Tuesday, 27 September 2022
Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Sunday, 11 September 2022
Production Journey
When recording my radio drama me and simona were recording all our dialogue. It took us time recording all of the dialogue because it was our first time voice acting and we would always laugh or make mistakes. Then when we got all our recordings sorted out we then started to delete some bloopers and also mistakes that we've made. For my narrator bits that i had to do i changed the voice settings to the narrator option so that my voice would be more clearer than the characters in the story. We also started to edit and cut some voice tracks because sometimes you would hear the mouse clicks where it shouldn't be and we had to cut them out. we also had to join the clips together so that we sounded like one story.
We did some of the recordings again because the feedback that the audience gave us was telling us that the voices sounded fuzzy. They also said that we needed to make the voices the same sound because there were some clips that were too loud and some that were too quiet, so we had to retake those too. After we retook some recordings, we had to edit it again so that the story made sense.
After that we had to add more recordings because our radio drama was too short. We added this scene where Avery was watching YouTube about the dark web but then the audience could actually listen to what AVery is watching. How we did that is by getting Simona to do an American accent and then we put creepy music in the background to get the audience engaged. We also put that recording quieter so the audience would know that the character is watching YouTube.
Then we added Mrs lowndes into the recording so that she can be the police officer. We added an echoey sound when she was arresting Jaden so it sounded like she had a microphone on her. We added this so that it could sound more realistic.
After we put all the recordings together and edited them, we then went to the final cut pro and imported the recordings there. We added a picture from google and put the title "Dark Secrets".
We got some copyright free music from YouTube then imported it as a Mp3 file format so we could import to final cut pro. After that we added some background noise in some of the recordings so that the mood of the atmosphere was right and also could interest the audience that are listening to it, because without some background music the audience could get bored of the radio drama easily and wouldn't want to watch any more episodes of that radio drama.
Friday, 9 September 2022
Tuesday, 16 August 2022
U16 / P2 - Storage, compression, sizes versus quality
Storage
A USB flash drive, also known as a USB stick, USB thumb drive or pen drive. Is a plug and play portable storage device that uses flash memory and is lightweight enough to attach to a keychain. A USB drive can be used in place of a compact disc.
A hard drive is a hardware component that stores all of your digital content. Your documents, pictures, music, videos, programmes, application preferences and operating system represent digital content stored on a hard drive. Hard drives can be internal or external.
An SSD, or solid-state drive, is a type of storage device that is used in computers. This non-volatile storage media stores persistent data on a solid-state flash memory. SSDs replace traditional hard disk drives in computers and perform the basic functions as a flash drive.
Cloud storage is a cloud computing model that stores data on the internet through a cloud computing provider who manages and operates data storage as a service. It is delivered on demand with the just in time capacity and costs, and it also eliminates buying and managing your own data infrastructure.
Compression
Dynamic range compression or simply compression is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sounds, that's reducing or compressing an audio signal dynamic range.
Downward compression reduces the volume of loud sounds above a certain threshold. The quiet sounds that are below the threshold remain unaffected. This is the most common type of compressor. Upward compression is a type of dynamic range compression that boots the amplitude of an audio signal below a certain threshold while maintaining the amplitude above the threshold. Upward compression is available in digital plugins and through parallel compression with hardware or software.
Size vs Quality
Lossy means that it involves or causes some loss of data. Lossy compression is a way of getting smaller squeezed files than lossless. This technology strips out of data it has been programmed as not necessary.
Definition of lossless is being done or being without loss (as of power or data) lossless data compression lossless power transmission.
Bit rate refers to the rate at which data is processed or transferred. It is usually measured in seconds.
File size is the measure of space a file takes up on storage medium, such as a computer hard drive. File sizes can be measured in bytes, in kilobytes ,metabytes, gigabytes, terabytes and more.
Wednesday, 20 July 2022
Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Audience feedback
Feedback on first draft: The students i told to give me feedback was Afsarah, Zayna and Areeba.
The questions i asked were:
Is our voices loud enough?
What do you think about the radio drama?
Is there anything else that we can add to the radio drama?
Do you understand what the radio drama is about, if so which part and why?
What do you think about the characters in the radio drama?
