Digital Broadcasting Production Diary: Part Three

Creating a radio feature offers a vast amount of creative freedom. I wanted to choose a subject matter that was personal to me and lent itself to interesting interviews and atmosphere. The MCM Expo is a prestigious anime event that gave me an opportunity to talk to key industry figures. Although otaku culture spreads across all age groups, it's primarily teenagers that attend the convention and this was appropriate for a Radio One Newsbeat audience.

The opening explains the hub of activity inside the event and the mood of visitors. I was pleased with the range of attendees I was able to question, although to improve on my audio I would have interviewed them in quieter locations. Background noise wasn't an issue in the final mix down, but I would have preferred to have the ambience as a separate file to the quotes. This way I could have controlled how loud or dominating it was in my package.

Initially, adding a Japanese song into the background of my feature felt like a suitable addition. I hoped that it would add personality to the piece, but was ultimately drowned out by the other elements in my package. The information on cosplaying and the inclusion of an authoritative figure from Neo Magazine were many of my package’s strengths. Produced to time, I was pleased with my links and the imagery it created.

Digital Broadcasting Production Diary: Part Two

We switched roles for the final week with South Coast News, allowing all of our group members to have a chance at presenting. This proved problematic, as we struggled throughout the day to adjust to our new responsibilities.

Sam and Katherine recorded interviews for the surf reef, which was under hot debate for the amount of time and money it needed for construction. Our NCTJ training in Public Affairs was useful in the explanation of the Lloyds/ RBS story, offering a context of economics which we would have otherwise had difficulties explaining.

As producer I kept a close eye on our up sound, ordering clips appropriately on Burli and ENPS. Confident that the technical side of the bulletin was ready, I made myself useful through additional reporting. Unfortunately, when I was writing for the child cruelty court report I was legally unsafe in a section of my copy. To improve, I should have been much more vigilant over my NCTJ Law theory and analysed the press release more carefully.