Main Task

Michelle Foster

My main task will consist of a five minute news bulletin for a local radio station. I will aim to include title music, presenter, specialist reporters, outside broadcasts, recorded interview, vox pop and appropriate sound fx and structure.

Ideas for my main task...

• announce main headlines with supporting sound fx
• interview with specialist reporter regarding a main story
• reduce formality in local headlines
• vox pop with public on a celebrity gossip story/TV show (for instance, What do you think of the new ITV show, Take Me Out?)
• weather update
• finish with jingle and title music for the radio station, going into music

Target audience

For my main task, I am going to outline the ideas from radio stations such as Key 103 and Galaxy and aim my show at a younger audience. By doing this, I can make my news bulletin more informal and use more colloquial language. I am particularly considering a radio show targeted at children/teenagers, where I can make the news interesting as to ensure they don't get bored. This might be difficult to convey in a news bulletin though because news is supposed to be formal and serious. Inspired by the idea of Newsround on TV, I am going to create a radio clip aimed at teenagers. The radio clip will be part of a 30 minute time slot on a local radio station, out of school hours. This gives teenagers the chance to listen and understand the news on the radio with reduced formality. It will feature at 5 o'clock, because, from research I have found that the main news for adults is usually at 6pm, and Newsround on television is scheduled for 5 o'clock.

Script ideas

I brainstormed some ideas for the script for my main task...

I think the news stories displayed on BBC and ITV are inappropriate and wouldn't relate to my target audience. Therefore, I will use stories from shows such as Newsround which specialise in appealing to a younger audience.

Structure

This is the structure I will follow, and is typical of most radio news broadcast...

Radio show names

Following from my preliminary task, the radio station itself will be called Forever 104 as I think it's catchy and memorable, which is essential for a radio show. The news bulletin will have a different name, to distinguish the change in tone on the show, so I brainstormed a few ideas...

• Recent rumour
• Chit chat
• News now
• News talk
• News for you
• Latest chat

I tried to move away from the idea of 'news' because it would not appeal to teenagers, but the other names don't really work and would be unsuitable. I also considered "gossip" but it was too slang for a local radio show. Eventually, I decided to use "News talk" as the formal 'news' compensates for the colloquial 'talk'. I think teenagers would be attracted to this because it doesn't sound as childish as 'Newsround', but it has a sense of informality to it.

Getting Started...

First of all, I began by writing several drafts of a script, in which I included the main headlines, local headlines, reporters and vox pops. I tried to make it as thorough as possible, in order for my broadcast to last five minutes. Then, I considered who would be most suited for different parts of the script. For example, my outside broadcast consists of a reporter telling the audience of the disasters in Cumbria. I thought my friend, Charlotte Forshaw would be appropriate for this role as she has a professional, reporter voice that is clear and quite formal. Also, I have arranged to go and record a vox pop outside a local school. I have decided to go to the school at around 3o'clock, in order to ensure that teenagers are available to record. I will make sure I take pictures throughout my coursework for evidence.

I started by using Audacity to record short clips of the news bulletin. I decided to do it in several short clips because it would be easier and my voice wouldn't drone on too much. I did this as a trial run for the final show. I got several clips in which I could go on and edit for my final show. I will use Premiere to edit and add sound effects to my show.

Here are a couple of pictures of me and a couple of reporters recording using Audacity...

Techniques

After my initial recording, I progressed to importing my files into Adobe Premiere to edit and compare my clips to see which would be suitable for my final broadcast. Then I dropped the clips into my timeline and began to adjust the volume controls and add effects.

This is a print screen of Adobe Premiere as I was cutting a clip...

This is a print screen of Adobe Premiere as I was adding keyframes to dip the music where I have added speech...

Sound Effects

I searched websites such as http://www.sounddogs.com/ for appropriate sound effects for my project. The effects I downloaded include; helicopter noises, yawns, bell rings etc. I also used http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ to search for a jingle and some background sounds.

Continuity

When recording my show, I was aware of continuity throughout. I tried to record chunks of the script in one go so that continuity wouldn't be an issue. This proved difficult as the slightest stutter would mean we'd have to start again from the beginning. This meant even though it was difficult to do, it took a while to make it right.