Weekly Journal

Regular evaluation updates are required, as with every unit. Please

remember to take photos and get behind the scenes footage as you film.
You might find it easier if you note down a record of what you did each day
in a diary form.

Please use the following guidance to help you with each week.

Week 1 This week you worked on your research

What have you been asked to do?
For our first task we were asked to write a paragraph about what
radio drama is. Secondly we were asked to listen to two previous
example productions of radio drama and we had to write about
what we liked
about the production, what we didn’t like, what
Worked during the production and also what didn’t.
We had to include the narrative, sounds and Foley sounds that
were used and then explain the effect they had on the
productions. We were asked to include timecodes for when things
went will and when they didn’t go so well. In lesson 2 we had to
listen to
Two of different radio drama clips and the first 5minutes of them.
We had to include what the sounds were, why they are there,
what feeling it created for the audience? , how do you know
where you are just by listening to the sounds? And do you know
where in the world the characters are by listening to the accent?
In lessons 3 and 4 we learnt about the codes and conventions of
radio Drama. Codes being Words, Voices, Speech, Background
music and Ambient sounds, Sound effects and also if the radio
dramas included of any Silence. Conventions being, Aural
signposting, Fades and Silences, Titles and Credits, Cliff-hanger
endings and Narration. We had to write about how the codes and
conventions are used in the extract Torchwood and we had to
write a definition for each one on our weebly pages. In lessons 5
and 6 we had to create our own ambient sounds and our on Foley
sounds and put them together onto Adobe Audition, we had to
choose out of two clips one being Jurassic world and one being
tom and jerry. Then in lessons 7-9 we had to do primary and
secondary research working in groups to find out what people of
16-25 listen to and if they listen to any radio dramas or podcasts,
we had to produce a survey monkey with questions we
thought were suitable to ask and we had to organise vox pops to
gather a range of opinions from students. For our secondary
research we had to investigate the target audience and broadcast
radio, on demand services such as bbc radio iPlayer and for
podcasts. Finally in lessons 10-11 we had to do our own research
on two different radio dramas or podcasts and we had to write
about the characters and what we find out about them, we had to
discuss the narrative and how it flowed, what effect the Foley
sounds have and what genre is it and how we know.
How has analysing other
productions helped you to
understand the genre better?
How will your understanding of
codes and conventions now help
you to produce a better
production?
What did you learn from
practising recording Foley
sounds? (Radio Drama Only)
What did you learn from Voice for
broadcast task? What do you
need to improve on to become a
presenter? (Broadcast only)
What did you learn when using
Adobe Audition? What skills do
you need to develop with this
software?
How did researching your target
audience help you develop your
idea?
Are you on track for this week? If
not, how far behind are you?
Analysing other productions has helped me to understand the
genre better as when you listen to a radio drama or podcast as
you can tell if it is a crime genre or a soap opera for example. The
genre helps when watching a Podcast or radio Drama as it can
also help with the storyline behind. There are many different
genres that can be used in a radio drama or podcast as for
example the Archers it is a Radio Drama Soap Opera this is clear
because there are over 18,000 episodes and has been going on
since 1950
My understanding of codes and conventions will help me to
produce and better production as it helps me know what I need to
include in my production and as I now mostly know the meanings
of some of the words I will remember to include them in my piece
of work. I also feel that as I understand the codes and
conventions I can show this in my production in a
much clear way than what it would be if I didn’t know
The codes and conventions of Radio drama. For example before
learning what Aural signposting was I
wouldn’t have had any idea how to use it in my
production, now I know that it means something is about to take
place I know that I could potentially use with maybe if a phone
rings we know that a conversation is about to take place
I learnt from practising recording Foley sounds for a radio drama
that it is much harder than what you expect as making sounds
from scratch is a task, you have to think hard about how you will
make these sounds, however if it is something like walking on
gravel that would be much easier than making a sound of trees
blowing in the wind
I learnt that using Adobe Audition is much harder than
I thought it would be, however I learnt that using
Multistack helps the order that I wanted my radio
drama to be in. I also learnt how to export my
auditions to premier pro then to sound cloud and
then my website which I now clearly understand.
Researching my target audience helped me develop my
ideas as I knew that the audience want to see
accurate sounding effects, interesting
information, and a comedy radio drama. I also
found out that the most likely platform these
radio dramas would be listened on would be
Spotify. 50% of the target audience that
answered my survey said yes to watching podcasts
or radio dramas and 25% said no and25%
said sometimes.
Yes I am.
What work do you need to
complete outside of lessons to
stay on track?
Week 2
What did you learn from your
planning? How has it helped you
to progress your idea?
How has your idea
developed/changed during the
planning stage?
How did you ensure that your
script was to a high standard?
What issues did you have when
planning your production? How
did you overcome them?
What did you learn from the
recording of your Foley sounds?
How much work did you
complete outside of the lessons?
Are you on track for this week? If
not, how far behind are you?
What work do you need to
complete outside of lessons to
stay on track?
This week you worked on your planning
From my planning I learnt that I am able to create the radio drama
that I want as of understanding what I need and want to do for my
radio drama. I find that my planning has also given me much
more understanding on what I am basing my radio drama on an
Ex-soldier from WW2 who suffers with PTSD, he goes to see a
nurse to try and help him with his illness and the flashbacks of
disturbing scenes that he witnessed during his time in the front
line. My planning has also helped me in a way in which I know
that I can create a radio drama for our target audience and that it
will reach the time limit of 5 minutes.
My idea hasn’t really changed from the start however I
Have developed my idea by including a mental illness the ex-
soldier suffers with which relates to my previous factual
programme, short film and animation. I am hoping as I do my
radio drama that the target audience is interested in it as I am 17
and I find that War stories and films are very interesting and I like
to watch them, this is why I am hoping
that the target will be interested as it’s between the ages of
16-24 year olds
I ensured that my script was top the correct standard as I thought
about how I wanted to present it and the way in which I did I feel
shows that I know what I need to do to make my radio drama the
same standard and I am hoping that it will make sense as it does
tome. I used a guide of a previous student’s script to help me with
the layouts and fonts I needed to use for my own.
One issue that I had was how to start my script, I struggled with
this as I wasn’t sure whether
to start it in the soldier’s house or the hospital. I overcame this by
Deciding to base my story in a hospital where the soldier goes to
see a nurse about his issues. After I had done this I had a clear
understanding of what to right and how to set my radio drama in
the way in which I thought was best
From my Foley sounds I learnt that there are a variety of different
sounds that I have been able to use for my radio drama for
example the gun shots I was able to get them as a Foley sound
as where I live they do pheasant shooting in the fields so I was
able to get this as a Foley sound for my radio drama
I completed some Foley sounds.
Yes I am
I just need to go through my work and check my
feedback
Week 3 / 4 This week you worked on your production
Production

