Foley sounds

Production Journey

I worked on Dark Secrets with Khairun. It was our first time working with GarageBand. There were a lot of lines, however fortunately since it is a radio drama i  did not have to memorise anything. Khairun was in charge of writing the script, after she was done she let me see it and we tweaked a few things. While recording it was hard to be serious, since we were trying out best to voice act. We made mistakes and laughed. However we still managed to get all of our recording done. We did our rushes log then we deleted any unwanted recordings. Then after we recorded all the characters bits, we started to edit them on GarageBand. We started off by matching the voice so it would look like Avery wasn't talking to her self but having a conversation. We then placed the foley sounds in the right places. Then we saved it. However there were issues with saving sometimes in GarageBand so we would have to re-record what we needed again. 

 

Then we gathered audience feedback, some said the voice's wont clear or we needed more emotion. So me and Khairun re-recorded a lot of the lines again and tried harder this time for it to sound more believable. I did happen to be a bit sick for the beginning half of the recording so it sounded a bit mumbled, but it was too late to change it since we needed to hurry up and edit everything then post it to blogger. 

We then had to add more to our drama since it wasn't long enough. And because of this we had to go into GarageBand again and match up the recordings. 

One of the scenes we added was to make it longer is, where i was pretending to be an American youtuber. For this i had to put on an accent, for it to seem more believable. I also added a sponsor. And we made it so when  Avery was watching the video the audience could also hear the video. We also added spooky background music to it, to intrigue the viewer. We made the recording quieter and added keyboard foley sounds. When she is typing foley sound is used. This made it feel more real that Avery was watching a Youtube video. 

We then needed a voice for another character - the police officer. We asked miss Lowndes if she would be willing to do it, and she agreed to. When she recorded it when talking to Avery on the phone we wanted the voice to be clearer than when she was talking to Jaden. When she was near Jaden and she was speaking we added echoes so it seemed like she was using her walky-talky speaker. 

After all that our recordings was done we went into final cut pro to edit our recordings. We imported all the recordings, sound effects and music we needed. We then added a picture from google and text saying the title "Dark Secrets" to play throughout the whole radio drama. Since this is supposed to be an original piece of work, we had to use copyright free music. So to get our copyright free music, we went into google and searched Youtube to MP3 converter. Then we went to YouTube and searched copyright free background music etc. And then copied the link and added to the Youtube to mp3 converter, then downloaded it. And added it to our recording on final cut pro. Background music was important to not only set the mood but to get the audience engaged as well. Without music it would be a pretty boring. As it isn't a visual media. There would be no suspense, or anything like that, which would make is less intriguing to the audience. Which might make them not want to finish listening to the whole radio drama. Which could also potentially make them not want to watch the other episodes that come out as well, as this is the first episode that sets the expectations and represents how the other episodes will be like.

U 16 Storage, compression and file size

Storage

Flash Drive - A USB flash drive consists of a flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB interface. USB Flash Drives are typically removable and rewritable. It can be attached to a keychain. When you plug a USB Flash Drive into your computer USB port, the computer recognises it as a mass storage device and assigns it a drive letter.

Hard drive – A hard drive is a piece of hardware used to store digital content and data on computers. Every computer has an internal hard drive, but you can also get external hard drives that can be used to expand the storage of a computer.

SSD – An SSD (Solid-State Drive) is a newer and advanced form of a hard drive that works as a storage device in computers. With no moving parts, SSDs access and deliver data more quickly than traditional drives.

Cloud – Cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the internet instead of your computer’s hard drive. (The PCMAG Encyclopaedia defines it succinctly as “hardware and software services from a prover on the internet.”) Ultimately, the “cloud” is just a metaphor for the internet.

Compression

DRC – A new (dynamic rang compression) DRC tag can now used to tag and enhance the volume of a certain sounds in your audio file. The sounds in an audio file range from softer sounds to louder, depending on the text, the language and the voice.

Downwards/Upwards – Downwards compression treats the signal only when it goes above the threshold, by reducing the volume or “pushing it down” On the other hand, upwards compression only affects audio signals below the threshold, by increasing the volume and pushing everything up.

Size VS Quality

Lossy – Lossy compression means that the image size is reduced while some data from the original image file is eliminated.

Lossless – A lossless file, the FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is compressed to nearly half the size of an uncompressed WAV or AIFF of equivalent sample rate, but there should be no “loss” in terms of how it sounds. FLAC flies can also provide a resolution of up to 32-bit, 96kHz, so better than CD quality.

Bit rate – Bit rate refers to the amount of audio bits transferred at a given time. It is usually measured in kilobits per second (kbps) The higher the bitrate, the larger the audio file.

