Week 1: 22nd January 

This was the first week of production, the class was split into two groups where one was given a task and the other half was given someone to analyse. Callum was analysing me and said that I was the first to lead the conversation and the one that took all the notes which I felt was a fair and good comment on how I like to be organised and on top of work, especially when it comes to group projects. When it was my turn to assess Callum, he came across a very good listener and was good at explaining on ideas that other people didn’t feel as confident on. For the second half of the day we came together and suggested some ideas, I was the one writing on the board. We managed to fill a whole page where we went back through them all and decided if each idea had potential and enough content; the ones that we went away and worked on for next week were: 100 years since women got the vote/equality, Netflix/boxsets, Gaming, theatre/musicals, 40 years of disco, alternative sports, Harry Potter and food. We then picked one and went away for next week to expand on ideas.

Week 2: 29th January

This was the week where we had to come up with a theme, so we split into small groups of what we liked the most, I chose the gaming theme as I enjoy gaming but I also think that the theme has so much potential and depth to it, but the channelled that we faced as a small group was convincing the people that don’t game that it holds so much potential and you don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy it! So, me, James, Callum and Adam worked on a very detailed pitch where we showed statistics, initial ideas, role ideas, and overall why gaming is the best one to go with. Towards the end it came down to gaming and disco and personally I thought we’d be out the first voting round but we managed to ‘win’ so gaming is our theme for our pop-up station! After lunch we decided our roles in a very fair way, I’m going to be presenting the talk show with Tony for an hour, the station will be on air for 3 hours with 3 different shows. As for adverts, from the pervious year on the Music Radio module we all learnt that if we all get commission, write a script and record and edit and advert each it’s much more fair and efficient. We also finalised that the station name will be Unlocked.

Week 3: 5th February – Production Week 1

As the first week of prop production, we split into our individual teams, so in ours we thought the first thing we should up with was weekly themes that are subject to change, so we sat down with me, Tony, Phobe our producer and Ellen our assistant producer and thought these themes would suit best:

• PILOT/WEEK 1 – 26TH FEBRUARY/ 5TH MARCH 
•      Gaming culture being normalised
• WEEK 2 – 12TH MARCH
•      Women in gaming  
• WEEK 3 – 19TH MARCH
•      Gaming addiction/ in-app purchases 
• WEEK 4 – 26TH MARCH
•      VR

These are all subject to change if something else comes up in the weeks leading up that are more important. I also have a few connections in the gaming and YouTube world so I’ve asked my friend who does VR gaming on YouTube to come down the week of the 19th to come and play some VR games with us to give us some online content and that a lot of people have experienced VR before we talk about it. However, when picking the themes for each week we wanted to make sure it flowed and each week had light and shade with the topics, by having the OB (AFK) within our show it allows us to give that light as well as contrasting with the extended news shows (Update). Also breaking up the show it also always for a slight breather between links for me and Tony to gather and compose ourselves. Also because we are dealing with some hard hitting topics we thought it would be best to offer a helpline page on the website so people are getting the help if needed. Another way we are going to break up the show if with packages so for example, in the first week I’m going to be doing a package on my brother because our mum has put him on a “Playstation detox” because he was staying up too late on it and not concentrating on work.

Week 4: 12th February – Production Week 2

This week was a week for me to research in more depth of articles, issues and point to talk about for the coming weeks, I mainly focused on the pilot week/week 1 as it’s a very serious topic and I want to sound like I know 100% what I’m talking about and don’t want it to sound like I’m not in control of the subjects as a presenter.

I also sat down with Sam and went through the ads she’s already got commission for and I am going to be doing an advert for my friends YouTube Gaming Channel, which I scripted up and will be recording and editing next week!

Ellen did a clock which really helped me focus my research for each point and topic to talk about, the key here is to research as much as I can to extend my knowledge on all the topics to come across as I know as much as possible. I also think it’s best if me and Tony do it because someone else could do it and it would sound too scripted it’s got to sound natural and have a good flow to it. But by all of us agreeing on the point we want to talk about it makes for a good team flow and that we are all on the same page.

Week 5: 19th February – Production Week 3

First of all Eliza and Lucy called a meeting with our team to discuss adding 2/3 music track into our show to break it up and take some weight off our shoulders

This week was the week my friend came down to set up and record some VR games at midday. Before that I took out some equipment and went over what I wanted with Dan and James again, I then went away and did a brief plan of the video and how I wanted it to be done. I wanted it to come across as me and Tony are joined by our guest YouTuber who is going to be showing us a range of VR products and games. When he arrived we set up all the equipment, Dan and James made sure it was recording through the desk for audio and James was filming in the studio. We filmed for about 2 hours with breaks in-between setting up, we had a group of people in the studio watching and helping come up with questions to ask Adam (YouTuber) while we were playing the games. I felt like this filming session brought everyone together on the gaming idea a lot more and people seemed to be very positive by the end of the day which I felt some people needed.