What practical The practical work I have completed is my Radio drama, Foley sounds
work have you and my auditions, my planning from earlier on helped me with these
done and how as I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve, I knew what parts I
wanted the characters to play. I also feel that my earlier planning
helpful was your
helped me as I had a clear understanding on my story line, who plays
earlier planning? which character and also I knew how I wanted it to flow.
How will this be This is useful as my production process continues as like I said
useful as your previously I knew what I wanted to achieve. This is also useful as my
production characters knew which parts to play as I told them in advanced so
they had an idea in which parts to say and how to say them.
process
continues?
Upload your
behind the
scenes photos
and videos
(explain what
they show)
What issues did One issue I had recording my radio drama is that I found it hard to
you encounter gather Foley sounds without getting them from the internet as my
when recording radio drama is based in ww2 and I needed explosions and gun shots,
Luckily I managed to get a Foley sound of a local pheasant shoot
and how did you
which I could then add into my radio drama.
overcome them?
How well have I feel that my production schedual is clear and easy to read it shows
you worked to the dates of each point from starting my script on the 16th january right
your production until the 28th where if needed any re recordings that needed to be
fixed
schedule?

Are you on track I am on track for this week I have completed everything that needed
for this week? If to be done
not, how far
behind are you?
What work do I will again go through my work and double check if there is any other
you need to work I can add on to
complete outside
of lessons to stay
on track?
High Grade Tips

Use screenshots to support your analysis – especially when comparing your work to other
pieces.

