Strengths of my first edit
When looking at my first edit, I had conducted a focus group to find out what went well and what needed to be improved. When looking at the strengths of the first draft, I had found out that:
- The brief was met successfully
When looking at the brief, it had stated that "radio drama that informs, educates and entertains a family audience about the dangers and benefits of social media". From looking at this we can see that I have been able to meet the brief successfully as I was able to identify the advantages and disadvantages of using social media. Furthermore, one of the students in my focus group had stated that it was like listening to a radio show. This meant that it was realistic and was understood by the audience successfully.
- The voice actors were good
When the students were listening to my radio show, they understood that it was about social media, however to make the radio show even better they had stated that they liked the actors using a posh voice. This allowed the radio show to be more entertaining and therefore made it more enjoyable for the audience. They liked the technician's voice the most as they felt it was very posh and he delivered a good performance.
- Majority of sound effects and the voices were clear
Lastly, another improvement they were happy with was that they were happy with the levels of sound that was used. This was because it was clear and easy for them to understand. This allowed the radio show to be understood well and allowed the message to be brought across good.
Weaknesses of my first edit
However, when I had told them this is my first draft, they were open to tell me what I could to improve this even more for my final draft. Some of the weaknesses they have stated for me to improve were the following:
- Background was a bit loud at the beginning
At the beginning of the radio show, the background noises of the train and cars were a bit loud. This had made it difficult for the audience to understand what the actors had said.
- A bit static
When listening at the actors, you could hear some static in the dialogue. This made a bit of confusion as they were wondering why that is included.
- Edit the sound
When I was asking for some weaknesses, they had stated that the sound needed to be edited more. This included the sound levels of certain scenes that need to be increased to make sure everything was heard correctly. Another weakness was that some of the dialogue was repeated twice consecutively.
- Add a sound track
When I had asked them what else I could do to improve, they had asked me to add a sound track. This is because it would introduce the radio show better.
Improvements to my final edit
When taking on the feedback of my focus group, I had decided to make the following improvements:
- Background was a bit loud at the beginning
In the image below, we can see that I was able to decrease the levels of the sound effects and increased the dialogue. This had allowed the sound to be more clearer for the audience.
- A bit static
Due to me using the school equipment, I was not able to get rid of the static. This is because the microphones I had used for some of the scenes was old. The picture of the microphones I had used are shown below. Furthermore, the actors were not available to re-record. This led to me not being able to re-record scenes for my radio show.
- Edit the sound
I was able to change some of the sound and edit the levels of them. This is shown in the screen recording. This allowed the audio to be more clear.
- Add a sound track
I loved the idea of using a sound track to end of the radio show. For that reason, I had decided to put the sound track in both the beginning and the end. This had allowed the radio show to be more memorable. This is shown in the screenshot below.
Technical and auditory qualities
When thinking about the technical and auditory qualities of my radio show, I had to really think about the sample rate and bit rate. They are:
- Sample rate - The rate of the capture and playback.
- Bit rate - The number of bits used to describe each sample.
Advantages of using technical and auditory qualities:
When I was producing my radio show and for my final edit. I had decided that it would be an MP3 version. The table below shows the sample and bit rate for my radio show.
This had allowed the quality of my radio show to be clear.
Disadvantages of using technical and auditory qualities:
However, due to the equipment being old, I was not able to produce a top level radio show compared to BBC Radio 4 which can. Next time if I was to improve my radio show, I will ensure that the equipment I use is up to date. This is so that my radio show can be clearer and eliminates the static.
Overall using technical and auditory qualities meeting the brief:
Overall by being able to use technical and auditory qualities allowed my radio programme to meet the brief. This is because I was able to create a programme that was good quality so that it can "entertain, inform and educate" the audience.
