Evaluation and Analysis of Main project

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I believe that my main audio project develops the normal structure of a news radio channel, like most news radio stations such as the BBC 5 live and World News they all start with an opening jingle and after that they inform the audience of the presenter of the show and the main headlines around the world at that current time. To what I can see my audio project has a very similar formula to previous and on going professional radio channels, which i believe was very important to follow if i was to succeed in the task at hand. the opening jingle is reasonably catchy which hopefully will attract the viewers to listen to it when it has been played over and over again. Overall I felt it was extremely important that my product followed a very successful radio channel such as radio one and five live as they have been both proven successes throughout the country and are currently giving their respective companies a massive income to date. I felt it was important to ass in the small, sharp clip of music in between each main news headline as it allows the presenters a chance to catch their breath and prepare for the next headline, whilst also giving the listeners a chance to take in the news they have just received.

As far as my product goes in challenging the regular forms and conventions of similar media products it does nothing drastically different to any other popular radio station, due to the research which I completed it become clear that the majority of locals wanted a radio station which was very similar to what was already on offer but to limit the amount of world affairs news and home in on the more local side of the news because the likes of BBC news and sky news allows the locals to catch up on the world news whenever they want, also the internet is there for the latest world news.

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

After doing my intensive research It became apparent that the main social group that I needed to mostly aim the news headlines at was the people around the ages of 30 year old and over, this meant that I the news that I was presenting was not gong to be childish, but very serious and informative. As my radio channel would most likely be competing the BBC jersey for viewers, I felt that I needed to make sure that the news that I was showing would be interesting towards the majority of the social group. The news results that I got such as finding out that many of the locals look for the latest sporting news around jersey and the main land I though it was extremely important that I listened to what they had to say and take it into account. Overall it was extremely important that I realized the exact social group which I was targeting through the research that i did in order to gain as many viewers as possible, I believe that I achieved that and can therefore feel relativity confident that through all of the research the news and sporting news that I have conduced the viewers will enjoy listening to the radio station that I have produced.

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I strongly believe that the kind of media institution that would look to take on my radio channel would be a relatively well respected local company such as BBC Jersey as the radio show will be well financed but as the research has been done many will look at this radio station as a 'people' company as it has strongly based its news and sporting information other exactly what the local public want to see from the radio channel. As the station will be playing at all of the prime times (which are 12 in the afternoon, 6 in the evening and 10 at night) it will allow all the working people to listen whenever they have the time, instead of playing it in the afternoon when they will most likely be at work and unable to listen to the radio, this was also very important that i got the timing of the show right which would benefit the station and most importantly the viewers of the channel.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

As already stated I believe that my main target audience would have to be people over the age of thirty due to the research that I had conducted. As my radio station will be playing at all of the prime times it will allows all of the working people to be able to watch it when required, any class from ACB1 and C2DE can listen to the station as well as either males or females as i do not believe that any radio station should have such a niche audience if it is to be a success (especially when dealing and being shown on such a small island to begin with). The overall aim for my radio station is to appeal to as many target audiences as possible regardless of what age or social group they belong to. Obviously with the research and results that I received it is extremely important that I look into it when deciding the overall outcome of the product but to be honest the radio station it their to promote local news and also give the viewers up to date events, breaking news and all the key sporting events as they take place and happen.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

When trying to attract and address the audience of my radio station it was very important to make sure that the news that i would be looking to broadcast on my show would clearly relate and inform the audience. Therefore that was one of the main reasons for myself conducting the amount of research that I did, I quickly realized that if my station was to become a success it would be based around keeping the audience happy with information and news that they want to hear instead of just informing the audience as a whole the news that just about every other well respected radio station would be doing. In order to address the audience I wanted to make sure that all of the wording that was used was formal yet quite laid back at the same time, which I believe gives the effect of a calm and well educated mannered individual which allows all people of different backgrounds and educational capacity to enjoy and understand exactly what the presenter it aiming to get across to the listening public. Overall I believe that attracting the audience to this radio station was arguably one of the most difficult parts of this project, obviously the radio station will be aiming at both males and females but once the age range group has been established (which in my case was 30 years old and plus) it was then attempting to get news which was important but also important for both males and females at the same time. So i had to balance the news, therefore having some news stories that would interest men and woman individually but mostly having topics which would attract both the males and females.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I feel as if I have learnt an awful lot from completing this project, using garage Band has shown me that regardless of your musical ability and how well you can cut and edit parts together if you put plenty of hard work, time and graft into your work then you are be rewarded. The possibilities when using Garage Band are almost endless as far as making audio productions are concerned, it has a fantastic variety of loops, sounds and options (which when you look around the program are there to be seen) which was one of the key reasons for myself doing the main audio main project. Apart from using garage band, I learnt that recording in the radio station is basically extremely straight forward if you listen to the instructions and take it all on board. I thoroughly enjoyed using the high quality equipment we had on offer as I feel it highly increased the overall quality of my product and have me a deeper insight into the ever changing world of the media, which I am very much looking into for a future career.

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Obviously as this is the main product I was required to go into much more detail when producing my final product. When making the preliminary task all I had to do was create a short opening jinle and add a short interview clip to show that I could mix the loops for actual audio. For my main task I was required to make the opening but also record and create a script and then edit it all together in a well rounded off package. So from that point of view it is clear that I have learnt more techniques when using garage band, also in the preliminary task the short recording that I did was recorded using the small handhold recorders which were very easy to record but the sound quality was no where near the quality of the radio station. From that I feel as if I have learnt more about the actual professional equipment and would feel more than confident taking part in our local school radio sessions as I feel as if I have learnt more than enough tips and techniques from using the radio station when recording my script for my project.