LO3: UNIT 5 Evaluation
group feedback
I sent out a survey monkey to the peers in my group for this unit, to find out out how they thougvht I worked and whether they would like to work with again. All my group members said I was a valued member of the group and that I contributed well.
|
My group members also thought I produced all of my work to a high standard and completed the tasks I was set.
|
To improve my peers said I should have asked for more feedback and some believed we would have been more successful if the group communicated more.
|
All the members of our group would be happy to work with me again.
|
professional practice
I think I work well as part of a team because I contributed many ideas into our radio station and completed the tasks I was set. As well as contributing, I also listened to my peers opinions and integrated our ideas together. I think this was fair on others in the groups as it allowed us to create a radio station that was a product of all our ideas and the outcome was something everyone was happy with. I believe I voiced my opinion enough so that my peers had a clear understanding on whether I was happy with the choices the group were making and I explained why I thought we should make certain decisions. I was honest with my team members regarding work and whether it was detailed enough. I told my peers where they could find the work I completed so they could put it on their websites and I let some group members know when I was concerned they were not working fast enough. This is because the unit contained a lot of tasks and I knew how easy it was to fall behind; when groups members were not working on tasks because they were completing work they had not finished, I made it clear that they needed to work faster or outside lesson time. On a few occasions, I also felt the quality of some members work was not to a very high standard as they had not put enough time into the task or had just not written in enough detail. This concerned me because their work was going onto my website when not much effort had been put in while my work that I had spent a lot of time on was going onto theirs. As mentioned, I did let members know when I didn't think they had done enough and suggested they spent more time on the task. This being said, no work was missing and all the group members did finish the tasks they were set because we were all aware that we had to rely on each other to complete the unit.
critical assessment
In my opinion, our group researched the topic enough to produce a professional station. We investigated regulations, FM, DAB and internet radio, regulatory bodies, costings, other college stations, advertising revenue, as well as what our students wanted from the station. Each investigation that was made was detailed and influenced the planning of our production.
Each member of our group was set the task of completing content research into radio production. The research I had to complete was into the types of station, costings and advertising. I believe my research into types of station was thorough and states clearly why we wanted to produce an internet based radio station rather than FM as it would be more beneficial to our target audience. The second task I completed were the costings. My work shows how I researched what equipment we needed, expenses to run an FM/DAB station and internet station, compared the costs and evaluated by deciding which option would be more cost-effective. The content that my peers researched were of a high standard; particularly the college radio research, which was extensive and helped the group gain inspiration for our station.
Our target audience research was extremely beneficial to the group because it told us exactly what the students of Henley wanted from the college station. The results told us: where and when students would listen from, what platform they would like to use to access the station, and what content (music, shows, information) they would like to hear. This information was essential when producing a student driven radio station as it ensured positive feedback.
I believe our group produced a professional radio station that has the potential to air in and around Henley College. Our production schedule was realistic and consistent, meaning students could expect regular updates at certain times and shows on certain days, so they have the freedom to tune in when they like. The schedule also contains college-relevant shows which will benefit students personally and educationally. Some example include subject talks, staff advice requests and fresh meat ( a chance for music students from the college to be interviewed and show their talent. I think the amount of research our group put into the unit as a whole has influenced how professional our outcome is. The name of the station, Paradise Radio, is very suitable and it's simplicity has a professional effect. Our logo is of a high standard and sets the expectations of our content.
I thought our radio series sound quality was of a high standard; my peers used the Zoom H1 to record their drama. When listening over the content, it becomes clear that the two voice actors were using only one microphone at the same time as one voice is louder than the other. This is because the actors are different distances from the microphone; you would not find this on a professional radio station where a voice actor would have their own individual microphone. To overcome this, we should have increased the volume of the quieter characters lines to match the louder character. Other than this, I believe the radio series was successful; the use of audio effects impacts the story as the scene is brought to life and a sense of the characters surroundings is established. The vocabulary used was a comedic, formal style which fits our target audience of college students who like to be entertained because they want to relax and try to escape from reality.
