Change of plan

I have now decided to use BBC Radio 7 as the broadcaster for my radio drama. I have decided this because this station is commonly used for entertainment and radio dramas. It also features extended dramas from the Radio 4 station. This means that the station is widely listened to and I want to give my radio drama maximum chance of being listened to by audiences.

I am now aware that BBC radio 7 has been re branded and named BBC Radio 4 extra.

Ancillary Task 2 - Double Feature Page

I have decided that i would like my feature page within a copy of The Radio Times. I have choosen this because it is a very popular print which can be aimed at a range of different ages, including my target market. I believe that my radio drama will have more chance of success if it is featured in this print as more people will view it.

I have searched Radio Times feature pages on google and found these two examples above. I have noticed that both feature pages use bright colours in order to attract the audience and striking photos. Both examples also use a combination of text and images in many different ways to ensure that the features are visually pleasing. When designing my feature page I would like to include the same conventions as The Radio Times uses within their feature pages.

This image above is a feature article which was published in The Radio Times. It is an article which is promoting a radio drama. As you can see, this feature has included a very large image of the characters within the radio drama. The three characters are looking directly into the camera. This promotes the drama as it enables the audience to identify with the characters and helps them visualize the story when they get round to listening to the radio drama itself. The feature uses a variety of text and images. As I want my double feature page to appeal to young people such as myself, I will use limited text and use a wide variety of different images to make it visually pleasing.

This image above is a double page feature which was in The Radio Times. I really like this feature as it is attrative and really catches my attention. As I am a young person, and I like this feature, I think that this idea will appeal very well to other people my age (my target audience). I have noticed that this feature has included a "behind the scenes" section. This allows the audience to see beyond the production of the drama and see into the peoples lives who play the characters. I think that this will work extremely well, especially if the actors are well known and famous.

Looking at this image has helped me come up with some basic ideas for my own double page feature spread. Here is my first idea for my double page feature spread. I designed this lay out on te computer and this is how I plan the feature to look.

I need to take into consideration the timing of release for my feature page spread. I have decided that I would like this feature to be published one week before the radio drama is first aired. I think that this is a suitable time because the readers of this article will still be interested and eager to listen to the drama after reading the article

Ancillary Task - Designing my poster

After looking at other examples such as film posters I have come up with my first idea.

I want to use this image within the poster accompanied by another including the three characters in the drama. I have choosen this image of an empty car to symbolise isolation. I want the viewers of this poster to question why the car has an importance within the drama and why it is empty with its doors open.

I wanted the picture to be more focussed on the car itself rather than the surroundings so I cropped the image. I then increased the contrast and decreased the brightness to create a bigger impact on the overal image.

I felt that the editing I had done wasn't enough to give impression that I wanted, so I decided to manipulate the image even more. I clicked on the black and white tab in adjustments and selected a preset called Maximum White. This changed the the black and white colours which give a sense of mystery and darkness which relates the the radio drama itself

I also used this image below of the three characters in the radio drama. I have choosen this to help the audience identify with the characters and the drama and as this poster is being released 4 weeks before airing it will encourage young people to listen to the drama.

I cropped the image and adjusted the brightness and contrast

I wanted this image to match the one with the car so I also changed the image to black and white

Editing

Today I have been introduced to the editing aspects of Soundtrack Pro, and here is a few basic things that I have learnt today and have used within my radio drama


Adding Sound Effects

• Soundrack Pro has a wide variety of free sound effects so there is no need to worry about copyright.

Here is where you can access a range of different sound effects in soundtrack pro. In the section I was editing, I need it to give the impression that it was raining. I clicked the ambience tab and found rain effects. When I found the desired clip, I clicked and dragged it into a new track.

In some parts of our radio drama there were very loud sections which needed adjusting. So, using Soundtrack Pro I created a sound envelope and adjusted the volume. I listened back to what I had edited and the loud parts now fitted in with the rest of the drama. 

Here is a video of me editing the end section of our script...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGTwDuU-YTQ


Here is an example of raw recording which has not being edited at all,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUP05dkDrlc


There was no doubt that the raw recording needing editing doing to make the drama successful, so here is an example of the same clip but with added sound effects, recording and cut down in order for it to make sence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=788yAhLOMn8


Here is a video of a section which I edited, with probably the most sound effects used
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YExgpqpoVfI


Here is also another example of how editing has helped the drama become more exciting and more realistic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YExgpqpoVfI
In particular I really like how the door sound effects were used, and the sound of the footsteps, I think it helps the audience visualise the story.

Ancillary task - Newspaper Advert

Forms and Conventions

For the next part of my coursework is to create a poster to promote my radio drama for publication in a national newspaper.

This image is a cd cover advertising the radio drama called "The Archers".

When looking at this image I can notice many different forms and conventions

in this case I have noticed that the poster has

• a bold title across the image
• a background to represent the radio drama as a whole
• characters within the radio drama

on this cd cover there are many things that help the audience identify with the drama. For example, the use of characters in the image will help the audience relate to and visualise to the story. As for this advertisement, I don't think it suits my target audience. I think that this example is aimed at older people such as men and women aged 40 and over, which suits "The Archers" target market.

By looking at this radio advertisement above, I think that this is aimed at men and women aged between 25 and 40. I think this because they have used characters of both genders (male and female) and aged between 25 and 35. This means that their target market will be able to relate to the characters in the drama and seeing them in this advertisement before listening to the drama, may help them visualise the story and happenings when they do come round to listen to the final product. This advertisement looks quite sophisticated and doesn't give away too much about the over all story. It leaves the audience free to make assumptions of the story itself.

 

I also decided to look at posters for films. Film posters are usually very successful with advertising their products so I want to research into this to make my drama advertising equally as successful.

This poster for the film called "In The Name of the Son" Has used minimal text and allowed the images to reveal or in some cases not reveal the story. In this poster I have also noticed that two image have been used. The image a the top could be suggesting the starting point of the film and the closeness of the two charactes shown. The second image underneath could be revealing how the narrative and story unfolds. The Scratch/broken glass effect accross the image could be symbolising the breaking down of a friendship that occurs in the story.

After looking at this example I have come up with some basic ideas of how I want poster to look.  Here is a draft I dont earlier on the computer of how I plan to construct my poster.

I have decided to use two images within my poster. One image, which will be at the top of the poster is going to be a picture of an empty car with both doors wide open. I have chosen to do this as I want the viewers of this poster to question why the car is empty and why the doors have been left open. Hopefully this will encourage the viewers to listen to the radio drama when it is released. As for editing this picture, I want the image to create a sense of mystery so I will play around with the colours to get the desired effect. I also want to try and create a "claw" effect on the car. For this I will find a claw effect image on the internet and photoshop it into the image.

For the second image, which will be placed at the bottom half of the poster. This image will include all 3 characters to help the audience identify and relate to the characters. I also want this image to give the impression of mystery so i will edit this picture aswell to give it the desired effect.

To make my poster look professional so a Radio 4 logo will be placed in the corner. I also want to include 5 star reviews from newspapers such as The Sun and The Daily Mail. This will also encourage viewers of the poster to listen to the finnished product.