they will have to use media platforms in order to say what they feel on the matter.
In my own project, it is tricky to make my topic impartial as it is on teacher profiling, and is not necessarily a debate topic. However to get both sides of views of teachers i will talk about how teachers feel on themselves and others as well as the students opinions. I will do this using a vox to get answers to questions that are both interesting yet appropriate. This will make an equal view of both sides and have a number of different views of each.
Objectivity
"Objectivity means the pursuit of a balanced, fair and rational perspective on events, especially where controversial issues are debated..." (1) This again links in with some of the above codes and conventions as it consists of giving a reliable and truthful account of information and quotes from individuals. It is important that the presenter doesn't get involved in the argument as they can be seen to be more objective over one side than the other. This could result in loosing members of the audience and even offending them. It is important to remember in subjectivity, all the key topics discussed in a debate will be facts and factual opinions. Again shows like the Anita Anand show on radio 4 politics has to ensure that when she is listening to the views of the public that she doesn't support one side over the other and ask questions that will favour one view. In my own project, objectivity wouldn't be so relevant as i am not doing a debate or factual piece of work as such. However, it can be seen in my own personal feelings towards the teachers through the questions i ask. In order to make sure that it is objective, i will have to consider my questions and ensure they wont be favorable or offensive to one teacher about another etc.
Subjectivity
"subjectivity and objectivity are huge themes in journalism ethics.". (9) This is because the subjectivity of an issue contrasts with the objectivity of it. As objectivity is the facts of a matter, the subjectivity will be more based on the opinions of these facts. For example on BBC radio Nottingham, there is a discussion category where presenters like Amanda Bowman discuss matters such as doctors and articles in newspapers.These allow the public to enter in their opinion on a subject and the presenter has to ensure they don't favor it over another. These opinions can be both factual and not from the members of society as they add a variety to the discussion. The BBC have many discussion opportunities for the listeners to get involved from shows such as the one above to more light hearted ones like about music and entertainment on radio 1. In my own project this is something i will have as i am getting more opinion based answers instead of factual opinions. This is very valued in my topic which is teacher profiling. This is because it simply requires the views of the teachers and students of Bluecoat, and isn't such a vital and debate-full subject.
Bias
A journalist and radio presenter has to be very cautious that they are not bias towards one view that oneself personally prefers. However you can either be bias yourself on others opinions, or you can support one side of an argument and not fairly balance it due to this. The definition of Google for bias is... " Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person or group compared to another. Usually in a way considered to be unfair.".With this being present in a radio show, it could cause upset to the audience and encourage listeners to tune out and no longer listen to the show. The BBC ensure that this is never the case in there shows by influencing the conventions of balance, objectivity and subjectivity. These all require a number of views that will be balanced out fairly, with no personal input of the presenters feelings or thoughts. I have to ensure in my own project that i am not personally bias towards certain teachers by asking incorrect questions. This could mean my feelings could also influence the participants views through my choice of questions. This will get the answers i want that may favor a certain opinion, which will be unreliable and unfair. Thus meaning i must choose my questions for interviews wisely.
Contract with the listener
The BBC create their own contract with the listener to provide them with fair, educational, reliable and entertaining radio shows as well as TV programs and news updates. They also have many different promises to the listener such as if there is a competition on radio one for example to win concert tickets, the BBC vow that the winner chosen will be genuine and not pre-determined This means that they are remaining ethical for the best interests of the listener into consideration. (12) They also say that their task is " ensuring that the complaints are properly handled and acting as a final arbiter on complaints previously handled by the editorial complaints unit and divisional director.". This means that if a show has offended or upset a listener or viewer, there comments will be taken into account and investigated immediately. These are examples of how serious the BBC considers their audience and does their best to ensure they are provided with a variety of entertainment that they want to hear.
In conclusion, we have to ensure all these codes and conventions are considered into each of our radio sections. Some of these may not be necessary to some depending on the topics the others in the class have, but they should all be thought about and analysed towards each of our topics. This will not only make our 60 minute show proffesional, but also reliable and fair to all listeners, regardless of the topic of the section.