Files size – File size is the measurement of space a file takes up on a storage medium, such as a computer hard drive or ad server. Also, the resolution of your image has nothing to do with its file size. However, the file size of the image on the left is 630% larger. This makes a big difference in a page load speed, especially when using larger dimension images and when using multiple images on a page.

Audience Feedback on first draft

Feedback on first draft: The students i told to give me feedback was Afsarah, Zayna and Areeba.

The questions i asked were: 

Is our voices loud enough?

What do you think about the radio drama?

Is there anything else that we can add to the radio drama?

Do you understand what the radio drama is about, if so which part and why?

What do you think about the characters in the radio drama?

Afsarah said that our voices were alright but there are times where our voices would go softer or louder, which would be annoying since the audience would need to keep changing the volume and it would get frustrating. She also said that it was fuzzy and that it sounds like white noise making the audio unclear. She suggested that we should have more enthusiasm in our words and that the recording should be done in a soundproof room, also check if there is audio by doing a soundcheck. Afsarah said that the characters were quite bland at least something to remember that they’re an actual person. She thinks more reactions are needed to make it more believable, for example when you question certain things in your mind It makes more sense but if you just say it, it feels and looks unbelievable that you’re saying something. I think questioning things whilst “thinking” of something gives you a better advantage to make it believable.

Areeba said that she could understand the radio show and what it is about. The voices in the first half was really quiet and she needed to put her phone next to her ear to hear it, but in the second half the voices was really loud so she said that it should be the same volume throughout the whole radio drama. That it should be at a moderate level of volume unless it needs to be louder or quieter for a particular reason. She also agreed with Afsarah by saying that even though Simona's acting wasn't bad , but she should put emotion into her words since it's a radio drama the audience cannot see the actors/characters expression because it's only sound with no other visual aspects.

Zayna also talked about the volume problems. Zayna basically said the same thing as Afsarah and Areeba about Simona's acting and also that everything sounded out of place because even though she kind of understood the story it was still a little bit confusing and she said everything is a bit monotone and boring. She said she struggled watching all of it because there was nothing interesting for her to carry on with.

Draft of dark secrets

Conducting recce's

Regulatory bodies

The Office Of Communication or Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services. Ofcom makes sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio. 

They make sure that people are satisfied with what they see on TV and hear on the Radio. And it that there is an accurate representation of what is portrayed online.

Ofcom registers people who complain to Ofcom and check if any rules might have been broken. If they decide the complain doesn't raise issues warranting further investigation, they will close the complaint and publish a record of this in Ofcom's Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin, which is published every fortnight. 

Ofcom is independent. Ofcom is funded by fees from industry for regulating broadcasting and communications networks, and grant-in-aid from the UK Government for undertaking concurrent competition regulation and managing radio spectrum. 

Funding

A grant is a quantity of money that is given by the government, organization or a person for specific purposes. unlike a loan you don't need to pay it back, only the people to abandoned their courses need to pay it back.

Sponsorship means to support something, an event, activity or person, usually with money.

Advertising are messages paid for those who send them and are intended to inform or influence people who receive them.

I researched some sites and how the can fund our radio drama UK safer internet centre help teenagers understand how dangerous it is to talk to people online and how to make sure they say who they say they are. They will be funding with us so we can get more equipment that we need. Being sponsored by UK safer internet centre could help a lot of teenagers to use online safely.

Another sponsor could be Instagram because even though the characters themselves don't use Instagram it is still quite easy for people that you don't know to talk to you. Instagram can help by promoting our new radio drama and it would get a lot more audiences since a lot of teenagers use Instagram in their daily lives. It will also help teenagers and also educate them about the dangers of online chatting.

Launch date

Our radio drama revenge will be released in August the 15th 2022 because in this month teenagers will not be at school since it's there summer holidays and at this time there will be more teenagers that are talking to strangers because there bored and want to have some fun. This program will be educating the younger people so that they don't need to do anything that they will regret or put themselves to trouble. It also tells them what happens when they talk to a stranger or even worse meets them.

