Production Weeks 1/2

In the second class, we were put into our groups, we all agreed upon Jazz FM as our station of choice for our music radio show. Once we determined the station we gave each other the job roles. Our final job roles needed adjusting. I was not in on those days but was kept in the loop on everything that was happening regarding music policy and role updates.

Production Week 3

This week we got briefed about ads and did a training day on ads and imaging which was really fun to get behind and helped us learn more on how to construct them for our shows. The next day we had a production meeting and our end goal was to get a large number of ad scripts done and music loaded into the system.

Me and Ryan went through the music and we started to collect all the audio he had sourced and level it out for the Anthems section of our playlist. I was planning to help him on to the hooks, start and end markers correctly and wanted to discuss PRS, however, he went home ill. We planned next week to have a rough clock done and PRS halfway sorted. I also had a one to one with Tom to have a catchup with where the group is at and he seemed happy with what we were doing on the day.

In the next week, I ideally want to have a rough clock and voice-overs for sweepers sorted.

Production Week 4 and 5: 

In week four we were meant to run through our news but due to SRAs and being unorganised we didn’t end up doing. As an editor, this is something I should have arranged a lot better and overall know I’m at fault for this. However, we did sort out who is going to some extra ads etc… We did, however, collect a lot of audio. Stephen did a trial top of an hour with our jingle Alex and Makee sourced, which I sounded off on. We did this to get a feel for the station sound and forcing him on getting a sultry Jazz FM voice rather than hit music station presenter. Shammy wasn’t in for this but I contacted her to tell her what we did and to ask if she could attend more as Sara needs to start working on them as a pair and the features and running order.

In the following week, Sara got some voice overs so I spoke to the imaging team about what type of sweepers I wanted. Which they started to make.

I also caught up with Ginny about ads, she shared some that she had made. This week I also got a voice over for an ad that I am making and started to piece that together. Ryan also loaded all of the music into the system, however, I think we need a few more tracks. He also inputted the current imaging we have. I asked for a few of them to be remade due to the fact they sounded harsh and Alex also made an Out Of break which we needed because I don’t want the ads rolling straight into a song.

Week 6 and 7:

Me and Sara built the clock within A-TRACK, this would put our music within to a myriad log as well as ads. We added in a TALK BREAK comments to make it easier for presenters and when building the running order.  We worked off this for our first pilot. We took this role on as Ryan and Alex wasn’t in on the day we came in.

Makee came to me with a new voice over for sweep which I signed off on. She made them and then we listened in a studio to them and a few sounded off so we only decided to use the ones that worked.

I did have a problem of when I kept suggesting things such as working out features and presenter chemistry, nothing was happening when people would say they would. I informed the group as I had different members coming to be complaining how little things that were easily fixable such as getting a music log printed for the final show than bigger things such as the structure of features and links weren’t being worked on and I even said I wasn’t happy with the links  as I know they could do better. I did this with the producer out of the room as I know this would of caused conflicted and we would of butted heads. However, I know what I had said would have been passed down to the producer which it was. However, the features were still not up to standard even after trying them of an hour when I was pretending to be a caller. I told them to work on it for the first pilot and we would just use our pre-recorded bit however it still didn’t work and was brought up in feedback. ((plot twist this feature got cut later on))

We did a trial hour run which went well however Shammy wasn’t in for part of this as Shammy had to leave. I told Shammy to make this priority as it’s important and she did and started to come in more in the following weeks.

I asked for a social plan which I didn’t receive but after I spoke to Alex she made one and sorted all the socials and constantly liaised with me with what she wanted to do and we bounced ideas off each other. We realised that we needed some more songs within the log just before our first pilot. There was also some intro makers missing which Sara, Ginny and Stephen corrected and I told Ryan so he would double check and would be all over it.

I also made my ad within these weeks of production, I got a voice over from my friend Stu who is a presenter and mixed that down and me and Ginny both agreed to put it within the ones going to air.

A few ads that were made I said didn’t sound good and needed to be remade. We ran with them for the first pilot but we corrected and remade them for the final show.

After our first pilot, we got feedback which included things such as the news beds not fitting, presenter and show structure. Improvement of the levels within the sweeps and more.

After we got this feedback we split the group into what they should be doing. Makkee went and fixed the imaging levels. Ginny’s laptop broke that evening however she did contact people for voice and kept me in the loop.

Production week 8: 

Everyone was busy working on other projects and in my defence, I should have arranged a meeting with everyone the day before the second pilot as the second pilot did not go as well of the first. We compleated different parts of the feedback from the first such as we got rid of a bed completely on the news and we changed the structure of some songs however we could have overall been more on it and implemented more of the feedback. However, I was under the impression features were being worked on which they were not. This is something I made the teamwork on and focused on getting right.

After our second pilot feedback me and Ryan went through and matched the songs to complement each other more. We also built our visual clock which was previously in a drawn form. After this, I and Stephen and Shammy did a pre-rec for feature however the feature still wasn’t making sense and didn’t work so I decided to cut it.

Ginny came to me thinking we should cut her trail from the log so she could read the news and I could write it and help her with Burli. I agreed with this as I think her voice would have suited much better as it did on the final. We also decided to do the news live it was previously pre-recorded.

Ryan also showed me the PRS document that he filled out and I checked it was all good. I signed off on this and said the missing stuff he could use my PRS log in for.

I also hyped up the group to take on the feedback and make it positive. I took notes and was constantly making sure everyone was doing what they should be doing whilst also overseeing it. I checked up with Shammy and Stephen who were writing there script and I gave some input on that.

I also asked why things I asked weeks ago to be done wasn’t. Alex also did some finishing touches to the socials which she liaised with me for ideas and help with editing and scheduling. I voiced a new ad with Sara and I also did voice over for a show trial. Me and Ginny also re-recorded a show trail for myself as the one we had from someone else didn’t reach the standard we wanted for broadcast. We also clean up our documentation that day. I added the visual clock to our overall show document and put them into the shared documents.

SHOW DAY!!!!:

Before the show went on air me and Ryan added the final ads that were made into the system and log. I assisted with making sure the OB was all good before Makkee (OB Producer) got here so she could focus on setting up with the guest. I also checked that everyone was confident in what they were doing. I and Ginny wrote the news throughout the show and we bounced off each other for which stories should go where. This worked well. It was a great chance to teach her Burli and writing for news which overall ended up being successful and we worked well together as a little news team.

I also was more present in the studio. I suggested things when it came to links and I believe they worked better. Sometimes this feedback was used. I do believe the studio was a stressful environment and there was a lot of bickering going on. I didn’t raise this because I knew it would have created a bigger argument and a worse atmosphere than needed, so I decded to be the present and calm person in the studio and talked to Shammy and Stephen to help reassure them. I also kept an eye on levels and I was constantly saying for content to be mentioned in the links such as socials throwing to as well as the time we needed an extra song.

I had two people come to me about the stressfulness of the studio this is something that did gradually improve as the show went on and they said my presence and guidance helped.

I felt like my time was spent well within the live show and that I got to help out with any questions and assistance and guidance that my team needed from me.