Bibliography
1) Title: The Complete A-Z Media And Communication Handbook
Published by: GreenGate Publishing Services
Author: Stuart Price, 1997
Pages: 198, 3, 25
2) http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidelines-fairness-contributors-access-agreements/#access-agreements-and-indemnity-forms
3) http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/collegeofjournalism/law/privacy/law-privacy
5) http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/collegeofjournalism/standards/truth-and-accuracy/truth-and-accuracy
6) http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=impartiality
7) http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/collegeofjournalism/standards/impartiality/impartiality
8) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivity_(journalism)
9) http://newmediashift.wordpress.com/category/subjectivity/
10) https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=bias&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=hJRhUY_QOsfD0QXSvIGIBg&ved=0CC4QkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=c2398d0a0171ceea&biw=1366&bih=667
11) http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidelines-interacting-phone-in/
12) http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidelines-interacting-principles/
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Factual Radio Production Techniques Reflective Learning Log
1) Experience of working with Ed Stagg
Working with Ed gave me a wider understanding of considerations necessary in journalism and writing for radio productions. He told us a number of top tips that he uses that could be beneficial when it comes to us making our 7.5 minutes of radio later on in the course. A few of the top tips Ed suggested where.............I expected to learn how to structure and add spark to pieces of radio from Ed, and that's exactly what he did. Through him showing us how he made a very bland story about a football match very interesting and captivating to the listeners, all of us gathered a wider range of understanding that we could copy and add our own twists on it. The advice he gives on how to structure radio shows, what to write in a slot of th
2) Strengths and weaknesses of my knowledge on media.
My main weakness before starting this project was that i knew very little about radio work. All i was familiar with was roughly how shows are set out and what kind of topics are discussed. I knew this from simply listening to the radio, specifically capital FM. This will effect me when it comes to working in the radio project as i haven't previously been taught it or had experience with it like the rest of the class. However a strength I could use is my English skills and how to write imaginative and engaging scripts depending on what my chosen subject is. This will hopefully become useful for the journalistic side of the course.
3) How we came up with the names for our station and 60 minute slot
We came up with the name Bluespoke for our radio station and 60 minute mix or our hour slot. We came up with these by contributing a number of different opinions during a lesson. These where then further discussed with Mrs Merrick and Ed Stagg to get their opinions and ideas. The name Bluespoke is derived from the school, Bluecoat and its pupils, and the fact it is a radio station where people can speak out and get involved. We felt that it had to have reference to Bluecoat some how as it is a school based radio station of news and information relevant to it. Also, we felt it needed to have some kind of spark or edge to it that would make the listeners become engaged and interested in what the station has to offer. We similarly tried to consider this when coming up with a name for the hour slot. Previous names we came up with where edu, ..........We came up with the 60 minute mix. We decided on this because it got straight to the point and added a hint of modernity to it by using the word mix. We felt this word would involve all the target audience but specifically the younger listeners to our station such as the year 7-9 range of pupils.
5) Initial thoughts for your 7.5 mins
We came up with a number of different topics on a white board and assigned each of us with one for our 7.5 minute slot. Mine was on teachers and profiling them. This was very bland at first and it took me a while to come up with ideas to make it edgy and entertaining. I came up with the idea that i could create a survey asking pupils what they want to know about what teachers as well as do a vox to get humorous talks with some of the pupils. Mr Collins suggested that a profile could be done on a teacher on key information that no-one knows, For example, Mr cook a PE teacher used to be a professional swimmer before he got into teaching. At the minute, i need to come up with a lot more ideas to use in order to fill my 7.5 minute slot in our 60 minute mix.
6) Planning our radio piece
We spent the hour thinking over what we will do with our topic given and how we can write it up into a script. This plan will help us see where we can improve and also can allow us to get a impression of what Ed thinks when he next visits. I decided to do this on paper to begin with as it was more handier to make any additional notes necessary later on.
