Primarily, I first needed somewhere to collate all my work in one spot, so we decided that Blogspot would proficient in doing so as it allows us to blog and arrange all my research and work in one place; using headings to aid structure each section throughout the ancillary and main tasks.
The initial task was to research and begin forming ideas on our prospective radio drama, we did this through listening to a variety of radio shows via BBC Iplayer. Whilst listening to ‘The Archers’, ‘Twlight Zone’, ‘Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy’ and ‘War of the Worlds’, I noted down style ideas, themes/topics and codes and conventions. This allowed us to have everything together when it came to our initial ideas for the radio drama. Within class, we discussed our views on radio dramas, our likes and dislikes and even if we listened to them, however the general consensus came back as a negative so this made us think: how can we produce something that will lure in a younger target audience? What kind of themes and narratives will be deemed acceptable and important to a mor contemporary audience? And, what makes the television dramas as alluring as they are today? So I made sure my findings and analysis of the radio dramas were posted on my, with a poster image to act as a visual aid to the text.
Following our preliminary task, we looked into the history of radio, especially using http://www.irdp.co.uk/ for reference, to gain a wider understanding of the task at hand.
We used Soundtrack Pro, to record in the studio, and edit the radio drama afterward. In the beginning we had issues gettin to grips with the studio, making sure all the settings were right and that the equipment was working, but with a little assistance we rectified our mistakes and got on with things. Editing also posed an issue, to begin with, as the program was alien to us and we found editing tediously slow; yet by the end of our second session, I had managed to allocate and play around with enough tools to be able to sufficiently get the job done. We found issue as initially we had exported the radio drama as the wrong kind of file causing the Soundtrack Pro to take most of a session to load it. Within the first scene, we had the problem of not having enough actors to fulfil the minor roles of Jay and Simon and so decided to record as normal and edit the levels later. The process entailed using the blade tool to place the necessary pieces of text on a second track and applying a special effect; the pitchshifter effect found in EQ. I then played around with the effect as to lower the voices enough that they weren't very recognisable, without too much of an over-autotuned effect occuring. Combined with the addition of a background track and smaller sound effects, like the text message tone made from shortening a 'robotic' sound I found, the scene began to sound more professional and of a much higher quality than just students in a radio booth. In the end, I think the scenes themselves were quite simple to edit and quite fun, however between being finished and being exported it appeared that levels were affected and segments stunted, for example our initial final version had a repeated scene of the telephone call between Lara and Susan.
The internet was mainly used, in regards to research radio dramas and their conventions and aid in development, in regards to stylised models for inspiration. For the ancillary tasks' research I used mainly Google, the BBC network site and The Radio Times website. It was especially hard to find the radio drama posters as they appear so few and far between; personally I have used related images to the products, for example the 'Twilight Zone' Image was promotional for the original television series that was based on the radio show. This lead us to base our ideas and planning of the posters based around what we could find and the influences from both TV and film posters.
For both ancillary texts we used Indesign and Photoshop, which wasn't too hard to get to grips with after learning the basics of both previously in AS Media Studies. However with the opportunity given to make a striking poster for our show, one that was dark and rich in narrative, I had more of a chance to play around to get the desired effects and quality of a marketing standard. In Photoshop, I learnt how to use tools such as the smudge tool, spot healer, patch tool and, mainly, the liquify tool. For example for my main image in my feature, I used the spot healer tool to remove blemishes, the patch tool to remove dark under-eye circles and the liquify tool in order to edit and air brush our figures and fix any pose-issues, i.e. squinted eyes/double chins. Images could be argued as the most important part of a feature as it is the first thing, after the headlines, you notice to draw you into reading the feature; this is why I made sure that the images were all saved at 200dpi in order for the optimum clarity and sharpness available. I think Photoshop is an invaluable learnt tool and I believe I have definitely, vastly improved on my skills. In Indesign, to create our posters, to build them up from outlines and text boxes into the final product.My feature was loosely based on numerous articles and interviews I had read before, both online and in print, and so I used my previous knowledge as inspiration and advice, in regards to layout and tone. As we have previously done a feature in AS Media, I was able to build on my previous knowledge of the use of tools and effects and in product layout.
In regards to research and audience feedback, I posted my poster upon Facebook, in hopes of constructive criticism and aid in ideas of improvement. The information I received was mostly positive with some comments on adjustments and improvements, this was greatly accepted and heeded. However, in regards of responses of our ideal target audience, I only had a handful of responses so I think this review may be non-representative of how others may view my poster. This allowed me to objectively see my work, and evalualate it to a higher standard than my own subjective view. We also held a listening party to asses our radio drama. This allowed us a vast amount of qualitative data on the responses to our product, their likes, dislikes and where improvements could be made. This information was highly important due to it being highly constructive and both reassuring that we were doing the right thing, as well as that changes needed to be made.