Afsarah said that our voices were alright but there are times where our voices would go softer or louder, which would be annoying since the audience would need to keep changing the volume and it would get frustrating. She also said that it was fuzzy and that it sounds like white noise making the audio unclear. She suggested that we should have more enthusiasm in our words and that the recording should be done in a soundproof room, also check if there is audio by doing a soundcheck. Afsarah said that the characters were quite bland at least something to remember that they’re an actual person. She thinks more reactions are needed to make it more believable, for example when you question certain things in your mind It makes more sense but if you just say it, it feels and looks unbelievable that you’re saying something. I think questioning things whilst “thinking” of something gives you a better advantage to make it believable.
Areeba said that she could understand the radio show and what it is about. The voices in the first half was really quiet and she needed to put her phone next to her ear to hear it, but in the second half the voices was really loud so she said that it should be the same volume throughout the whole radio drama. That it should be at a moderate level of volume unless it needs to be louder or quieter for a particular reason. She also agreed with Afsarah by saying that even though Simona's acting wasn't bad , but she should put emotion into her words since it's a radio drama the audience cannot see the actors/characters expression because it's only sound with no other visual aspects.
Zayna also talked about the volume problems. Zayna basically said the same thing as Afsarah and Areeba about Simona's acting and also that everything sounded out of place because she even though she kind of understood the story it was still a little bit confusing and how everything is monotone and boring. She said she struggled watching all of it because there was nothing interesting for her to carry on.
Monday, 11 July 2022
Thursday, 26 May 2022
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Monday, 23 May 2022
Considerations
The sound format I will be exporting my sound file is AIFF. Garage band will be used to record the Dark Secrets drama. Using Garage band makes it easy to export the audio and it ensures that the sound quality does not get affected. And since the file is uncompressed sound therefore again it will not lose any quality or data. - This is called Generation Loss, which occurs when a file keeps being copied and compressed, affecting its quality and making it unclear or muffled.
I will save the files on my school student documents and as a back up I'll be using Outlook drive and a USB stick to store all of my recordings. So, in case something unexpected happens and the files get wiped there is always the other backup options. Or it could be that while recording some sounds gets cut off, then if this occurs it is simple to just get the recording again from the backups stored. Using a USB stick means it is easy to store the files on my computer again and then drag them onto Garage band. Using these simple methods could avoid over complications. Friday, 20 May 2022
Friday, 13 May 2022
Risk assessment
Risk Assessment Form
Activity/Task: Radio show
Location: Studio
Hazards | Risk rating(High, Med, Low) |
Controls |
Programme used to edit the recordings – GarageBand, Final cut X. Could somehow get corrupted.
Legal requirements which could be mandatory.
The crew not showing up due to scheduling problems
Loose wires and cables
Food and drinks getting on the equipment.
|
LOW
LOW
MED
MED
LOW |
This is low risk because it is not common for files to get corrupted so easily. To avoid this from happening we will work carefully and efficiently.
This will be handled by using the Constraint grid. As this contains all the Legal and Ethical constraints regarding Radio Dramas.
There are Schedules and Alignment that will prevent this issue. All staff members will have these documents. However, there could still be issues such as traffic that may affect the programme. There aren’t that many wires compared to a recording studio which might be filmed. Because there aren’t lights, however there are still wires and cables that are everywhere so it might be hazardous if someone doesn’t pay attention and trips over them. To avoid these things will be kept tidy. To avoid this from happening food and drinks will be prohibited from the studio. |
Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Scheduling and alignment
The title of the drama is called Dark Secrets and it will air on Chadwell Heath Radio. It is about a young girl who stumbles upon a YouTube video about the Dark web.
It will be on air at 6:30pm on a Saturday more people will watch it, and airing it at evening means it becomes more likely a teenager will watch Dark Secrets. As in the evening time most teens are free so they are spending their time relaxing, and finding something new to watch.
Dark Secrets will have multiple parts which will air on Radio. The duration will be somewhere between 5 minutes each episode on a Saturday. It will focus on a new topic each few episodes that teenagers. Since this one is cyber danger, next one could be mental illness, or bullying etc.
