Evaluation of first Semester

Since beginning the course in October, I had always been a little bit wary towards the idea of doing a whole semester of mainly sound related modules. I have always preferred working with video so the fact that we haven't had the chance to touch a camera yet has been a little frustrating for me. That said, whilst not too enthusiastic to begin with I soon started to appreciate doing the various sound assignments and even found it quite interesting learning about different aspects of sound. Too my surprise, the last few month's without a camera have been rather good fun and despite earlier lack's in enthusiasm I actually enjoyed it. With my first semester coming to a close, its time to evaluate the things I am most proud of doing in these first few months as well as the things I believe I could have done better within each module.

Throughout this blog there shall be a selection of links (marked red) that will refer to previous posts looking at separate parts of the course in more detail. These can be considered part of my evaluation and therefore saves me from repeating previous blogs within this one.



BC1001 Introduction to Broadcast Media: Roles and Processes

Out of the three modules we've done since beginning in October, BC1001 was probably my least favourite. Whilst I didn't mind doing the portfolio and particularly liked editing for it, it was in fact doing this blog (or 'reflective learning diary') that I wasn't too keen on. Having been on the BTEC Media Production course before this I already had learnt (and written about) a lot of what the blog seemed to require and whilst a previous knowledge was helpful It was rather tedious researching and typing about it all again. Nevertheless, I could understand why it was needed and tried to refrain from moaning about it, although I am concerned that my lack of enthusiasm may have shown occasionally. I also feel that this could have been because I may have had trouble adjusting to doing written work in this way, having written work in an essay format since being at School.

Usually I am rather organised and on top of thing's, however with the blogs I somehow managed to lose track and they always seemed to be put of until last. With work from the other modules as well as doing stuff outside of college (my job etc.) doing blogs became less of a priority when really it is a lot more important than I had believed it to be. In consideration looking back at all the time I've had I now realise it would have been a lot simpler had I just worked on little bit's after every lesson instead of rushing to get it done in the last few weeks. It has also come to my attention that I'm a bit too much of a perfectionist and when it comes to writing these blogs I tend to write a lot more than originally intended.

A few other things I believe I could do with improving are my vox pops and presentation skills, both in which rely heavily on my confidence. vox pops especially I find particularly hard and have had a fair few troubles over the last few months recording them. When we first started the course one of the first things we were told to do was to collect a selection of vox pops from around the college. I quickly learnt that making contact with people I don't know is something I find very hard to do, and over the course of the few weeks it didn't seem to get a great deal better. My confidence and learning how to approach people (for vox pops etc.) are both thing's i need to work on in the future as I believe they will both be required of me later on in life, especially working within the media industry.

Other than those few problems and the Blog, I did rather enjoy collecting and editing the rest of my research portfolio and feel that it all came together rather nicely in the end. I also believe that whilst it may have been a little rushed, this blog also shaped up pretty well...although I shall leave you to be the judge of that.

BC1002 Introduction to Sound

My Soundscape Evaluation is borrowed (but not completely copied) from my critical commentary.

BC1002 was probably my favourite of all the modules so far, as it involved a great deal of editing and the only bit of paperwork required for it was an 'essay' style critical commentary which i appreciated more as apposed to the blogs in BC1001. I was intrigued in the idea of a soundscape and found it really interesting learning about them, although above all my main interest was in the timed edits (including interviews) that i really had fun working on.

At the beginning of the Soundscape project, I didn’t have a great understanding of what they were and from the information I had gathered in class I wasn’t too convinced that there was a point in them at all. Because of this I didn’t begin my Soundscape with much enthusiasm, and instead chose to research the history behind it in a bid to become more involved in the project.

This definitely sparked my interest in the subject although perhaps all a little too late as I had already chosen my Soundscape’s theme and began recording. This theme was set around a typical bookstore during a busy Christmas time and since I worked in this particular bookstore during the weekends I originally thought that I could be inspired by my own experience of knowing what it sounds like there. I was wrong and I believe fairly lazy in making this decision as it was in fact very dull and gave way for little use of my imagination.

