The Encore Show Evaluation

The Encore Show Evaluation

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10934324

Our Encore show was a musical based afternoon show aimed at 25+. Overall I think that this show was the best one to do live on the Children In Need day as it was different to all the other shows on the day and by previous rehearsals we discovered was the most popular of our shows.

In the research for this show we analyzed Elaine Paige’s Radio 2 show. From listening to this show we were able to decide how similar or different the style of our own musical based show was going to be compared to Paige’s show.

We decided to not have soundbeds for our show as they distract the listeners from what the presenter is saying. Also as a lot of the tracks have instrumental sections that soundbeds could sound similar to and therefore cause confusion.

When deciding our playlist we looked at our research and what the most popular musicals were. From this we decided to choose tracks from these musicals, as this is what our audience is most likely going to want to hear. We also looked at Elaine Paige’s playlist and chose tracks from the same musicals, as therefore we know that the songs are covered under our PRS license.

Similarly to Elaine Paige’s Radio 2 show we told our listeners information about the musical the track was from. This gives the listeners some understanding and background information about the track and would interest them as our audience enjoys musical theatre.

Our three features in this programme were musical reviews, what is this musical and an interview with a musical theatre student. We also included Greg Clarke and James Blackburn’s feature on Hairspray The Musical as it was relevant to our show and was a good opportunity for it to be heard. Also it is appropriate for the West End industry at the moment as the musical is touring the country and therefore our audience may have been to see the musical.

I think that our musical reviews of Flashdance and Blood Brothers worked well however they are more like synopses rather than reviews although still do their purpose and tell the listeners about the musical. The soundbeds behind the voice are well suited and liven up the review.

We uploaded our What Is This Musical videos to The Encore Show Facebook page and got a few responses. On these videos we said that the answers would be revealed on Stratcast on Thursday 18^th and therefore encouraging people to listen to the show to discover the answers.

Unfortunately our first what is this musical didn’t work as the mp3 cable wasn’t plugged in properly. It would have been better if the audio was on myriad and put into our schedule. However we didn’t get round to doing this and the others worked ok off of my mac.

As Esme was getting the information about the musicals from the script it didn’t sound free flowing and you could hear that she was reading. If we were to do this again we would have to practice Esme’s presenting and reading voice so that it sounds more conversational.

To improve our show I think that it would have been better to play more music as this is what I believe our audience most enjoyed about the show. However, due to the time limit and the need for a certain number of features we were unable to do this. We received quite a few song requests and it would be have been good if we were able to play these tracks as then we would be appealing to our audience. It would have also been valuable to have a live request system where we could have asked current listeners to phone, text or visit the studio and request tracks.

We decided to produce our show in a formal style as we wanted to aim the show at older target audience, as we believed that Stratcast was mainly targeting the younger generation. However, I think our show would have also worked well if we had been able to produce the show in an informal way with Amy and Laura presenting. As they are very energetic people this would have created a lively mood to the programme more suited for a younger audience.

Unfortunately, the beginning of ‘I’ve Had The Time Of My Life’ is very quiet and therefore couldn’t be heard very well. This sounds like a few seconds of silence for the listeners and therefore should have been checked in rehearsal and altered so that the ident ran over the very beginning.

Tea and Toast Evaluation

Tea and Toast evaluation

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/10348021

Our Tea and Toast show was an hour-long breakfast show aimed at 16-24 year olds. I think that the show came together nicely and worked well.

For this show I took the role of producer. As our group was quite large I delegated tasks to other team members so that everyone had the chance to contribute. For example, Ollie created the playlist and Amy wrote the script.

Once the playlist, script, idents and features were done I checked them over and then created the running order. I created it in a way that I felt my team would understand best. The different colours representing different content ie. tracks, idents, links. This helped the team easily identify different parts of the show.

We decided to have three presenters as this creates a relaxed and conversational mood to the show. This is similar to the popular Chris Moyles show on BBC Radio 1 and therefore is a proven effective technique for breakfast radio.