This drama will be entertaining to listen to as it explores something unfamiliar. Which will appeal to young teenagers and young adults, since they are curious about a lot at that age. This also warns and educates the viewers about the possible dangers about the dark web, and strangers. This might help some people recognise if they are talking to a 'Jaden'. As it brings awareness to the topic in a way which appeals to teens. This could also help parents recognise if a teen has been spending a lot of on an unknown site such as the dark web, that could potentially be dangerous. Dark secrets educates while entertaining the viewers.
The drama will go on after a popular song so that it can engage teenagers to watch it.
Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Unit 14 and 16: Outline -Treatment
It's a 5 minute or more radio show. The title of the radio show is called The dark secrets and it's going to be about a girl called Avery who is 18 and has the most interesting experience in the summer holidays. In the 2nd week of the summer holidays and was very really bored and stumbled across a YouTube video on the dark web and got really intrigued and searched up how to safely go into the dark web. When she went on the dark web there really wasn't anything that interesting, just fake videos. The sound effects for this scene is going to be typing on a keyboard and mouse clicking since she's using her computer. The atmospheric sounds would be the sounds from the computer, since she's going to be watching the videos in the dark web. After an hour she started talking to this guy that says he's the same age as her and that his name is Jaden. For the music in the background it will be copyrighted music that says an eerie feel to it, since what what happening was suspicious. One day they went to meet up only to find out that the guy that was the same age as her wasn't and ended up being an elderly man with weird taste. For sound effects you would hear footsteps. For the atmospheric sounds there will be wind and birds chirping since the setting here is the park. The dialogue would be Avery and "Jaden" were talking and she was really surprised since this wasn't what she was expecting.
The target audience would be 16-21 years old because there is a lot of stranger danger elements to it.
Demographics
The age for this drama will be for 16-21 year olds since they are teenagers going into their adult stage. There isn't a specified gender that this drama is for since it will help both boys and girls when it comes to talking to strangers online. Location will be in the UK. It's not any specific ethnicity
Lifestyle
This drama talks about going into illegal websites and also talking to people online that you've never met. This would teach the people watching that after they do these things just because they're bored won't end great at the end and it also teaches the audience that they should be careful when it comes to meeting people online because you don't know who they actually are in real life.
Spending Power
Social economic grading ( the 'ABC1' system)
Needs and trends
We can ask people in Chadwell to meet us in The park since its local so that everyone can easily go there. People in Chadwell usually use Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok. We can post there and talk about the drama and give out the information to the target audience since they are usually on these apps.
For this Treatment I did the first paragraph and Simona did the Demographics, Lifestyle, Spending Power and Needs and Trends.
Friday, 22 April 2022
Wednesday, 23 March 2022
U16 Sound Elements Production Reports on Experimenting Producing sound
Foley Effects
Foley effects are the production and recording of sound effects. Sounds like glass breaking, walking on snow, doors are usually created by Foley effects to make it more realistic. For wild tracks the background will blend in to the scene like crowded street, school or busy restaurant. They are known as off-screen sounds because it is sound recorded after the footage.
Sunday, 20 March 2022
Wednesday, 9 March 2022
Monday, 7 March 2022
U14 - P1 to compare presentation of the programme
For the mode of address i feel like Uncanny was more informal in a way because the person is just talking very casually to the other person that's asking him questions and it's a discussion while in the Death by Conspiracy drama it sounds more like a documentary while uncanny sounds more like a podcast. For the tone of Uncanny it's scary and mysterious because he's telling a ghost story also explaining what happens to him and the atmosphere is very tense and spooky because of all the sound effects and music that are playing in the background. For the tone of Death by Conspiracy it doesn't really give off the same spooky atmosphere even though they are still relating to the topic about Gary Mathews and his life before he died but it is still very intriguing and the only spooky bit about the drama is the ringing sound in the first part. In uncanny the dialect is not formal but also not too informal it has that balance. For Death by conspiracy they sound more formal than uncanny.
Unit 14 P3: Describe and explain studio equipment
Digital cartwalls and playlists
Digital cartwalls and playlists are resources you gather together before your show. The songs, jingles, adverts and other pre- records. It allows to see what local stations are playing, breaks are currently going out and any jingles that they play the localisers that screen up there shows up everything.