Considered and capable demonstration of processes – detailed documentation of your

production process – such as still images, and annotated screenshots of your specific
production and editing process – including ‘what’ and ‘why’ and not just ‘how’.

Specific – be specific! Don’t just say e.g. ‘the lighting was good’ – show us where the
lighting looked good and why you think that.

Final This week you worked on your production

evaluation
on whole unit

Comparison I feel that my production is to the best standard that I can get it too.
to I feel like my idea reflected on the standard of my work as it is a
researched topic which had deep meaning and people can potentially relate
productions to this is they have a family member suffering from PTSD who is also
an ex-soldier. For my radio drama I tried my hardest to think about
how I would create a god and understanding storyline to fit with my
idea.

For LO1 when we were asked to analyse a Professional radio

drama such as The Archers I was then able to think about how I
could make a radio drama in which was up to the best as I could
achieve. Compared to the other radio drama’s we analysed I feel
that my work is definitely not up to the same standard as The
Archers, the reason for this is because the archers is an Soap Opera
and mine is a drama therefore they are completely different in
many ways. However to my knowledge after analysing The Archers
radio and also listening to a few of them I decided that I wanted to
do something slightly different with meaning and I also wanted it to
be realistic and something some people may be able to relate to in
a way. Within my radio drama I feel that I included as much as I
 could however my timing needed to be worked on as I was 2
minutes short. I do however feel that my radio dram fitted with the
target audience of 16-24 year old as it is a very interesting subject. I
feel like I could have improved on using more Foley sounds. I
believe that I could improve on my editing skills, for me to improve
this I need more practise with Adobe Audition so I can gain more
confidence when editing my work. During the analysis of other
radio dramas and there use of Foley sounds they clearly used the
sounds when needed and not just randomly, they were spread out
and also matched the timing of the dialogue at some times.
However for my radio dram I did use less than what other radio
dramas such as The archers used as I found it difficult to get a lot of
Foley sounds for a radio drama which is based in WW2, I did
manage to put the Foley sounds that I got in the correct places that
I needed them however as my radio drama was 2 minutes short I
didn’t wasn’t able to get more Foley sounds otherwise it wouldn’t
really make sense.
Production Overall, the strengths of my production were the Foley sounds I used and
Strengths also I felt that my idea was quite strong as well. After I sent a survey out I
found that a rage of people thought that my work was the story line was
very clear and thought well one, the same person also said that the voices
of the actors had clear voices and that their voices had a lot of emotion
within their voices. I feel that I did get positive feedback which I am happy

about, the people who did answer my survey did give me honest
feedback so then for next time I can remember to include what was
missing this time for my radio drama. For my Vox Pops I gathered that the
students were mostly interested in seeing detailed information within my
radio drama and being able to understand the story line which I do feel I
achieved. Again for my vox pops I gathered that the students favourite
genres where crime and drama based. However they were also interested
in seeing a comedy based genre for my radio drama, however as I had
already decided what I wanted to do for my radio drama my idea was
not a comedy and it was more of a drama.
Production Overall the weaknesses of my radio drama were that I felt I could have
weaknesses added more to the story rather than leaving it as a cliff hanger, I also
needed it to be longer, I feel that if I had done more of my script and went
into more depth for my radio drama. This has caused me a problem as I
feel that my work is now restricted from getting a high grade compared to
what I will potentially get. I also feel that I should have recorded more
Foley sounds, however as my storyline was based in the war time I did
need to have explosions and gun shots therefore I had to get the explosion
sound effect from the internet, on the other hand I did manage to get a
Foley sound of shooting as I was lucky for this I did decided to use it as my
own, the way in which I did this was videoing a local pheasant shoot near
to my house.

As well as this I should have rerecorded some parts of my radio drama as

at 0:55 Olly one of my characters does make a small mistake by stumbling
during his line on the script. This could have been resolved if I went over my
recording and double checked that it was just right.