We were initially going to do a run through of the first show but we decided that we’d do it tomorrow which was fine with me and gave us a little more time to do more research, especially on current events.

When I got home I made sure to look into each topic for the run through tomorrow which was: Language, Violence, Misogyny, Homophobia and Antisocial Behaviour. When looking into the violence aspect I found a lot of information of Governors in American linking violent games to the recent Florida attack and this being very topical is good to talk about as it sparks debate as is something that always comes up. We decided that we aren’t going to touch on misogyny fully in the first week as we have a whole week on women in gaming the following week which flows nicely. I feel prepared like I can go into the practice tomorrow and hopefully fill the time and do it confidently too!

20th February – Photoshoot/ Practise Pilot

Today we had a photo and video shoot with James and Dan and the rest of the presenters where we did a fun video for online, pictures for the website and for social media! This was all very fun and added more excited that everything is coming together nicely.

Me and Tony then headed up to the radio studio to meet Phobe and Ellen for a run through. I added my research to the running order and point to talk about that they both did yesterday so it’s easy to see altogether. The run through was very positive in my eyes as we managed to bounce off each other, fill the time and sound knowledgable, however, there was parts where Tony need to do more research in order to sound more confident and like it wasn’t me just interviewing him. The feedback Ellen and Phobe gave me was to slow down when talking and don’t interrupt/cut Tony off, which I 100% agree with because when I get excited about a point or talk about something passionate I tend to want to get it out as soon as I think about it and as quick as possible because I’m worried I’d forget that point – so to work on that I’m going to slow down, listen to Tony’s points and if I think of something either write it down as soon as I think about it so I can come back to it after Tony has finished.

In the next few weeks leading up to the actual pilot I’m going to be doing a little bit more research each day to keep it up to date and current. I think this will also take the pressure off Ellen and Phobe slightly too so they aren’t worrying.

Week 6 – Pilot

It was a really disheartening day for our team as a lot of things didn’t really work. Firstly the OB team didn’t have an OB until the night before but then also said that they wouldn’t be able to fill 10 minutes which they did manage in the end, the news package was given to us until half an hour before we went on air and it was half the time it was meant to be, and just to top it all off the Myriad decided to crash on us minutes before we went on air and kept crashing throughout the first link which really through Tony off and left me in the dark with nothing to work with as he wasn’t responding to what I was saying and asking him. This left me very flushed and I felt put me off from wanting to carrying on.

Half way through the show it started to warm out as we got more relaxed into how it was all flowing. But I knew it was an absolute shambles to say the least. We had a de brief after the show where we’ve made a lot of changes along with Matthew’s feedback. One thing that is annoying is that we are working on the hardest show out of the whole station and there’s not many of us, yes me and Tony know a little on some subjects but it would of been useful to have someone else added to the team to help out all of us with our knowledge and measure us that the examples we are getting and the research we find does fit in with gaming. But we agreed that we need to restructure that show and give more of a clear outline of what we are talking about and sign post it better, we sat down together and replanned it with more research in there and more case studies to back up points, we are working on getting more interviews with people and getting a phone in contributor to add some more colour to the show. As a group we’ve decided that we are going to meet everyday this week to run through and plan more heavily.

Week 7 – First Official Broadcast, 2nd Week of Production and 2nd show

This was the stations first broadcast that opened up the station. Our practise run through didn’t go very well as the nervous were still one all of us and we were really feeling the pressure, especially from the week before that went even worse! Even the feedback we got from last week almost made it feel impossible that we could do well at all. As for the pre record elements we didn’t get the last piece until 11am which made doing the run through even harder as we didn’t know how long the package would be, but this is where by getting more information than needed we’d be safe it was under. There was also more stress added to us because the internet wasn’t working so the OB wouldn’t connect. As the show started it was surprising started sounding much better than we all thought, me and Tony knew we had to perform our best. The OB sounded really good, and the live callers contributed really well. The feedback was straight to the point so might of sounded harsh to some but we needed it so we could massively improve and better our marks. I feel confident in taking on board the feedback and improving myself for the weeks coming.

As a group we decided to take off the evening and start fresh on the Tuesday. As a group I think we were all lacking sleep as we were stressed and prioritised this module over everything else. We did record a pre recorded interview though after we had the feedback for the next week so we already got something.