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Mon 25th February 2013
Today, we started new radio project where we was asked to create a 60 second news report and record it in the studio. We where asked to research a local international and national story along with traffic and weather. We used BBC to collect our information. Once we had found a story we recorded it on the notes app on the iPads. we then created and adjusted a script to fit the 60 second time barrier. We had to ensure some time was left in order to add the stingers and jingles. These are the quirky noises that can be used in-between reports to break it up and prevent the listener feeling tediously. We originally had way too much written down and had to simplify it as much as possible. We had stories such as the Oscar Pistorius case and the local weather, which we edited partially. During 3rd period, we went in studio and recorded me reading out the script. This was a disadvantage as we had to use our free to do it, but an advantage was that we got it done and wasn't behind.
Tues 26th February 2013
During this lesson, we where introduced to a new set assignment. This was to write an essay / report on the codes and conventions of the BBC. Miss went through all the key websites we could look on and thoroughly explained what we had to do. This was an advantage to all of us as at first we where very unclear as to what we had to do. In the second hour we went to the library because for our research we had to gather a range of information, from different sources which meant looking for books on media. A disadvantage was that there was very few that told us what we definitions for key terms and further information on what we wanted to know. However an advantage was that we had our ipads to take photos of the pages instead of writing it all out. This ensured us that we would get all our information done quicker so we could then start straight back into our report next week. We didn't find information to all of them, but we did find one very good book that gave us a definition for around 4 of them.
Wed 27th February 2013
Today, we spent the whole day working on our codes and conventions task. This was a strength for us as our deadline is on Friday and it gave us time to do it in school instead of outside of school. . There wasn't really a disadvantage to this lesson other than i still didn't complete it. Other than that, it was a very productive lesson for all of us.
Thurs 28th February 2013
During this lesson, we began to start editing the recordings we made on Monday As Nicole wasn't here, I had to begin the work on my own. However, when I opened up the document, there was nothing playing. This was because when Nicole was recording, she didn't turn off a certain button on the software that would allow the voice to record This meant I had to re-record our work with the help of Mr Collins. Despite this weakness setting us back and delaying us form keeping up to date, i still got a better understanding of how to use the software as Mr Collins went through it again with me. I got to spend the last 15 minuets having a look at the stingers and jingles we where told about last week. The other weakness i came across when adding these was that as i spoke quietly in the recording, the jingle and stinger sounds where very much louder and it was hard to add in my voice. I needed to ask sir how to fade them into each other and decrease the intensity of the sound in the jingles and stingers, but i didn't have time.
Friday 1st February 2013
During this lesson we where set to do the following.
- Create a research bank - looking at factual radio programs.... try to listen to a few different genres and comment on their formats, use of additional music, content etc.
- Ed has set you another task - see below..... Over the weekend - add to your research bank any information you can find about event that the press release is about. Come prepared to Monday's lesson, knowing all about what has been announced, the Inspiration Mars Foundation and what their aims are.... this will take a bit of reading. Every time you find useful info, add the URL to your research bank and explain what you found - include quotes if you think they are useful. Also - look on Youtube abd for radio podcasts that already have dealt with this... again add to your research bank... The more quality research you do now, the easier you'll find the next part of the task....
Info from Ed:
Use this expression: "Radio is theatre of the mind", for the following:
You have just received this press release in your production office and decide to run with the story for a 7 minute segment on your radio station at the Academy.
Weekend Task: Research what this press release is about - read around the subject.
However, we all faced an issue with the computers as they wouldn't let us access our emails. Once it began to work it only left us with around half and hour to begin the task she sent, which to us was a disadvantage. During the time we waited to read the email, we carried on with our codes and conventions report as the deadline was today and a number of us including myself had a few more to complete, which was an advantage to us. Once we got the email, I only got a little research done on the release of the space mission in 2018. This was another disadvantage i faced as I didn't get enough done as I should have, and this went for a few others in the class as a lot of us got into the codes and conventions task instead of the task set.
Today i had an exam during the first lesson and in the second began my research as i was behind i got a lot of help from Dieter and the small class discussions on the event helped me understand the aspect a lot more. This was both an advantage, because i had help on what had to be done next, and a disadvantage, because i missed the first half of the lesson to make my own notes on the information Mr Collins told us about. Dieter told me that we went over representation theories and what each meant. There was the reflective theory, intentional theory and constructional theory. These are relevant to our work as they are what journalist use in order to write their articles. We where then asked to create a research bank of websites on the mission to mars in 2018 and write in which theory is used. For example if a report came from a more bias point of view and purposely encouraging one side of an argument, it would be using an intentional theory method. Very few of us completed our research banks so it was suggested to complete them later in our spare time. I did find a lot of useful and interesting information that should help me later on in the project.