By having a ‘coming up’ menu in the first link keeps the audience interested and hopefully wanting to listen to the rest of the show. I would have liked to have done a longer show as unfortunately it took a bit of time for everyone to settle down and for the show to run smoother.

I think that our features were suitable for our audience as they involve the audience and are humorous.

Our Know Your Lyrics feature worked well with Millie presenting, as it was another voice and allowed all three presenters to participate in the game. To add comedy to this feature the contestants ‘buzzers’ were animal noises. We decided to have a quiz type feature as they work well by including the audience and allowing them to play along. During our live show we had audience participation via facebook with listeners getting involved and guessing the answers. This showed that the feature was interesting and enjoyable to listen to. If we were to do this feature again then we could improve it by having small audio clips of the songs after the contestants have guessed the correct answer (similar to Never Mind The Buzzcocks).

Something that worked well on our show was our request for people to send in photos of what they had for breakfast. As our audience are familiar with technology such as picture phones this allowed us to receive instant photographs via email. We received many photos that our presenters commented on and that went up on the visual on Ustream for all our audience to see. However, as we couldn’t control this in the radio room we didn’t know when these were going up and couldn’t really talk about them whilst they were on the screen. This feature worked well by involving the audience and adding to the cross media content for the show.

Our prank call feature was good however could have been broken up and each prank played separately throughout the show as the listeners could have become uninterested throughout the 8 minutes and this would have given the presenters a chance to talk about each prank separately. However, given the time scale of our show this might not have been possible, as it could have dominated the programme.

I think that our playlist was suitable for the audience as the songs are well known and upbeat. This is appropriate for a breakfast show as it creates an positive mood to wake up and get ready for the day in. Only 3 of our songs (Barbara Streisand- Duck Sauce, Just The Way You Are- Bruno Mars and Rollerblades- Eliza Doolittle) were current and in the charts however the other tracks we played are all popular and suitable for our audience. This is similar to the Chris Moyles show that plays Radio 1 playlist songs but also play old hits. For example on Monday 22^nd October they played Take That- Greatest Day.

Millie and Esme created an image of the logo and email address for Ustream so that our audience could easily know the name of the show and the email address when watching on Ustream. This was effective as we received a lot of emails throughout the show.

I believe that our idents suited the upbeat style of our show however didn’t need so much of the fancy sounds at the beginning of them as it was it dragged them out too long before the voice kicked in.

Something that could have been improved on our show was the transition between songs and idents. Sometimes the song had completely faded out before the ident was played. This is most likely down to too much silence end of the song that we should have edited out or the pace that James was working through the myriad schedule.

Sometimes Amy got a bit excited and the levels distorted. If we were to do this again we would have to warn her to be careful and try to predict it so Ollie could bring her microphone down.

When Sam was introducing the song over the intro the fader wasn’t brought down so his voice couldn’t be clearly heard over the track. To improve this Ollie would just have to be more aware of it and bring the track fader down.

Also I believe the soundbed wasn’t 100% suitable for the time and style of the show. If we were to do this again then I would prefer to use a more cheery soundbed with less repetitive beats.

Another thing that could have been improved is that fact that some of the time it sounded like the presenters were reading from the script. With more rehearsal time and confidence then this could be improved.

Overall I think that our show suited our audience and fulfilled the purpose of entertaining them. Our playlist, features and presenters were a success and all worked well together to engage our intended audience of 16 to 24 year olds.

The Encore Playlist- not final

Through our questionnaire research we were able to choose which musicals our audience would like to hear tracks from. Also, by rehearsing the show, we discovered which songs people around college (media tech and the zone) would like to hear.

The Encore Show running order. Without timings.