Digital playout system
Playout system is an industry term used to describe the equipment, software or processes typically within some kind of broadcast environment responsible for "playing" source media and converting or rendering it into a form which may be "put to air" or presented for external use.
Equipment
Audio equipment refers to devices that reproduce, record, or process sounds. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD player, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effect units, headphones and speakers. Microphones is an instrument for converting sound waves into electrical energy variations which may then be amplified, transmitted or recorded. Headphones are a pair of earphones joined by a band placed over the head for listening to sounds without others hearing except for the ones who have the headphones on
Friday, 4 March 2022
U14 - P1- differences between types of programmes
Talk/music
Capital FM. They would do a small talk introducing the artist and the song they are playing while adding a bit of humour to it to make sure that the talking isn't too long and boring for the audience. Then the music would play to entertain the audience while they are usually in a car or doing something while listening to music on the side. This type of programme is unique because the audience can listen to music without making a playlist because the playlist is already there for them. It would usually be mainstream/popular songs that are currently trending.
Sport
BBC sport 5 live Track and Field. There's always this sports spoken that talks for the people doing the sport and would be like a podcast/interview because of the way that they are talking to each other. They are talking about how Louise Hazel would defend her title and she just talks about why she has decided to do that and why she thinks it's for the best. The audience would be someone who in interested in sports especially female sport. This programme is unique because it talks about all the different types of sport and since this one is female sport which is not that common for female sport.
Current events
BBC news talks about the current events that are happening around the world and currently what is happening is that Russia is invading Ukraine and are firing missile's in Ukraine's biggest city. This programme is unique because it tells people what's happening across the world whether it's a good thing or not. It helps people be aware of the things happening right now and what they could do to to help. The currents events that are talked about in the news is video's on the people living in Ukraine and how Russian solders are hurting innocent people.
Lifestyle
Moneybox is an app that helps people see what they are spending their money on like all the transactions. Moneybox also shows how much money people have in their bank right now and if they have a savings account they can see that too. This type of app is useful and unique because it helps people know how much they have left without going to a card machine and checking it. This is usually for people who work or have a lot of money so they can track their money which makes the app Moneybox efficient
Dramatizations
BBC radio 4 has lots of drama's and one that I know is uncanny and there's this other drama that is called Death by conspiracy and it's about a guy that is called Gary Mathews and he was into conspiracy theories until he got covid and died. In this drama they just talk about Gary's life before he died and what he did. This type of drama is unique because it intrigues the audience and the audience would find it very engaging because it's something new.
Friday, 25 February 2022
Monday, 21 February 2022
Tuesday, 8 February 2022
M1: Analyse the structure and content of a programme broadcast by a chosen radio station
Programme Analysis
(All of these examples are from Case 1 of uncanny)
The name of this programme is called Uncanny. It was first released on 12th October and comes on every 6 days on a Saturday at 23:30 P.M. All the episodes are 28 minutes long except from the introduction that is only 3 minutes long. The audience would be people who want entertainment or want to have a jump scare. You can access this programme with BBC Radio 4 in the television or when you are in the car while having access to the radio.
The genre of Uncanny is factual and real life ghost stories, talking about real life ghost encounters that has happened in the past to him and how it affected him. This podcast/drama is entertaining for the audience because since it's ghost stories it would be interesting and amusing to hear, it would never be boring because it involves paranormal activity. It also informs and educates people telling them that ghosts are real and any paranormal activity could happen to the audience and that they would not be as surprised if that did happen to them. In BBC Radio 4 Case 1 of uncanny at 12:23 talking about how he was talking and the door and how it would make violent noises when no one was there. It is also educating because they are bringing into the podcast real life professionals like as he said in 12:38 he brings in Caroline Watt who is a professor of parapsychology at Edinburgh university and Peter Laws who writes about paranormal activity and Caroline talks about how it could be an illusion because the body might be confused if it's a dream or reality and this is educating because professionals are giving their opinions which is more right since they have studied it for years. In 17:15 he gives information about the two people that lived there before and how he was asking if they saw anything in that room and they did. The overall structure of the programme is just Danny talking to Ken and Ken talking his experiences with the ghosts and how they have impacted his life when he was a student and then there would be a dramatic scene where something intense happens and the weird will start playing to grab everyone's attention but then stops after a bit.