Tues 5th February 2013
This was a very focused and productive two hours. We spent this time with Ed Stagg who is presenter for radio Leicester He told us a lot of the key techniques and his experiences of working in radio that would help us a lot in this project. We also as a group came up with the radio company name and the name for our 60 minute show. We came up with the name Bluespoke for our radio station and 60 minute mix or our hour slot. We came up with these by contributing a number of different opinions during a lesson. These where then further discussed with Mrs Merrick and Ed Stagg to get their opinions and ideas. The name Bluespoke is derived from the school, Bluecoat and its pupils, and the fact it is a radio station where people can speak out and get involved. We felt that it had to have reference to Bluecoat some how as it is a school based radio station of news and information relevant to it. Also, we felt it needed to have some kind of spark or edge to it that would make the listeners become engaged and interested in what the station has to offer. We similarly tried to consider this when coming up with a name for the hour slot. Previous names we came up with where edu FM and .......... We came up with the 60 minute mix. We decided on this because it got straight to the point and added a hint of modernity to it by using the word mix. We felt this word would involve all the target audience but specifically the younger listeners to our station such as the year 7-9 range of pupils.
Wed 6th March 2013
During this lesson, Mrs merrick wasn't here so she sent us an email with set tasks to complete. These where to research a story off the BBC website and to make it into a show clock, making it into a 7 minute piece of radio production. We where also told to make a poster on the target audience of the radio production we will create our piece for in the future The last task we where assigned to do was write up all the key quotes and comments that Ed Stagg said yesterday. To make this easier for ourselves, the class decided we would complete the task where we had to write up all the key quotes first. Nicole and Maqsood took it in turns to write up all the quotes that the rest of the class came up with so that we could simply copy it of the board when we have completed it. Then once we did this, we went with our new partners and discussed who would do each part. Me and Nicole decided that i would do the show clock and report whilst she did the poster. We did this all in the first three hours of the day, which left us the last hour to keep up to date with our blogs. This was an advantage as we had a chance to keep up to date after a few busy days recently where we may have had littler time to do so.
Thurs 7th march 2013
Fri 8th march 2013
During this lesson, We made a mission statement as a class, and one individually. Our mission statement is... "Our aim is to make a professional, up to
date and exciting broadcast that appeals to students however teachers and
parents can also listen in – students mainly go to the school so they are our
first priority. We will also include our own tastes whilst ensuring the show is
inspirational to the audience". We will achieve this by Being factual and adding facts the the listeners will want to hear and include debates for an entertainment feature,completing thorgher amounts of market research and find opinions and views of the people. During this lesson we went over the target audience we would be hitting with the radio show as well as topic as they would want to listen too. We came up with topics such as concerts, latest films, Horse meat scandal, music releases, sports updates and the changes that will be made to A levels next year. The target audience we looked into was that it originally had to be based at teachers, students and parents In more depth, these would be aged 13-17, come from a number of different ethnic backgrounds and from both genders. This means that as we have to keep the radio program appropriate, un-offensive and suitable to hear. The strengths of this is that we got an overall idea of what we actually had to do for our work and who it had to cater for, in a brief and simplified way. There wasn't any weaknesses to this lesson as it was a very productive and engaging lesson that i will benifit from greatly later on in the project.
Mon 11th March 2013
Our aim today was to at least start recording interviews etc, but as i missed a few hours last week, i wasn't up to date on my planning. Therefore i spent these lessons accurately planning each minute. I made a show clock of how my section would be laid out and I also created the questions i can as teachers and students during a vox. I did these all on paper first and have took screen shots using the Ipad to upload. (see below).