The the candidate that produced the radio advert used a Zoom H1 microphone so the quality of his work was to a high standard. The volume ratio between the voice actor and the background was to a professional standard as the vocals are not lost in the music neither over power it. I also thought that the pace at which the actor speaks works in time with the music and a rhythm is established. This would cause listeners to remember the advert and may influence them to buy the product advertised. My peer said they did no come across any sound issues within the production. The vocabulary used in the advert is very fitting for a young audience as it uses acronyms like 'SFC' and words used by college students like 'lean' and 'dank'. To improve we could have included more sound effects as only one is featured at the beginning of the advert. The listening experience would become more exciting and the sound effects create a more memorable advert. Overall I believe the radio advert was a successful production as its is short and snappy with a tune listeners will remember, it contains vocabulary used by college students and the sound quality is of a high standard.
The quality of the radio show was not as high as our other productions because it was recorded on a mobile phone. A professional station such as Junction Radio, Reading University's station, would not do this because the sound quality is no where near as good as a professional microphone. Another feature we wouldn't find on professional stations is a distinct cutting between voice actors every line; compared with professional DJ's, some presenters were more enthusiastic than others. If the cuts were cleaner, the radio show would have sounded more professional because it would have flowed smoothly. The vocabulary used was correct and suited a young audience, however, if a more formal style was used, I think the audience will be able to make a greater connection with the presenters and the half an hour broadcast would have been more successful. I think the content and music was appropriate to a young audience and featured a variety of popular genres.
The production I worked on individually, the outside broadcast, was recorded on a Zoom H1, and therefore had a high sound quality. The structure of the broadcast was similar to professional standard as it addressed the subject straight away and presented a wide range of opinions in a short amount of time. As the majority of my task was recorded outside, the main problem I faced was wind affecting my audio recording. To overcome this, I used a wind protector designed for the microphone itself, to maintain the quality of my broadcast. Another problem I faced was creating the sound of a variety of interviews that were being recorded at different locations. Most outside broadcasts show a differentiation between the locations recorded using background noise and volume changes. As the quality of the Zoom H1 is so good, recordings outside are clear with little background noise which meant all my outside recordings (which were recorded individually in different locations) sounded the same. Switching between each recording was not exciting to hear and gave an almost biased sounding broadcast. It sounded as if my interviewees, along with my studio recordings, were all in the same place at the same time and the variety I tried to capture in the production was lost. To avoid this impression, I went out to different locations and recorded background noise for each interviewee. In post production, I also adjusted some of the volumes of the recordings to add to their differences so the listener could hear the changing of location. I thought the vocabulary that was used in the production was appropriate to our target audience as it was informative and featured college students themselves, so the listeners could feel like a part of the broadcast. To improve my outside broadcast, I think I should have interviewed a wider age group of people as their opinion would broaden my target audience and older groups of people would feel included in the broadcast.
Overall I think Henley College should choose features from our radio station because we have produced well researched items found in professional radio station production schedules. Our research into target audience heavily influenced the content we wanted to include and I believe the name we chose for the station was lively and appropriate to a student audience. The radio series featured realistic sound effects which created an atmosphere within the story line, giving the listener an immersive experience, while our radio advert included key elements such as a catchy song and appropriate vocabulary to create an ad that the audience will not forget. The half an hour radio show produced content and music that featured a variety of popular genres appealing to the majority of college students. Finally, the outside broadcast we produced featured a wide range of opinions in various locations, similar to that of a professional outside broadcast, and included a process of research I believe the college station could replicate.
Each member of our group was set the task of completing content research into radio production. The research I had to complete was into the types of station, costings and advertising. I believe my research into types of station was thorough and states clearly why we wanted to produce an internet based radio station rather than FM as it would be more beneficial to our target audience. The second task I completed were the costings. My work shows how I researched what equipment we needed, expenses to run an FM/DAB station and internet station, compared the costs and evaluated by deciding which option would be more cost-effective. The content that my peers researched were of a high standard; particularly the college radio research, which was extensive and helped the group gain inspiration for our station.
Our target audience research was extremely beneficial to the group because it told us exactly what the students of Henley wanted from the college station. The results told us: where and when students would listen from, what platform they would like to use to access the station, and what content (music, shows, information) they would like to hear. This information was essential when producing a student driven radio station as it ensured positive feedback.
I believe our group produced a professional radio station that has the potential to air in and around Henley College. Our production schedule was realistic and consistent, meaning students could expect regular updates at certain times and shows on certain days, so they have the freedom to tune in when they like. The schedule also contains college-relevant shows which will benefit students personally and educationally. Some example include subject talks, staff advice requests and fresh meat ( a chance for music students from the college to be interviewed and show their talent. I think the amount of research our group put into the unit as a whole has influenced how professional our outcome is. The name of the station, Paradise Radio, is very suitable and it's simplicity has a professional effect. Our logo is of a high standard and sets the expectations of our content.
