PRODUCTION EVALUATION Radio Distinct... Emma Hall Distinct Productions

Forms and conventions of our media product... Before starting our production we did some initial research by listening and analysing other radio stations news segments. Our production follows the forms and conventions of real media products in many ways however it also challenges them as we wanted to create an original product with variety. One of the ways in which we followed the traditional conventions was to include an ident throughout the production stating that the station was called ‘radio distinct’ we decided to use this as this is a technique that all radio stations use and follow to identify their station to their listeners something which we wanted to ensure that we could also achieve. Whilst carrying out our textual analysis to gain extra information we discovered that the stations that were aimed at younger target audiences, for example kiss fm used a more much happy tone of voice and expression in comparison to the much more formal and serious register of stations such as ‘gold music’; we therefore followed this rule and used a happy tone of voice to appeal to our correct target audience. Another piece of key information that we gained from completing our textual analysis is that the music played for the stations aimed at a similar audience to ours used upbeat and fairly quick paced music. We also adopted this technique and carefully selected tracks that suited this theme. We also followed the conventions by using the same content features, for example all news bulliten’s include an anchor which we have used to ensure consistency, we have also used an interview and jingles which all radio stations use. Due to our niche target audience (college students) we didn’t cover certain news topics such as weather or traffic; alternativley we focused more on events and stories that would relate more to the college students. This therefore challenged the conventions of other radio shows as when we were in the process of doing our textual analysis all the radio shows we analysed covered weather or traffic. Distinct Productions

Representation... Distinct Productions In our radio broadcast we have addressed college students who are aged between 16-19; in our segment ‘hard news’ we have stereotyped this social group by discussing car insurance, something which we assume will relate to everyone in this group. However there are the small minority in this group who do not drive or have no intensions to being learning whilst still in education meaning that this information is irrelevant to them. In addition to this our first segment discussing EMA is slightly biased as members of our group receive EMA themselves. We state that the money EMA students receive is used for books, transport and other essential college equipment; however this piece of information is not fact as again it is an assumption of what the money is expected to be used for, however in many cases this money is used for personal use. Another general assumption that we have made is that everyone in our target audience will want to listen to celebrity news, also the choice of celebrities we used to talk about eg Rihanna emphasises this assumption as not everyone in this particular social group may like or want to hear about Rihanna but we found from the results of our questionnaire that most people in this social group would be interested. Distinct Productions

Broadcasting... Distinct Productions We considered and researched into media institutions and discussed which company would be most appropriate to broadcast our radio show. We researched into a popular media institution ‘Bauer’ who broadcast radio stations such as kiss fm and smash hits, both of which are two of the most popular stations for our target audience. This therefore meant that Bauer are experienced with this audience and know how to target them effectively therefore we decided them as a final broadcaster of our station as the stations mentioned are similar to our product. http://www.totalkiss.com/ http://www.smashhits.net/ http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/ Distinct Productions

Target Audience... Distinct Productions Our target audience for this news bulletin was teenage college students; we thought this would be an appropriate social group to target as we ourselves can relate to it and use our own personal experiences and opinions to enable us to create a product that would appeal to this group. In addition to this we had easy access to people in this group and were able to discuss ideas with friends and students around the college. We used several techniques combined with suitable content to guarantee that our news segment appealed effectively to our target audience. Firstly the jingles and beds we used were key to the show, we listened through several CD’s and chose tracks that were upbeat and lively to appeal to our audience. Our choice of topics were also vital as we needed to ensure we discussed issues that would interest college students – we included segments on car insurance, EMA and college events as we felt these suited our genre well. We also tried to ensure throughout the show that our language and register wasn't serious but instead sounded upbeat and happy to keep in tone with the rest of the show. Distinct Productions

My research... My key role in the production of our radio show was to cover the celebrity news – I therefore had to research into what was currently in the news and what I thought would interest our audience. The article shown on the right was taken from The Daily Star, it discussed Katie Price and her new Louis Vuitton boyfriend; as Price is focused on a lot in the media I thought this would be a good topic to discuss. I then used this article to underline the key facts and incorporate them into my script. For the remainder of my stories I used Google to collect facts and find out the main stories that were in the news.

Technologies... Distinct Productions During the process of producing our radio show I have learnt several new skills... Looking back on our preliminary task ‘inheritance tracks’ I feel I have learnt a lot in the progression of completing our news bulletin. In our ‘inheritance tracks’ task we were able to record the whole of it in only two sections and only used two tracks. This therefore was quite simple to link together; however when it came to the production of the radio show it involved much more. The first skill I learned was using a tascam recorder effectively – this was a vital element as it enabled us to gain vox pops and the interview to then incorporate into our show. As our radio show needed a longer duration than our inheritance tracks we recorded each section separately. The next stage for us then was to link all the sections together which involved using the software programme ‘adobe audition. Using this technology programme then allowed us to edit any sections and include music beds and jingles. I found that this was quite tricky as we had to set the levels to ensure each section flowed onto the next fluently and the music didn’t overpower the scripting. Distinct Productions

The Final Outcome... Overall I think the final product we have created is of a good standard and sounds professional; during the process of recording and editing we encountered a few timing and volume issues however we were able to overcome these by slightly editing the scripting and using the technology to adjust the levels. Carrying out this project has enabled me to gain new skills in technology and using the software. After lots of planning and editing we have effectively achieved what we originally set out to do and I think the overall show has worked well. Distinct Productions