The content of this podcast is supposed to be like a scary ghost story and this podcast is about the guy who doesn't believe in ghosts (his name is Ken) and he can't believe that he has seen a ghost when he was a student in belfast and in this first episode he talks about how there was some events happening in his bedroom and describes it as "pure evil" and it would always happen in room 611. You can see that as soon as the main person talking in the podcast and talking about if it's "just supernatural or if it can be explained" At 0:51 and the music playing in the background gives an eerie feeling because of the bass that it is playing in and how slow it is luring the audience in because it's supposed to be spooky and interesting, it would make the audience nervous and scared about what is going to happen next, if the ghost hurted Ken or something bad happening.
At 06:13 he was talking about how he could feel this dark presence around him, seeing the ripples from the blankets, seeing it move and didn't know what it was and it frightened him, having no idea what to do. The music in the background gradually gets louder and louder creating this dramatic effect for the audience. The audience would have thought something major was about to happen because of how the music was. Then at 07:11 the music stops all of the sudden indicating that nothing happened which would have the audience shocked because they were expecting something else. At 10:49 the same thing happens again with the effect that the editor was using. In this bit there was someone in the elevator going to ken's floor and ken found that really weird and thought that maybe someone was coming to see him, but then he felt the same force of "evil" coming to him. The background sound come again while ken is talking about how he heard the footsteps the audience could also hear it making the audience feel connected to Ken in a way because they can hear whatever he heard. The sound got louder for a second then paused but this time it was more shorter than the previous example. At 11:00 the sound came back but this louder and it was stomping, kicking and punching the door making the audience feel like there's a pit in their stomach because there's just so much happening in the span of a few minutes.
With the mode of address i feel like it is a informal mode of address mostly because Ken and Danny are using personal pronouns which would engage the target audience because to make them feel as if they are talking directly at them. The audience then would feel like they are a part of this podcast. At 11:55 Ken uses the word "i" which is a personal pronoun talking about his experiences and also making the audience feel a little more comfortable with him because it's not too overly formal that it needs to be. Also using personal pronouns make the audience more engaged because if they were using formal language i don't think they would have a larger audience as they do now because it wouldn't be as impactful.
This programme was written and presented by Danny Robins. The experts which were the experts talking in the programme about the experiences are Caroline Watt and Peter Laws. The sound Designer and Editor is Charlie Brandon- King. The person in charge of the music was Evelyn Sykes. The theme music was by Lanterns On The Lake. The whole programme was produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard.
Sunday, 6 February 2022
U14 P2 describe the focus of a chosen radio statio.
BBC RADIO 4
This station is called BBC Radio 4 and it is owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts a whole range of programmes like news, drama, comedy, science and history. It has been on air since 30 September 1967. The BBC Radio 4 like all BBC radio stations is funded by everyone's tv licence.
Demographics
The age audience is usually in the older range 35-56 years olds. Both Men and Woman listen to BBC Radio 4. The audience's nationality would be Citizens from the UK because BBC Radio 4 is aimed at the UK. BBC Radio 4 tries to target a larger audience but from what i see on the website the religion it usually targets to is christianity there is a programme in Radio 4 which is called 'prayer of the day' which is basically talking about christianity and starting a prayer to start the day. Radio 4 are targeting a lot of ethnicities with the different programmes for e.g. "My name is christina" and it's about junk food and how her family's is originally from ethiopia and news reports on how ebola impacted africa sparked her political activism.
Lifestyle
All the audiences have different lifestyle and it shows from the programmes they watch. Uncanny is a podcast/drama and the person is talking about he's experiences with ghosts and the audience that watches this might be because they want to entertain themselves and make their lives more interesting or they might experience seeing ghosts as well and wanting to know other people's experiences. Other audiences might be into politics or would like to do something political in the future a programme that is political in BBC Radio 4 is "today in parliament".
Spending Powers
They are funded by everyone's tv licence. The audience would usually have a high spending power since BBC has educated content with a lot of information about different things and most of the audience would have degrees.