I think the affect of my combined products are quite strong as I think they all back eachother quite nicely. I used my blog to present my products and all the research and development; it gave me a platform to upload my mindmaps, scripts, screenshots and soundclips, in order to show my progession in the tasks. Having it all in one orderly place allowed me easier access and roaming when it came to my evaluation in a multi-platform layout, allowing the data to be presented more dynamically, organised and structured and made the whole project far more enjoyable.
We used Soundtrack Pro, to record in the studio, and edit the radio drama afterward. In the beginning we had issues gettin to grips with the studio, making sure all the settings were right and that the equipment was working, but with a little assistance we rectified our mistakes and got on with things. Editing also posed an issue, to begin with, as the program was alien to us and we found editing tediously slow; yet by the end of our second session, I had managed to allocate and play around with enough tools to be able to sufficiently get the job done. We found issue as initially we had exported the radio drama as the wrong kind of file causing the Soundtrack Pro to take most of a session to load it. Within the first scene, we had the problem of not having enough actors to fulfil the minor roles of Jay and Simon and so decided to record as normal and edit the levels later. The process entailed using the blade tool to place the necessary pieces of text on a second track and applying a special effect; the pitchshifter effect found in EQ. I then played around with the effect as to lower the voices enough that they weren't very recognisable, without too much of an over-autotuned effect occuring. Combined with the addition of a background track and smaller sound effects, like the text message tone made from shortening a 'robotic' sound I found, the scene began to sound more professional and of a much higher quality than just students in a radio booth. In the end, I think the scenes themselves were quite simple to edit and quite fun, however between being finished and being exported it appeared that levels were affected and segments stunted, for example our initial final version had a repeated scene of the telephone call between Lara and Susan.
The internet was mainly used, in regards to research radio dramas and their conventions and aid in development, in regards to stylised models for inspiration. For the ancillary tasks' research I used mainly Google, the BBC network site and The Radio Times website. It was especially hard to find the radio drama posters as they appear so few and far between; personally I have used related images to the products, for example the 'Twilight Zone' Image was promotional for the original television series that was based on the radio show. This lead us to base our ideas and planning of the posters based around what we could find and the influences from both TV and film posters.
For both ancillary texts we used Indesign and Photoshop, which wasn't too hard to get to grips with after learning the basics of both previously in AS Media Studies. However with the opportunity given to make a striking poster for our show, one that was dark and rich in narrative, I had more of a chance to play around to get the desired effects and quality of a marketing standard. In Photoshop, I learnt how to use tools such as the smudge tool, spot healer, patch tool and, mainly, the liquify tool. For example for my main image in my feature, I used the spot healer tool to remove blemishes, the patch tool to remove dark under-eye circles and the liquify tool in order to edit and air brush our figures and fix any pose-issues, i.e. squinted eyes/double chins. Images could be argued as the most important part of a feature as it is the first thing, after the headlines, you notice to draw you into reading the feature; this is why I made sure that the images were all saved at 200dpi in order for the optimum clarity and sharpness available. I think Photoshop is an invaluable learnt tool and I believe I have definitely, vastly improved on my skills. In Indesign, to create our posters, to build them up from outlines and text boxes into the final product.My feature was loosely based on numerous articles and interviews I had read before, both online and in print, and so I used my previous knowledge as inspiration and advice, in regards to layout and tone. As we have previously done a feature in AS Media, I was able to build on my previous knowledge of the use of tools and effects and in product layout.
In regards to research and audience feedback, I posted my poster upon Facebook, in hopes of constructive criticism and aid in ideas of improvement. The information I received was mostly positive with some comments on adjustments and improvements, this was greatly accepted and heeded. However, in regards of responses of our ideal target audience, I only had a handful of responses so I think this review may be non-representative of how others may view my poster. This allowed me to objectively see my work, and evalualate it to a higher standard than my own subjective view. We also held a listening party to asses our radio drama. This allowed us a vast amount of qualitative data on the responses to our product, their likes, dislikes and where improvements could be made. This information was highly important due to it being highly constructive and both reassuring that we were doing the right thing, as well as that changes needed to be made.
I think the affect of my combined products are quite strong as I think they all back eachother quite nicely. I used my blog to present my products and all the research and development; it gave me a platform to upload my mindmaps, scripts, screenshots and soundclips, in order to show my progession in the tasks. Having it all in one orderly place allowed me easier access and roaming when it came to my evaluation in a multi-platform layout, allowing the data to be presented more dynamically, organised and structured and made the whole project far more enjoyable.