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4tzjMyBjRM5ZDFjYzc1MmUtMjRmZS00MWUyLWE4NDYtNjM5Yjc0YTY2M2Jj&hl=en

Questionnaire results for The Encore Show

Tea and Toast questionnaire results (read JPEGS from bottom)

Research into production techniques

Research into production techniques

Running Order
Running Orders are essential for a radio show as it shows the structure, content and timings of the programme. This document has cues and prompts for the presenters and production team that allows the show to run smoothly.

Playlist helps choose order of songs so two unsuitable songs aren’t played next to each other.

Script
A script is just a rough guide and safety net for radio shows. If a presenter was to stick a script then the show would sound too well rehearsed and would alienate the listeners.

Scripts have in and out lines that are given to the presenters and production team as cues so that they know when to play the next ident, soundbed, track etc.

Playlist
The playlist depends on the type of show and should reflect the audience’s music interests. Extensive playlist research is carried out to find out what music is up and coming and what a stations listeners want to listen to.

Radio 1 is very influential and is often the station that is looked to for playlist recommendation and therefore it is an important and lengthy job for the producers of the station.

Producers from different types of shows on Radio 1 are the playlist decision makers. This allows the playlist to reflect all different genres of music and brings diversity into Radio 1. At their weekly meeting the music is democratically discussed in regards to its existing popularity or relevance. Producers are able to suggest new songs that could go on the list but have to back up their opinion with research.

Record companies and promotional companies approach Radio 1 and try to get their song onto the playlist by explaining what previous promotion the song has had and why it deserves to be on the list.

The music at Radio 1 is kept up to date by carrying out research into existing playlist tracks. They ask a panel of 400 listeners between the age of 12 and 30 their opinion on 25 tracks and from this decide whether or not the track is still current or not.

After the weekly playlist is decided it is sent off to the record companies and put into the Radio 1 system. From here the tracks are put on rotation throughout the daytime programmes from 4am til 7pm.

Imaging
Imaging is idents, jingles and soundbeds for radio. Imaging livens up a stations sound and breaks up the music and chat. It also identifies a station and tells the listeners what station they are listening to.

Imaging can either be generic to a station or specific and it can also have continuity throughout a whole station or throughout an individual show. For example, on The Chris Moyles Show they have ‘Paul the voiceover guy’ voicing all their idents. The audience recognise and become familiar with his voice and therefore associate his voice with the show and know as soon as they hear his voice the ident is related to The Chris Moyles Show.

Radio 1 also has generic station imaging played throughout the day to remind the listeners what station they are listening to.

This is a vast difference to BBC Radio 4 that has very little imaging. As this station is targeting a completely different older audience, this suits them and creates formality.

Microphones
The radio room microphones are dynamic cardioid microphones so the presenter should speak into the pick up area of the microphone, which straight in front and not from the side. The radio room is fitted out with soundproof walls so absorbs the sound waves and reduces echo.


Bibliography
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/accessallareas/music/research.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/videos/accessallareas/video/091209_aaa_playlist

http://www.puretonic.com/radiobeds/

What is this musical? EDL and Log Sheet

Running Order for Tea and Toast

Includes script

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B5xAHiyoRdfxOTQyZmJlNzYtNjkwZC00ZDY0LWExOTktZTAwYzhiYjQ3NGE1&hl=en&authkey=CIyQ5c0B

Separate Know Your Lyrics script found on Millies blog.

http://milliemusicbasedprogramming.blogspot.com/2010/11/tea-and-toast-show-know-your-lyrics.html

Elaine Paige Research

Elaine Paige Research

We decided to do a radio show based on musicals as we felt that many college students, Stratcast’s listeners, are interested and entertained by musicals as the performing arts courses at college are very popular.

Elaine Paige on a Sunday is a two-hour show that is said to ‘put the cool back into musicals’. It is broadcasted on Sunday afternoons at 1pm on BBC Radio 2. Radio 2’s audience is all age groups over 35.

Paige is a known musical theatre performer and therefore knows a lot about the shows subject and this allows the audience to gain trust in what she is saying. She presents the show informally but suitably for the age group by saying a few jokes and anecdotes. She also laughs a lot which gives the show a casual feel.