I thought our radio series sound quality was of a high standard; my peers used the Zoom H1 to record their drama. When listening over the content, it becomes clear that the two voice actors were using only one microphone at the same time as one voice is louder than the other. This is because the actors are different distances from the microphone; you would not find this on a professional radio station where a voice actor would have their own individual microphone. To overcome this, we should have increased the volume of the quieter characters lines to match the louder character. Other than this, I believe the radio series was successful; the use of audio effects impacts the story as the scene is brought to life and a sense of the characters surroundings is established. The vocabulary used was a comedic, formal style which fits our target audience of college students who like to be entertained because they want to relax and try to escape from reality.
The the candidate that produced the radio advert used a Zoom H1 microphone so the quality of his work was to a high standard. The volume ratio between the voice actor and the background was to a professional standard as the vocals are not lost in the music neither over power it. I also thought that the pace at which the actor speaks works in time with the music and a rhythm is established. This would cause listeners to remember the advert and may influence them to buy the product advertised. My peer said they did no come across any sound issues within the production. The vocabulary used in the advert is very fitting for a young audience as it uses acronyms like 'SFC' and words used by college students like 'lean' and 'dank'. To improve we could have included more sound effects as only one is featured at the beginning of the advert. The listening experience would become more exciting and the sound effects create a more memorable advert. Overall I believe the radio advert was a successful production as its is short and snappy with a tune listeners will remember, it contains vocabulary used by college students and the sound quality is of a high standard.
The quality of the radio show was not as high as our other productions because it was recorded on a mobile phone. A professional station such as Junction Radio, Reading University's station, would not do this because the sound quality is no where near as good as a professional microphone. Another feature we wouldn't find on professional stations is a distinct cutting between voice actors every line; compared with professional DJ's, some presenters were more enthusiastic than others. If the cuts were cleaner, the radio show would have sounded more professional because it would have flowed smoothly. The vocabulary used was correct and suited a young audience, however, if a more formal style was used, I think the audience will be able to make a greater connection with the presenters and the half an hour broadcast would have been more successful. I think the content and music was appropriate to a young audience and featured a variety of popular genres.
The production I worked on individually, the outside broadcast, was recorded on a Zoom H1, and therefore had a high sound quality. The structure of the broadcast was similar to professional standard as it addressed the subject straight away and presented a wide range of opinions in a short amount of time. As the majority of my task was recorded outside, the main problem I faced was wind affecting my audio recording. To overcome this, I used a wind protector designed for the microphone itself, to maintain the quality of my broadcast. Another problem I faced was creating the sound of a variety of interviews that were being recorded at different locations. Most outside broadcasts show a differentiation between the locations recorded using background noise and volume changes. As the quality of the Zoom H1 is so good, recordings outside are clear with little background noise which meant all my outside recordings (which were recorded individually in different locations) sounded the same. Switching between each recording was not exciting to hear and gave an almost biased sounding broadcast. It sounded as if my interviewees, along with my studio recordings, were all in the same place at the same time and the variety I tried to capture in the production was lost. To avoid this impression, I went out to different locations and recorded background noise for each interviewee. In post production, I also adjusted some of the volumes of the recordings to add to their differences so the listener could hear the changing of location. I thought the vocabulary that was used in the production was appropriate to our target audience as it was informative and featured college students themselves, so the listeners could feel like a part of the broadcast. To improve my outside broadcast, I think I should have interviewed a wider age group of people as their opinion would broaden my target audience and older groups of people would feel included in the broadcast.
Overall I think Henley College should choose features from our radio station because we have produced well researched items found in professional radio station production schedules. Our research into target audience heavily influenced the content we wanted to include and I believe the name we chose for the station was lively and appropriate to a student audience. The radio series featured realistic sound effects which created an atmosphere within the story line, giving the listener an immersive experience, while our radio advert included key elements such as a catchy song and appropriate vocabulary to create an ad that the audience will not forget. The half an hour radio show produced content and music that featured a variety of popular genres appealing to the majority of college students. Finally, the outside broadcast we produced featured a wide range of opinions in various locations, similar to that of a professional outside broadcast, and included a process of research I believe the college station could replicate.