Wednesday 30 January 2013

Using Adode Premier

I used software for editing the radio advert...


After I had completed my recording for my radio advert, I knew that I needed to edit the raw data that I had collected in order to make it seem a little more professional for a radio advert, yet I knew that I would have to take it slowly at the beginning and get used to the software.

I began by spreading the clips of recordings in to a continuous run, on several audio tracks,  so that I could easily adjust and see how my radio was progressing and where it wasn't as fluid or didn't make sense.

I then began to adjust the volume of the audio so that there was a constant level of noise through out and made it easy listening.

I realised at this stage that I did not record a male voice for a the information part of the script and radio advert. This is what I spent the next lesson doing. I used an actor called Daniel Kitson and he was able to produce a low voice,which contrasted well with the higher pitches of the women. His also came across confident and lively, exactly what I wanted from him. I was able to easily slot his recordings in to my existing radio advert, due to the easy editablitly of the software, Adobe Premier.

I began to introduce the audio transitions such as 'CONSTANT GAIN' and 'FADE' and this meant that there were slight breaks and levels in the 30 second advert.

I knew that, being a radio advert, the audience would have been listening to music, So having a small amount of music time meant that it would stand out from the rest of the features being played on a radio station. However, I introduced a slight bit of music during the men's vocals so that it was clear that he wasn't involved during the women's scene, until I wanted to introduce him.

Choosing the music was quite time consuming as I used an MP3 file that already existed in the Music Library, rather than find and download one from the Internet. I did this because I felt that finding and downloading would not only be time consuming, I would feel like i would only download recognisable songs, this is not what I wanted as the focus would deviate from the script. I was considering between the first 7 seconds of The Beatles 'Come Together' as there is a strong beat but is not instantly recognisable in those seconds and an easy listening melody, which was lively and upbeat and strong, like the voice actor himself.

I chose the easy listening melody as I felt that it suited the newspapers image and created a more fun and vibrant personality to the brand of the newspaper, whilst the tones also contrasted well with the deep tones of the actors voice.

Overall, I am happy with this software and how easy it is to cut or add pieces to the running time of the advert and although I still need to master some tools in it, I feel that I have created a successful advert for my newspaper.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Creating the Radio Avert

I was a little nervous going into create the radio advert in the college recording studio...


I have never been very skilled in technology, I've often been very clumsy and make mistakes, so going into the new recording studio, with equipment that I have never seen - let alone used - before, I knew that there was a learning curve to the process of recording, editing and exporting my data.

   After a quick tutorial from a Media tutor, I knew I had that basic knowledge of the equipment, such as an Apple Mac, Audacity and the recording set-up and decided to begin my recordings.

I used my own voice for character 'Woman 2' and used a female actor for 'Woman 1' and this would give me a variety of tones and distinctive voices for the radio advert, yet both still had a local accent. My voice is quite high pitched, yet quite soft and the actors voice was of a deeper tone, yet her words were often emphasised by a several loud, high notes.


It took a few takes to get a fluent recording but after 20 minutes, I got to a stage where I was happy with the recording and script. The only issue I had was that, on hindsight, I should of recorded each line separately so that there were slight pauses in between the speeches, as it seems as if we rushed the conversation.

Overall, the experience was very educational and I feel that I would be able to do it again in future with out any problems.

The next stage that I need to take editing this piece of recording into making it a radio advert and this would be using another software that I had never used before either, so again, I will have to learn on my feet for this.

Thursday 17 January 2013

Radio Script Ideas

Writing the script...

 
I was at the stage where I felt that I needed to jot ideas and plans for a script before I lost any motivation. My ideas were as follows:
 
  1. Have a scene of a building site, where there are 2 builders e.g. a slightly dumb and naive one and a sensible, reliable builder. This was to represent the other newspapers being 'dumbed-down' compared to the reliable and trustworthy paper such as mine. The main idea behind this was to have the dumb builder -call him Builder 1- reading a newspaper, where he would go onto believe and retell a bizarre story that is featured within the paper. Thus making the sensible reader -Builder 2- exclaim in frustration at the stupidity of the newspaper and that Builder 1 should get a new reading source -preferably Tlydesley Today.
      2. My second idea was largely based around the first idea, involving 2 characters where one is less gullible than the other. Yet, this time involving females, I did this to fit in with the stereotype of women having a lower IQ and are more gullible than perhaps men.This time, I felt that the scene would be good in a shopping centre with all the ambient sound available, however, I felt that it would have been hard to determine in a radio advert.
 
      3. Developing on from my second idea, I thought that the most recognisable place with sound effects would be either the city or the country i.e. park. When I began to listen to the sounds of a city, it could have been very over-powering for the audio of the voices, so I went on to choose the park setting as a scene for my radio advert.
 
 
 
Developing and writing the script:
 
(Scene setting: PARK - Faint whistle of wind, children's laughter and talk, Birds chirping, dog faintly barking in the distance? Rusty Playground equipment?)
 
Woman 1: (Rustle of paper) *amazed * Hey, have you seen this?
 
Woman 2: *patient but slightly patronising * No, whats it this time?
 
Woman 1: Well, it says here that there was aliens spotted on the top of astley brew last night...
 
Woman 2: *Amazed at her naivety * What? And you believe this?!?
 
Woman 1: Yeah, it says that there were three of them spotted by one local lad!
 
Woman 2: I think you need a new paper love. I get Tyldesley Today. Look, I can even get it on my mobile...

Mans Voice?: *Broad, Confident * Tyldesley Today. Local News YOU Can Believe In.
 
                        *Pants i.e from running * Ladies... (as a way of acknowledgement and greeting.)
 
Woman 2: *Flustered and appreciative*  Phew, he might not be an alien, but he sure is out of this world!!!!
 
 
 
This is the finalised script that I have chosen as I feel that it would attract a listener for a number of reasons, such as: Having a continuous script creates a drama and is similar to a radio play, which encourages the audience to carry on listening. Also, there is characters that alot of people could relate to and the friendship shown in the pair. Making it easy to relate to meant that it can attract and audience and make the brand - this case Tyldesley Today - seem more friendly and trustworthy, like a friendship between two people. It also has a slight addition of humour to the script, but not outright jokes where the jokes could over-look the required information about the newspaper, but just enough for an audience member to remember the quirky details and link it back to the name of Tyldesley Today.
 
 
Overall, I am pleased with the script that I have produced, however, I feel like it is a open script which I can easily change and adapt when recording, to make it flow more easily etc.

Friday 4 January 2013

Final Poster Creation

This was it...

 The image above is what I considered to be the final outcome but after revising it, I made changes to create the final outcome below.
I made the background a little whiter for a cleaner and more professional look as well as adjusting the text at the bottom of the page to make it more dominating and less confusing to read. I also adjusted the layout of the social networking links to make them more subtle in the overall page.

Overall, I am happy with the poster that I had created as I feel that I have been able to realise the my errors and correct them to the best of my ability, as well as creating a poster that could be presented across a wide variety of media's e.g billboard, printed etc.