On Tuesday we all came in from 9-5 to start cracking on with the next show which was to do with women in gaming. We looked over the feedback that we were given and made sure we applied it to this weeks show to better ourselves. The hook of this weeks topic was the up and coming release of the new Tomb Raider film. I made sure I starting doing as much research as possible and noting it down on the Drive so Tony could also contribute to the notes. Me and Tony were going to head into central the next day and get some vox pops on what the public’s favourite female gaming character is.

On Wednesday, me and Tony went into central to get some vox pop, this wasn’t very successful as no one wanted to actually talk to us. So we decided to cut it short as Tony was heading back to uni anyway he would get some more around the forum. I then went back to do some more research and added it all into the drive so the other could see what I was doing. I then had to go to work

Thursday we all came in and had more of a research session. As Ellen and Phoebe started a running order I copied and pasted it over to a separate folder called ‘FAY AND TONY’S NOTES’ and then started putting together a script for me and Tony, then he could then come in and either add parts in for him or change the wording around. I then had to go to work.

Friday I rerecorded the vox pop question for Ellen as they weren’t recorded to a good standard by Tony, I then kept editing my script and adding new information in but making sure that Tony was on the same page as me and got what I was scripting for the both of us. I also made sure that Ellen and Phoebe briefed me on who the live callers were and a bit of background on them.

Sunday we wanted to do a run through but we couldn’t all meet up so we arranged a Facebook call to do a run through and just catch up before Monday morning. We found that there was some things that needed to be touched up on but that had to be done in person.

Monday morning we all were in at 8am and went straight into a speaking run-through just doing the links in PR2 as we didn’t have the studio to practise until 10am. It’s a little annoying though because by the time we got in there me and Tony were called away for another half hour to do some online content for the digital team. I made sure that Tony was happy with how the script was laid out and was easy to follow and read. During the feedback we were much happier and it was obvious that me and Tony were much more happy and confident on air and the feedback was clear that we were improving week by week.

Week 8 – Week 3 of Production and 3 Show

Monday we all decided to have off as it was a very manic 2nd week show.

Tuesday we all came in at 9am and thought it’s best to get on with the planning for the 3 show that is going to be on gaming addiction and in-app purchases. We found that the hook for this was the very recently the World Health Organisation classified it as a disorder and there’s been a lot of talk behind the topic. Even on the popular TV programme This Morning they brought in a mother and son in who said that she “lost her son to the game Fornite”.

We also discussed with the digital team that we were going to be have a live panel discussion with a gamer and two experts. We had one of Bernice’s friends who was addicted to gaming, Peter a hypnotherapist and Katrina a counsellor. We also had a pre record interview with Nathan who was addicted to spending money on Fifa so the audience get around view of both sides.

We then went on to do more research into the area of the topic and a little meeting with the digital team to work out the logistics of the technical side of how it was all going to work. We also had a running order roughly done, so I started writing a script.

When it came to the show we were the most relaxed we had been yet but still a little nervous for the live panel. However the show we pulled off at the end was the best we had done yet and we are super pleased with the feedback we had received as it’s only a few things that we need to improve on for the final week. The panel worked work well apart from the phone not being able to connect through the the studio so we got round that by asking questions. I also challenged one of the callers on air and sparked a little debate between us and that went down really well and I’m more confident to do that again in the future now.

Week 9 – Week 4 of production and Show 4

Tuesday we came in at 9am to start planning, we thought it would be best to start getting some general research together and put it on the research page then we moved on to callers as some of the feedback was getting more callers so we worked on getting contributors, I put out another tweet with the #Journorequest and got a few good responses of people that we could interview, I also asked my gaming friend to be interviewed again, contacted another VR YouTuber, a guy that owns a VR arcade in Liverpool and a female journalist who is interesting in VR especially.

Throughout the week I had a few personal appointments I had to deal with however I made sure that whenever I could I was research and reading articles online about VR. I was also doing some research to get some guests, I contacted Bryan how runs a VR arcade in Liverpool, a VR YouTuber from The Netherlands and a tech journalists in America. We only used one of the people I got in contact with because one didn’t reply and the other wasn’t free on the time.

Over the weekend I wrote mine and Tony’s script which was up for him to edit if he needed to, I made sure that all my research was put in there as well. On Sunday night we did a Facebook call and did a run through with timing a making sure we had enough content for them.

As for the last show itself we are all ready and everything a literally a minute before we went on air Myriad crashed and we tried to find a backup but there was no other studios free, however we were up and running 7 minutes into the hour. The timing of the rest of the show were slightly off but we managed to pull it all back, we had the most live callers we’d had and finished dead on time too!

Overall I wasn’t 100% happy with this show like I was the week before and it was because of the mess up at the start. I do though feel like I have grown as a presenter and gathering the right information and script writing too.