Task allocation Week 1,2,3,4,5

Production Log week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Key personnel list

Production Schedule

Unit 16 P2 Describe how the sound elements are produced

Unit 16 P2 Describe how the sound elements are produced

 

Running Order

Running order

Title – The Dark Secrets

Schedule – Saturday 6:30pm

Duration – 5 minutes (or more)

Description	Time frame
Avery is bored and fiddling with things around her house.	35 seconds
Avery logs onto her computer and types YouTube.	30 seconds
She comes across a YouTube video on her recommended called ‘Exploring the Dark web’.	10  seconds
Avery is intrigued by this and so she searches up how to get onto the dark web safely.	2 minutes
By following a tutorial, she manages to get onto the dark web.	1 minute
She’s on the surface of the dark web searching.	30 seconds
She doesn’t find much besides some videos.	2 minutes
An hour passes by (clock ticking noise).	10 seconds
A guy named Jaden starts texting Avery while she is surfing the dark web.	1 minute
AFTER SOME TIME…	10 seconds
Avery goes to meet up with Jaden in person.	1 minute
Jaden is actually an elderly man.	20 seconds
Avery’s left in shock.	40 seconds

 

Unit 14 P3 Platforms for listening

 

Unit 14 and 16 Initial ideas

Unit 14 P3 distribution methods visual mind map

 

Unit 16 Sound elements production report on experimenting and producing sound

Foley sounds the production and recording of sound effects. Sounds such as breaking glass, walking on gravel or snow, or creaking doors are very often created by foley artists to enhance the realism.

 

Wild tracks are knows as off-screen sound. It is audio that is recorded on location, such as sound effects gathered when the cameras were not rolling, or extra takes of lines performed for audio only. 

Wild tracks can be used to get a clean recording of dialogue. Since there is so much noise on set. Also When a take was good visually but there was a sound disturbance, and repeating the entire take is impractical. To obtain room tone (the background noise of a location) which is necessary for post-production sound editing.

 

Title sequence (opening or intro)  is the method by which films or television programmers present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound  (often a opening theme song with visuals, akin to a brief music video).

Title sequences are a powerful expression of motion graphics. They are a prelude to the movie. They engage the audience by hinting at what is about to start, whether it's a movie, TV show, or Web animation. One of the primary functions of a title sequence is to set the tone of the movie you are about to see.

A film score while this can be a incidental music, the score is any original music specifically written to accompany a film. 'Cues' are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question.

Incidental music is emotive music that is added to create emotion for the audience. It builds atmosphere.

Characters signature tune (Leitmotif) is exactly what it sounds like (pun unintended). It is a recurring piece of music (or at least a melody) that represents a character action or theme. This is a well-established technique used in almost every medium that involves music and story.

This could help the audience know that the specific character is near. It could also help build a sense of continuity. And help match the action or mood of the scene. 

Theme tune (often similar to a leitmotif) is a piece of music that is often written specifically for a radio programmer, television programmer, video game or film, and is usually played during the intro, title sequence and/or closing credits. It is often used to make an entrance.

Voice overs are used in audio-visual products in two ways. One of the ways are where a voice over can be an unseen narrator. Or the character saying their story off the camera in a different time period. It could also be where characters thoughts are being expressed. (internal diegetic sound). Essentially it is a piece of narration in a film or broadcast, not accompanied by an image of the speaker.

Scripted speech allows the actor to deliver their lines in a specific way so that the dialogue spoken creates specific meaning. Such as by putting dialect, accent and tone into use. All while ensuring time, place and characterization are clear to the audience. 

Unit 14 P3 M2 Be able to investigate the technologies for multiplatform of radio broadcasting

 

Unit 14 P3 Describe and explain studio equipment

 

Description and explanation of studio equipment

Digital

Digital recording converts the analogue sound wave into digital numbers, which are recorded rather than the sound wave. To playback, the digital data needs to be converted back to an analogue sound wave. See Analogue. 

Digitial cartwalls

A pre-loaded software system, which contains all audio assets required from a playlist.  

Digital playout system 

is used to record, store and play all the audio content that will be used on your radio station.

Equipment 

The set of articles or physical resources serving to equip a person or thing. Such as the implements used in an operation or activity.

Unit 14 P1 Differences between types of programmes

Talk/Music

Capital FM radio Starts off with the host giving a short introduction to the radio station then the artist and then the song. Occasionally in between songs the host will talk about ads such as sponsors. The host uses humour to keep the listener entertained and engaged. They do this for only a short period of time and so this keeps the audience from getting bored. Then there will be more ads in a segment where its just the ad and not the host speaking. Then again after the ads the Radio station (Capital FM radio) will be introduced. After that the host will announce the artist and song which will be played next. 

Unit 16 P1 Identify and explain the characteristics of media products

 

Analyse the structure and content of a programme broadcast by a chosen radio station

Unit 14 P2 Describe the focus of a chosen radio station

 BBC Radio 4 

BBC Radio 4 schedules

Unit 14 P1 Explore different types of radio stations

 Radio Industry Operations 

Unit 14 P1 Explore different types of radio stations

Radio listening