LO4: Evidence and Production

LO4: Evidence of Recording

Recording Radio Drama

Recording Presenter Dialogue/Jingle Voice Acting

Organising Interview  

Offline Edit

Editing Process

To fit the conventions of traditional radio, I faded in and out bedding music and interim sections such as adverts back into the main broadcast/presenting or the following segment. To achieve this, I used key-frame highlights on the 'volume' setting. This helped to signify professionally within the broadcast as music and presenting fade-in and out seamlessly between each other. I used this technique throughout the broadcast to create natural transitions between segments and features like presenting-interview, tracklist-presenting and diegetic sound effects in the radio drama (e.g. the wind fading out into lounge music). Effects like this in the radio drama helped to create connotations of mystery and isolation as dreary examples of sound would echo in muffled chorus in the background.

To then create sound effects and prevent dead air, I layered tracks over one another and adjusted their volumes respectively (i.e. presenting over bedding music). When creating the radio drama and its many sound effects, I layered foley atop one another to create dynamic sound and impact to a scene. I imported my sourced audio files and layered them atop one another in number of importance (e.g. presenting in the top column and bedding music at the bottom). This furthered the conventions of traditional radio by always giving something for audiences to listen to; using lo-fi or ambient music to further the connotations of a relaxing, intriguing late night radio station. This technique also allowed me to ambiently change the quality of an entire track to create verisimilitude in the radio drama by applying a continuous muffled or distorted effect to the backing lounge music, furthering audience immersion. 

Segmenting these tracks, I wanted to create connotations of mystery and further signify how the voice the protagonist (of the radio drama) quarrels with is in his head. To achieve this, I used the 'echo' and 'convolution reverb' modifiers in the sound effects panel (on Adobe Audition) and edited their amplitudes on the effects control panel till I created an effect I was satisfied gave the appropriate connotations.

I also adjusted sound effects with built-in Adobe Audition features like 'echo' and 'distortion' to augment the way either foley, dialogue or bedding music would sound within the broadcast and radio drama: creating a muffled or worn out sound effect to signify age and create verisimilitude through diegetic sound in the radio drama. This helped to further the concept of anxiety and build tension to a diegetic crescendo within the elevator scene as the music gradually distorts and grows in volume to signify the worsening condition of the protagonist. As the distortion reaches climax however, the music ceases and returns to normal to signify how that moment of intense anxiety has passed; the crescendo of sickness is over. The use of echo on the protagonist's voice as he screams 'God!' signifies the cease to this climax with a sonorous shout.

Final Broadcast

Evaluation

Full Moon Radio and it's excerpt broadcast does feature: a main presenter and other voice actors, a news bulletin relevant to the time period (post-watershed) hour, two features (an interview and radio drama), a main jingle (and ident for the radio drama), bedding music and sound effects all-throughout the broadcast, an original advert, at its beginning, and a competition/call-in. All these features fit within the purpose of the airing in its service as a late-night broadcast with an older/mature 25-50 target audience. The original concept documents which came to fruition in the form of the radio drama and track list evoke this audience through nostalgic (1970's) music and mature themes (e.g. bad language and alcoholism in a dystopic presentation) to create a niche, post-watershed appeal. 

One way I wanted to create this mature audience appeal was through the radio drama and the connotations of ABC1 audiences in representing features like literature (and storytelling by interview a writer). The dystopia presented in the radio drama evokes hopeless connotations by representations of anxiety and alcoholism through social realism. Using tools such as distortion on the already dreary, 1950's retro futuristic (drowned out) lounge music, to brutally represent this anxiety attack as the world crashes down around the protagonist. The radio drama was a key feature of the broadcast and this portrayal of something realistically grotesque furthered social realistic conventions which would appeal to my target audience. 

I wanted to further verisimilitude in the radio drama to create a grounded portrayal of a fictional world that could immerse audiences with diegetic sound; furthering how the broadcast (as a whole) would target that lead demographic. 

The rest of the broadcast would follow this motif by creating connotations of gothic or dark fantasy with sound effects like the jingle which signify the late-night broadcast in pitched-down voices and audio of wolves howling (all within the motif of a 'full moon'). The non-traditional call-in sound of an old telephone with a worn-out filter overlayed onto it to create those eerily bygone representations.   

This niche appeal through the presentation of rarely aired music and topics like literature, with the inclusion of radio drama, work as strengths for the broadcast as unique selling points to separate it from other radio broadcast channels even like BBC Radio 4. The use of young and varied presenters/actors further this as these representations attract or relate to a wider audience: young presenters broadcasting older, nostalgic or mature content. 

Features like the interview however, suffered from comparatively worse recording equipment which would be a potential issue in such a niche demographic of radio; creating a disconnect in quality compared to other segments, especially considering it as a feature of the broadcast. The pre-recorded interview method also detracted from the call-in segment as the caller had no way to interact with the author in the interview, creating an anti-climactic outcome.

I would amend this audio problem by conducting interviews in the future in live broadcast to create spectacle and have the opportunity for the interviewee to interact or answer questions from the audience. I would also include more music of different genres from the same period to increase audience engagement through the representation of variety and the kind of tone it elicits.