Mr Collins and I went through the questions I created, and decided it would be best if i took one impaticular out. This question was "can you tell us a joke?". We removed this question as we decided it was irrelevant and not proffesional enough. I decided to add it in the first place as I was looking through the notes I made from what Ed Stagg said last time he visited, where he said that you have to engage the listener and add some peculiar but funny questions to the piece that will make the listener laugh. I also went through my questions with Dieter and we was considering how long it would take to do each interview. We said that they would be too long, so I took a further question out to the teachers which was "do you have any interesting gossip on other teachers". This could have been taken as a highly inappropriate question and wouldn't have been appropriate to ask. A strength of this lesson is that i got to evaluate key parts to my planning and be more aware of the time i have to fit all my work into. A weakness however is that i didn't get my recording started and would have had to do this in weeks to come.
Tue 12th March 2013
During the lessons this afternoon, we spent the time with Ed who went over some of his own work he had done and went over more key elements we need to make our radio program successful This was very helpful to us all as we got a better insight as to what we have to do , as well as work that Ed has done himself. Towards the end of the lesson, Mrs Merrick prepared us a task to do over night and sent us an email that cleared up what had to be done over the following weeks. This was an advantage as we again got the tasks cleared up and written down so we didn't forget it after the lesson. The task was to do a production log of what we have been doing so far in this unit. This was easy for me as i had already been keeping one just in-case However i haven't specified or gone into much detail about the key things miss told us to look at which where our pitch, working with Ed, a summary of the project brief, Eds top tips he gave us, our mission statement and also how we came up with the name Bluespoke for our radio station and 60 minute mix for our show.
Wed 13th March 2013
In this lesson as a class we made a questionnaire on radio and handed it out to everyone we could, including students, teachers and family. During the first hours we created it as a group with Maqsood at the front and the rest of us inputting ideas to write down. I suggested that we ask what they like to hear on a radio show. I suggested this because it will help us get an over view of what they like, and from that we can figure out what they don't want to hear from a show. However as a class we felt it will be more productive to as what they don't like from a radio show. We had to ensure our questions would get us bot quantitative and qualitative data by using open and closed questions. Mrs Merrick suggested that at the end we ask a peculiar question that will add a little more entertainment to the questionnaire. We decided this question would be " If Bluecoat was a chocolate what would it be and why?". This took a few participation I interviewed a while to think of an imaginative answer. Some interesting answers to this was...
1) Twix because of the two campuses
2) Turkish delight because you either love it or you hate it
3) Double decker because there is lots of layers and different people.
One answer was from a teacher and the other two where from students.
On topic of results, once we had figured out what our 8 questions where, I went to the computer and typed them up whilst the rest of the class helped me decide whether they where multi-choice questions or not etc. Then when we had printed around 50 off, it was time for lesson change over. This meant we could ask the students as well as teachers questions on the way to their lessons. I got 8 questionnaires completed during this space of time, however i did run into lesson time due to some participants taking longer to answer the last question. This was a weakness as i missed Mrs Merrick explaining the next task. The next task was to prepare a pitch for the afternoon where we would have a pitch each with Ed Stagg. This pitch will be around 5 minutes long and we have to discuss what we want our 7.5 minutes to be about. This brings in Mr Collins' lesson from when we all went over and assigned one and other topics we would use for our section. My pitch went very well, however during , I didn't stick to it as i rushed it and got straight to key points, i simply picked out the most important parts and improvise from there. Ed said that he liked the idea that i could inspire the students by asking questions from teachers about the grades and proffesions. He also said that i have chosen a very strong topic that i will get a lot of good information from, that would mean i will struggle to make it short enough. Below is a screen shot of what i This was an advantage as i felt that i was on the right lines to making my radio show successful and adding the correct information.
Thurs 14th - 18th March 2013
During these days i edited my plans and developed them. I decided to start thinking about where my stingers and jingles will go once i have all my recording completed. I also considered what day i could put aside to do this, which i wrote in a production log during my planning in one of Mrs Merrick's lessons. These lessons where an advantage as i had time to gather all my information given by Ed on the last few times he came and put it into my own work to improve it. For example in my plan, instead of having the interviews straight after each other, i needed to give it a break by perhaps playing a song or me discussing my views on the previous interviews. Using elements like this will hopefully satisfy the reader and therefore give me a successful radio show. We was also informed that the next two weeks up to Easter holidays will be purely planning based and recording based to prepare us for after. This means when we get back, we will be able to just get straight into editing instead of delaying any further. As i have completed the majority of my planning, I feel I will meet this deadline.