The Feedback I receive from my teachers helped me as I was told that I

need to identify areas of improvement, meaning I can then go through my
work and change anything that isn’t up to the standard that it needs to
be. Other feedback I gathered from my teachers were that I always need
to reflect on the work I have completed, including what went well and
how I could improve if I was going to do the task again. This feedback has
helped me as it ensures that I go through all my completed work and to
see what I can do to make my work better and to a higher standard to
get me a better grade. Analysing other students work I need to go into
more detail on what was good during their work, to be critical and to say
an honest opinion of what works and what doesn’t.
Did you meet In my opinion I feel that I have reached my goal of having everything that
your goals? I need for my radio drama to be completed, I feel that I have tried to
Why/why make my work at is best standard as I can. The goals set from the brief we
not? have on vibe are that it gave us an opportunity to gather knowledge and
understanding from previous units we have done. The brief goals were to
gather research into codes and conventions of radio dramas. Another
goal the brief gave was to gather research into the target audience for
BBC radio 4 and also BBC radio 4 Extra and for our own productions. We
also had a goal of planning our own idea of what we wanted to do for this
unit as a radio drama, we had to use our previous research and planning
to successfully portray our ideas. After this we had to then record our radio
drama, edit it, and upload it to sound cloud and our websites along with
our Foley sounds, auditions, sound list, and production schedule. Finally we
have to write an evaluation of the production process and finished
production.

Goals that I set for myself was to make sure I was on top of everything that
I need to have and to complete, I did struggle with this however I do feel
that I have completed the work set. Another goal I set for myself was to
stick with my idea and to go into depth with it which I felt l the audience
would understand.
Self- I feel that at the end of the unit I don’t 100% see myself as a practitioner as
evaluation there are a few things I need to work on for me to be able to call myself a
practitioner.

A few strengths that I feel I am confident with analysing other work that we
have been asked to listen to and write what their strengths are, how well it
works and then what didn’t work too well and what they could improve
on, for example when we had to analyse two radio dramas of previous
students. Another strength I feel that I have is my planning, I feel that the
panning of my idea is clear and understandable of what I wanted my
radio drama to be based on and what the storyline consist of. I am
confident that I have completed my script to the standard expected as I
have used the correct font and layouts that were asked for.

On the other hand I do have some areas to improve on for example going
into more explanation and depth of my work such as analysis’s my
planning and other work that may have to be detailed. I also know that I
need to give more evidence during my work on what I have done and
what needs to be completed. I do need to improve on my editing skills
and how to make sure my final productions are to the highest standard
possible. I will do this by trying to practice with Adobe audition as it is still
slightly new to me. i need to improve my understanding and knowledge of
certain subjects such as needing to work on my audience research as I
didn’t have enough evidence in my analysis.

Things I need to work on for my personal development is that I feel that I

need to do more work outside of collage so I don’t fall behind, if I do this
then there will be more chance of me getting better grades in my work, I
do feel I need to develop my practical skills and organisation of my
 production’s and also my work. For me to be able to improve on my
practical skills for example my editing I can watch tutorial videos with step
by step and how to make my editing much better, I can also use tutorials
with auditions and how exactly to set them out and how to work with
them for my own ideas.

In my opinion I do feel that I need to be much more confident in my work

because I know I can produce my work to the expected standard,
therefore if I become more confident in myself and my own work I will then
be able to achieve better grades and my work will be to a higher
standard. I do also feel that I need to spend more time on the parts that I
don’t exactly enjoy doing however again if I do this to the best of my
ability I will achieve better grades which I need. For example the research
before doing the actual practical side , I find that if I get all of my work
done before the practical I won’t have much to do when it comes back
to feedback.

I will work on these by putting more effort into my work, making my work a
much high standard, I will do this by making sure I am up to date with all
my work, I will make sure that I am not missing any work, I want to make
sure that all my work is explained and detailed as well as it can be. The
reasons for this is because I feel that I have potential and I know I can
achieve much better grades it’s how I do it and I feel the reasons I have
given will make me do more work and work harder.
High Grade Tips

Use screenshots to support your analysis – especially when comparing your work to other
pieces.

Considered and capable demonstration of processes – detailed documentation of your

production process – such as still images, and annotated screenshots of your specific
production and editing process – including ‘what’ and ‘why’ and not just ‘how’.

Specific – be specific! Don’t just say e.g. ‘the lighting was good’ – show us where the
lighting looked good and why you think that.