Listening Figures
There is 10.8 million listeners in BBC Radio 4. The today programme reached 6.5 million listeners monday to friday. RAJAR shows that in BBC Radio 4 the population is 55,675 people. The reach size is 10,483 people and the percentage of the reach is 19%. The average hours per head is 2.1 people and average hours per listener is 11.1 people. The total hours on how much people listen to BBC radio 4 is 116,503 hours. Listening share in TSA would be 11.6%.
BBC RADIO 4 SCHEDULE
In the morning at 6:00 the programme "News and Papers" is broadcast and since people that have work they would wake up that early to get ready for their job and this helps people know what's going on in the world and would usually listen to this while having their breakfast or if the audience are morning people they can watch that. This appeals to the target audience because since it's a older age range most of them would be working and have a job. In the afternoon there is the "news quiz" playing at around at 12:30 and this could be listened when people are having their lunch. In the evening at around 7 there is "Tumanbay" playing and it's a drama and at that time most people would have finish their job if there were working in a morning shift or dayshift and it's a nice thing to watch if the audience want some drama to be entertained and this appeals to the audience because it's a older age range they would want to watch something in the evening. This show would be more suitable for the target audience that are 35 year olds.
Saturday, 29 January 2022
U14, P1 Explore different types of radio stations.
Radio
There are 6 different radio industry operations that are national commercial, public, regional, community, internet and non- profit radio. The national commercial makes money by having ads on stations. These are released by the companies which find the commercial radio to be a good medium to take their message to their customers. Examples of commercial radio stations are Capital, Absolute radio, Absolute 80s and BBC radio 1. The purpose for this radio is to get big audiences and make money. They get money by using ads and there typical content is mainstream and popular trending content like a trending song right now for e.g. 'rumours' feat cardi b and the reach size is typically the whole of the UK.
The Public radio stations are funded by tv licence fee and has no adverts in between the radio and it's broadcasting intended for the public benefits. Examples of these public stations are BBC radio 4. The ethos and purpose of this radio station is to educate and entertainment and its funded by the tv licence fee. The typical contents are dramas and documentaries. The reach size is the whole of the UK.
The Regional radio station is broadcast in local things like what the weather is like around there or the traffic and accidents in that area. Examples relme FM. The purpose of this radio station is for the people in the local area so it's only a small population that watches these radio stations to know what's happening in that area. They get funded by advertising or hosting an event and there typical content is talking about the news and relevant information. The reach size is usually people that live in that area.
The community radio station is local people producing and broadcasting their own programmes and participate in operating the station. Example for this radio station is ABC FM (Portadown, Northern Ireland) and 1BTN (Brighton and Hove). The purpose for this radio station is that they are operated, owned and influenced by the communities they serve. Generally non-profit individuals, groups and communities tell their own stories. They are funded by support of their own stations, community, adverts, sponsorships and are supported by the government agencies. There typical content is talking about news, information and discussion, wide cultures and interests. The reach size is the people in the UK.
The internet radio stations is audio services that are in the internet. Examples for this radio stations are LIVERADIO and CBC Radio Three. The purpose is to communicate and easily spread messages through through the form of talk. they get there fundings from ads, Host sponsors, offers, endorsement and sell them. Typical content is that they do a lot of different things and now a lot of radio stations have them in the internet. The reach size is everyone.
The non-profit is radio registered with charities and are mostly at universities and colleges. Examples for this is QUEER RADIO and RMA salerno. The purpose is that they spread good words about online radio stations and are designed to help make your cause publicized at a low cost. There fundings come from registered charities or ads and use their fundings for their radio station like props for e.g. a new microphone set. There typical content is having late night talks and just broadcasting music and also talking about charities. For Queer radio they would talk about being gay in this society and how to overcome it. There reach size is a small audience since not that many people listens to it.
My side and how I liaised with my partner
My part of the radio drama is about Avery and she meets this guy and he’s not who he says he is and she’s shocked that he is really old and ...
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This meets the unit 16 brief because we over-layered music, with sound effects in 0.18 so that it sounds like an actual drama radio programm...
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My part of the radio drama is about Avery and she meets this guy and he’s not who he says he is and she’s shocked that he is really old and ...