Tue 19th March 2013
In this lesson, Ed stagg came in and went over how to do interviews and how to ask questions to engage the listener He told us tips he uses in his own shows such as changing the pitch, tone and loudness of his voice every now and then to get the listener listening again if they have drifted out of listening. He told us how to use a handy voice recorders we will be using for our recording interviews which will help us when we begin recording during tomorrows lesson. Ed set us on a task to create a short piece of recording each in groups and listen back too it. Once we listen back too it, he told us to consider how we can improve ourselves and feed back too him. Me, Dieter, Edna and Nicole all took a handy recorder to a classroom and each took in turns to ask each other our questions. These questions where just general questions, that weren't hard or complex. For example i asked questions such as whats your favorite shop in town and who's your favorite celebrity. As i didn't plan out these questions and had to think of them in the spot, i realize how important it is to thoroughly analyse and write out your questions before going to an interview. Also if you are making them up on the spot, it is important to listen to the answers as they can give you leads to the next question you could possibly ask. Once this was completed, we all took it in turns listening to our sections and thinking about how we can improve. The clarity of my voice is what i discussed with Ed, as it was very quiet and needed to me more louder for the listener to clearly hear what i have to say. He agreed and said that i should also be more confident when asking the questions and answering them as it shows in the tone of my voice and therefore lacks in professionalism. This is what i will have to consider when i begin to do my own interviews. Over all, there where many advantages such as the whole day developed my knowledge and understanding in order for me to be prepared to record tomorrow. There was no disadvantages to this day as it was productive for all of us. During the last 15 minutes or so of the lesson we all emailed teachers that we needed to interview so that we could fill in our production schedule for the rest of the week. I emailed Mr Peel, Mr Mansel and Mrs Plattern and awaited there reply over the course of the evening.
Wed 20th March 2013
Today was a very busy day as i started recording. We spent the whole day doing interviews with each other and students. I was asked to do a few interviews from a few of my class friends which where very useful as they gave me tips on how they are presenting their questions etc. In a sense, we all helped each other out during this day in inspiration and giving good detailed answers that they can use in their sections. I received emails back from all the teachers and interviewed Mr Peel and Mrs Plattern during these hours. Once i had them it gave me more and more ways that i could then develop my planning. Therefore in any spare time i had i developed and wrote down in my planning what i could use to be better than my original ideas. Also when i had spare time, Mrs Merrick asked to see our planning, but mine was all on paper. This meant i had to spend some time writing up my plans in a word document. I created a mind map of some of the key quotes i considered from Ed as well to remind me of what he said in-case i forgot later on in my recording. I also edited my production log to when i would record. A disadvantage was that I was too late for booking out the handy recorders so simply used my iPad. An advantage however to this was that it worked just as well. Anther disadvantage was that due to this busy day i didn't get to interview Mr Mansel so tomorrow i plan to re-schedule this with him in order to get my last teacher interview. During this lesson i also got a student interview with Dieter who gave me very detailed and slightly humorous answers which would help the show flow when i put it all together. Before even completing my recording, i began to think how i could use the interviews to my advantage in editing them later on in the project.
Thurs 21st March 2013
This lesson was quiet productive for me as during the last few days i have been too busy to keep up with my blog. This meant that i had chance too get up to date and write out all i had done over the past few days.There was also a school trip for the year twelves, so only me and Maqsood stayed behind. This meant that nothing major was originally planned for the lesson as few of us would be their. My notes and planning helped me do this as it helped me match up what i did on each day, in-case i forgot. A possible disadvantage i encountered was that i didn't do any interviewing on this day, it was purely a catch up lesson. However that can also be seen as an advantage.