She is in close proximity to the microphone and therefore creates a direct presentation approach that could make the audience feel as if they are being talked to personally. Another way she interacts with her audience is by responding to emails and texts that she has received.

In her links she talks a bit about the musical and a little bit about the actor, what he’s been in before. There are no soundbeds for her shows as this allows the listeners to concentrate on what Elaine Paige is saying. Also a few of the tracks played on the show are instrumentals. If the programme was to have soundbeds then listeners might get confused with what was a soundbed and what was an instrumental as the soundbed would be of a musical theatre style.

Most links she gives some information about the musical and the actors in the track. This gives the audience a small understanding for the musical and the person singing it. She also gives information about current musical shows that are on in the West End. This gives listeners extra content for the show as they can go visit a musical that most likely is included in the programme.

She plays musical tracks from all different types of musicals that are aimed at a range of audiences. Also, not just songs from the stage are played but also tracks from musical films such as High School Musical. This helps the diversity of the show as it could appeal to a different maybe slightly younger audience that watches these types of movies.

In our show we decided to take some aspects of Elaine Paige on Sunday and base out show on them. One such part was the absence of soundbeds as we feel that this creates a different and more formal feel to the show compared with previous shows we’ve produced.

Also we have decided to present our links in a similar way by giving information about the musical that the tracks we are playing are from.

Show features

Tea and Toast features

Prank call
This feature involves Adele or Sam being given 5 words that they have to fit into a phone conversation. This feature will be pre-recorded so that it can be edited so that it’s shorter and all content is suitable.

This feature is suitable for our audience because this age range find prank calls funny. This is proven by Scott Mills’ show on BBC Radio 1 as they have a similar feature (see bibliography) and our show is targeting a similar audience to this show and other Radio 1 daytime shows.

Know Your Lyrics
Know Your Lyrics is when one sentence of a song is said and then the contestants have to guess the next lyric. We choose to have the competitors making an animal noise when they want to make a guess, as this will add another humorous element to the game. We decided to get Millie to present this feature as then it’s different voice for the listeners and allows all three presenters to play along and therefore create more of a competition. We chose this feature as it allows the audience to play along. This feature is going to be live, as this will create a better competitive mood.

This feature is similar to the ‘Next Line’ round on Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Never Mind The Buzzcocks is repeated on the channel, Dave. Our audience is similar to the audience for this channel and show (16-34 year olds) and therefore we believe that our audience we be entertained by this feature.


The Encore Features

Interview with musical theatre student
We decided to take advantage of our college’s popular musical theatre course by interviewing a student and finding out what interests them about musical theatre, why they chose the course and what they plan to do after college.

We thought that this would appeal to our audience as it gives them an insight into how a performer might get a career in musical theatre.

Musical Reviews
The idea behind this feature was to give people who haven’t seen the musicals an insight into what they’re like and whether they’re worth seeing. We have created 3 pre-recorded musical reviews written by members of our production team.

We think that this idea will interest our audience as the songs from musicals entertain them and therefore hearing more about the musicals and what other people think of them would appeal to them too and might influence them to see the musical.

http://audioboo.fm/boos/211716-amys-musical-review

This link is an unedited version of Amy's review. For the final clip we will be editing out the pauses and putting a soundbed underneath the voice.

What Is This Musical?

This feature involves a few members of The Encore Show acting out a short scene from a well-known musical. This will then be uploaded onto the shows Facebook and YouTube page so that our audience can guess the answers. The audio from these clips will be played out on the show and then the answers will be revealed. We think the audience will be interested in this feature as it tests their musical knowledge.

The idea behind this feature is like all guessing games, to get the audience involved. It also gives us the chance of creating some cross media content for our Facebook and Youtube pages.

See one below. Others on our facebook page.

Bibliography

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7005061.stm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ_imV50tSc