PRODUCTION WEEK 1

Our group democratically decided on Jazz for the genre. We then discussed allocating roles; each of us choosing two that we wanted to do, then going from there.  I myself, am the new Head of Advertising and Assistant Producer for Jazz FM *salsa woman emoji*.

We then as a group, created the main programming document and decided on a music policy and target audience: “showcasing jazz classics and new jazz” for age 30+ business people – also making the decision to produce the show for existing station Jazz FM.

Stephen and Shammy were appointed the two programme presenters and began recording short talking segments to experiment with style and tone. Myself and the Studio Producer gave directions on this and set a presenter style guide.

Collectively we started planning a skeleton structure for the two hour show and coming up with loose script ideas and ideas for features and segments. There was also discussion on station sound, imaging and style.

At the next meeting, we came up with sixteen advertisement ideas, which I noted down. The Studio Producer and myself also discussed show clocks and began thinking about how we would construct them. We then discussed music playlists and organisation with the Head of Music – music will be divided into three playlists: ‘Anthems’, ‘A List’ and ‘B List’.

Throughout the course of the week, the Head of Music and I met and recorded the ‘Anthems’ playlist and I noted down track information – artists, release date, album, trivia etc. The last two playlists were recorded at the third meeting, with myself completing track information for these respectively.

The Studio Producer and myself also met at one point, where we started scripting advertisements and planning audio for them.

PRODUCTION WEEK 2/3

Production weeks 2 and 3 have been a whirlwind.

Over the course of this fortnight, I commissioned 2 adverts to each group member and took on 2 of my own. The Studio Producer found a voiceover for station idents and an advert. I edited this particular voiceover into an advert, and edited around 6 station idents alongside Makee (part of the Imaging Team). I also produced a couple of voiceovers for another advert.

As for my own two adverts, I finished these and then received feedback on them from Tom – which I am now going to act on.

Regarding the adverts I commissioned to other group members; apart from my collaboration with a couple of group members on their commissions, only one other member produced a completed advert. I called an informal meeting to address this and re posted an updated list in our group forum, of who is doing what adverts.

Presenter Stephen and I, produced and recorded another advert/competition trail after the meeting.

Apart from these exploits, we have all been attempting to find an artist/musician to perform for our outside broadcast, with little luck. I also reviewed the playlists already into Myriad, along with the Studio Producer and Presenter Stephen and we collectively decided that we need more music; specifically 15 songs minimum per list and will confer this with the Head of Music. We also individually checked each song and edited them in Myriad as we saw fit. Apart from that I am still helping here and there; giving advice and assisting with social media, station imaging and sound and maintaining the style guide/producing Presenter Stephen as we record practice links.

PRODUCTION WEEK 4-8

Throughout these weeks I have worked on a range of adverts; scripting them, searching for voiceovers, producing voiceovers in the studio and editing numerous ones – some in collaboration with other group members. I actioned the feedback from Tom on a couple of adverts that had been completed, which included cleaning up audio and fine tuning levels and edits. Makee also recorded my playing the piano to insert into the Moonpig advert.

I informed the Head of Music that we needed more music on the system and pointed out some inconsistencies in the music catalogue – track endings, organising into categories, typos, audio quality etc.

I also listened to and gave other group members feedback on adverts they were working on. I made the decision to either cut or remake certain adverts as I felt they didn’t reach a certain standard. For example I cut the original LoveHoney advert and re-recorded it, also Editor Connor and I both agreed to cut Ryan’s show trail and subsequently recorded another with Connor himself. After the first pilot show my laptop broke which hindered me in editing some files as original copies and edit sessions were on it. As a consequence, I found it difficult to complete any work this production week, apart from assisting Presenter Stephen with practice links, listening and feeding back on all types of audio and liasing with the Editor.  A document fully crediting contributors and creators for adverts can be found on Google Drive titled ‘Advertisement Creators’. I also updated the paperwork and Jazz FM show document as and when needed, when working on various elements of the show.

As for finding an artist, I helped to put up posters advertising our need to which a jazz vocalist and musician responded. During the pilots I assisted in technical operating of the Outside Broadcast during the pilot shows and helped script the in and out cues for the OB Presenter/Producer Makee. I also tweeted in the show to simulate social media engagement.

After feedback from our second pilot show, I suggested that I read the news instead of Connor as I felt I had a more suitable voice. After this was agreed, I pulled my ‘Late Night Jazz Bar’ show trail from the playout and asked Connor and Sara to re-record the Honda competition advert, as this is in line with the standard of a news broadcaster not also being a presenter on the station.

SHOW DAY

Before going live I checked with the Head of Music that all adverts in the Final Ads folder in Google Drive had been uploaded into Myriad and were cued to playout. After speedily learning Burli, the Editor and I scripted the news at around 20 minutes before each broadcast on top of the hour (consistently checking for updates up to 5 minutes before going live).

In the second hour I went down to Studio 4 to assist with the Outside Broadcast; cueing Makee in and making sure the camera was recording the performance, I also checked that socials were being monitored.

Apart from that, when I was in the studio I tried assisting with production and keeping the presenters happy and sane.