Fri 22nd March 2013
Before the lesson, I got a student interview off one of my friends as she had a free period. A weakness as i only got one interview as my other friends who had free's couldn't do it because they where busy. In the actual lesson i worked on my script for what i will be saying and recording myself speaking introducing the show etc. I had already started this in my planning earlier on so i didn't have to start from scratch, however it had a lot of room for improvements From our previous visit from Ed, he said a good idea for my show personally would be to say something like " want to know who's guilty pleasure is...? well keep listening and you will find out, but first". By saying this it is almost a cliff hanger that is engaging the reader and keeping them listening to find out that piece of information. This element to my piece is very appropriate and proffesional as it is relevant to the type of topic my show is about. I then came up with one from my interviews i got yesterday which i will use in my script. In this lesson i also uploaded my recordings i had gathered so far to drop box as well as sending them too myself through email so i would be able to reach them from the computer from two different sources, which will be a potential advantage later on when it comes to editing.
Mon 25th March 2013
During this lesson, I did an interview with Mr Mansel and got 7 minuets worth of recording. This was good as I got a lot of information from him that will be inspiring to the pupils, as well as humorous. I would have a lot to cut out as it needs to be a lot shorter than it is now. This could be seen as a potential negative in the future as when it comes to editing, I will have a lot to remove and alter. Also, in this lesson I carried on with my script as i had to come up with a strong ending to my section. I got some inspiration from Dieters script and from Mr collins. This is an advantage as I could develop my ideas into better ones that are more professional. In this time I also planned out how much recording I would have for each vox from what I have already collected. This was an advantage as I had an over view written down of what I would have by the end of it.
Tue 26th March 2013
Before this lesson, i got two more student interviews which was a major advantage to the amount of content i had to use in my work. During the actual lesson however, I was meant to use the studio to record my script for what i would say during my section. However, there was a lady in there doing music lesson recordings. whilst i waited, i aught up on my blog so that i would have less to do later, and could concentrate fully on editing my work. This was an advantage to me however a disadvantage was that in the end i never got chance to record my script. This is because when the lady did let us borrow the recording studio, we recorded Dieters first as he had a lot more to record than me. As the machine didn't work, we asked Sam to help us. He then recorded Dieter whilst i prepared for my turn next. However this was cut short as the lady came back to continue her lessons in there. However, to remove this disadvantage, me and Dieter went back after lesson to try it, but again the system wasn't working. I felt it would be best to leave it tomorrow to do during lesson 1 and 2 before Ed Stag comes in the afternoon. I decided this as i would have Sam and teachers to help me in case the machine doesn't work again.
Wed 27th March 2013
Before this lesson, i again got another student interview which was a massive advantage. It was an advantage because if i needed to, i would have back up material to use. As a lot of people needed the studio this morning, I awaited my turn by continuing with my blog which was again an advantage. After around 20 minutes i went into the recording studio with Sam to record my script. I made sure that when i was speaking, i changed tone and made myself speak in a more conversational manner to add more rapore with the listener. This would keep the listener engaged and is some advice given by Ed last tuesday when he came. After this i got a dongle and began to put my footage into the cubase software to begin editing Now i have completed my recordings, I have had chance to evaluate my methods, sample and quality of my recordings. For example, throughout the whole of my recordings i used my ipad on an app called recording lite. This got clear recordings, however they where not to the standard of the recording studio. i didn't use the handy recorders we where taught to use as whenever i needed them they where already being used and i felt it would be more substantial to use the Ipad. Later, Ed Stagg is coming in and will be spending 15 minutes with each of us to go over all the recordings we have and what needs to be done to improve them. Mrs Merrick has suggested the best thing to do is to record this tutorial on the handy recorders as we gave the ipads in, so that when it comes to it later on when we wish to look back on it and improve it. Me, Dieter and Josh however didn't have time for our tutorial so we spent this time working on our editing. However the recordings that we got of dropbox had to be put through a software called.......... where we had to export it in order to make it into an MP3 file to use in cubase. This wasn't a major disadvantage but it was a set back as it took me a while to do each recording.
Thurs 28th March 2013
In this lesson, as we didn't get time for our one to one with Ed, me Dieter and josh had or turns. Whilst we waited we continued to work on our radio section. During my session with Ed, it went very well and gave me a good idea as to what i had to do next. All i had to show Ed was my interviews of teachers all put together and cut up to the bits I needed, as well as some student interviews. From this, the advice was what i already knew, i just had to clarify. For example one person i did the interview with didn't take it as seriously as they should have done and was sarcastic through out. I felt even though the tone of her voice shows she isn't being serious, the context of her interview added some humour to the radio section. I asked Ed what he thought, and i showed him the full interview with her. He said that i was right in saying that it was funny for my piece, but it was very much inappropriate and that it would loose me marks when it is being marked later on. This means that i am to re record it when i return from the Easter holidays. This is a strength because it clarified for me if it was acceptable to use or not, and prevented me from taking the risk of using it and finding out it lowered my grade later on. However a weakness was that i had to re record it which would take time out of my editing production. Another piece of work recommended to re record was my interview with Mrs Plattern due to the room we where in. In the background sound of Mrs voice, there was like a loud machine like sound which overpowers the actual speaker. This is also a weakness i received as it would further push my editing production behind. However some strengths he suggested from his advice was to add music softly into the background and also to use the levels to make sure there is no change in sound when changing interviews. This will give my feature a more proffesional sound and will give me more marks when it is marked. Over all it was a very successful tutorial and i have learnt a lot from it to get my work to its best. I emailed Mrs Plattern to redo her interview, and i now just have to await a reply. Once i have a reply i will plan out when i can record so it doesn't deter my video editing massively.
Mon 15th April 2013
I was off on this day so I didn't make any further adjustments to my work.
Tue 16th April 2013
During these two hours, I got back into editing my work. However, for the first half of the lesson I had to export the file from the computer in AR08 to my file so i could access it in AR10. This delayed the amount of work done in the lessons as it took a while to export and load in the other room. Once i had done this i got straight into editing and made a start. But, as i added each file all on one line leaving them in incorrect places simply I could export it, it meant i doubled my work load as i had to re cut all my work to get it to the right places. This took up a lot of time and delayed me just get straight into it. Towards the lat lesson i
Wed 17th April 2013
These four lessons where very productive as i got a lot of work done. Considering that i had to re do two of my interviews, i arranged to meet Mrs Plattern during lesson three to redo her interview. However, i felt that as i had to cut out some questions because my show was too long, i wouldn't waste her time. I emailed her and asked her to rearrange it to next week when i have the fixed questions as too what i will ask her. I then continued to edit my radio show. In the afternoon, i cut down the student interview questions from 3 instead of 4 and changed the teacher interviews down from 8 to 7. This made my show smaller in order to fit the 7.5 minute barrier.
Thurs 18th April 2013
During this lesson, i continued editing my radio show by replacing a few files that the cubase software told me i had to replace. Once i had done this i decided it would be wise to do my blog for this week as it would ensure i was up to date and would still have time to work on my blog. This is a major strength that i will obtain. However a weakness is that i will not have
Fri 19th April 2013
In this lesson i again worked on the rest of the blog i didn't complete last lesson. Also, Mr Collins said he wanted to go round each of us and listen to what we all had so far. This was an advantage as he showed me where and what i need to improve on. Even though i knew the main improvements such as re recording 2 interviews and moving bits round, he told me how i can sort out Mr Peels voice in his interview. This is because Mr Peel had a very boomier and louder voice than Mr Mansel. He taught me that to change the volume and intensity, i had to click on audio on the top tool bar and click on................ Once i have done this i change the number to either a minus to lower the volume or higher to increase it. This was a strength as i knew that i could use it later on in my editing to make my piece of radio sound as smooth and proffesional as possible.
Monday 22nd April 2013
Tuesday 23rd April 2013
Wednesday 24th April 2013
During the lesson, I spent the morning just editing and replacing files making sure that my radio show was completed until third period where i will re record my interview with Mrs Plattern. I also wrote out the questions i wanted to ask her so that i was prepared and didnt waste her time. This is a strength for my project as it means i will just have to cut it put it in the track, which will be much quicker giving me more time to edit the rest of my interviews. Towards the second half of the day i spent trying to fix the miss plattern interbiew as was squeeky
Thursday 25th April 2013
logged on and all my work was squeeky and even the editing the gain and volume didnt work sent this whole hour tryin to fix it but decided it would be best to start again
Friday 26th April 2013
Spent lessons 1 to and 3 doing it from scratch as the original was still squeeky, went on the computer next to me and began to work fine.
Wed 1st may 2013
finished the last few tweeks to it as my dead line was exended due to implications with the software
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