I believe my technical skills throughout the few days I recorded there were fairly adequate. I was able to use the FOSTEX equipment with great ease as I had been using it quite prominently throughout other modules of the course anyway and had grasped the controls and set up procedure quite well by then. I had been quite used to editing sound as well, but due to the many sounds I had recorded throughout the store it was rather complicated trying to arrange them in a way that sounded appealing and noticeable. Whilst quite tricky, I did manage to get it finished and I believe I did rather well in completing the Soundscape I had aimed for.

Admittedly, whilst happy I had accomplished and completed this Soundscape, Its fair to say that I definitely wasn’t satisfied with my efforts. After hearing the Soundscape’s created by some of my friends in class and one in particular which was very clever and rather abstract, I realised the potential of what I could have done myself. I believe that had I put my mind to it, I could have used my imagination a lot more and could therefore have made something that I could have been a lot happier with in the end.

BC1003 Group Audio Project

My Group Project evaluation uses a slightly refined version of the evaluation i handed in with the BC1003 work folder.

For the BC1003 Audio Project we were required to work as a team to create and produce a radio programme. The radio project was required to be 4-5 minutes long and involved assembling a production portfolio as well as a project pitch in front of a panel. The team consisted of the whole class, which consists of me, Dean, Monish and Rich. To begin with I was rather enthusiastic about this project, however whilst I did enjoy working with the other guys on the course its fair to say I was probably a little more involved with the other modules than I was this one. That said, I did want to get good grades within the module and wasn't willing to let the team down.

For the subject of our radio programme we had chosen Deans idea of Christmas which I was happy with, but when it came to narrowing it down into a smaller five minute feature it was rather complicated for us and we couldn’t quite figure out how to do it. It’s fair in saying that whilst I did my fair share of research and had a little creative input, it was the rest of the group and particularly Dean that was the main creative force in the planning stages. We managed to reduce the broad idea of Christmas to a more confined question of ‘how has the current recession affected people at Christmas and will it change their moral beliefs’.

After some deffinate troubles with the team pitch, we realised we still hadn’t allocated any job roles to each other for our project. For the team leader role it seemed obvious that it had to go to Dean, since it was quite clear he had the best idea what the final project should be like. Whilst I was a tad reluctant at first it soon became clear to me also that electing him as producer was the right thing to do and probably the best decision we made whilst doing the project. The rest of us along with Dean decided that we would share the rest of the job roles, and therefore would do most of the paperwork, research, recording and editing together.

To complete our show we needed some interviews and ‘vox-pops’ to accompany the presenters, who by this time had been allocated as Dean and me. Originally, we had planned to use none other than ex Star FM host Ian Downs as our presenter, although unfortunately he became unavailable during the time we were recording and Dean and I opted to do it instead. With the presenters bits firmly in place and edited it was time we got some interviews and vox-pops recorded.

Whilst I attempted to find the business people for our interview, Monish began researching for someone who could provide us with a religious view on Christmas and the Recession. Due to the events of our first pitch and following the advice we were given I had already e-mailed and phoned our local Chamber of Commerce as well as our local council in hope for an in-depth interview with them. Disappointingly the council never replied and the Chamber of Commerce did reply but too late, as we already completed our show. Instead we were forced to use our original idea of some local business in the town centre and due to my work and family connections I managed to get the boss’ of both BHSWH Smiths. Both the interviews seemed to go without a hitch and since I was quite familiar with both the people I was interviewing, my confidence issues weren’t much of a problem. When it came to doing the vox-pops however, I’m ashamed to say I did lack the confidence and more shamefully let my friend Monish do most of the work. It didn’t seem fair but he seemed okay with doing it and thankfully so, we were all very appreciative that he did. and

When it was time to edit, Monish, Rich and me all had a lot of editing to do on other projects where as Dean was quite up to date with all of his work. We agreed that he would begin editing and we would all take it in turns when we were finished with our own projects. After I had completed my editing, Dean had gotten quite far along with the programme and played it out to us. He had done a good job and a lot of editing, although we all agreed it needed a bit of tidying up. Since he'd become rather protective of his work, I assured him I would only ‘tweak’ little bits of his editing although the reality of it was I was actually a little scared to do anything in case I’d ruin it. I powered on however, did my tweaking and added the music and after an hour or so handed the editing duties to Monish.

With the programme finished I was quite proud with the result and as far as I’m aware the rest of the group were too. We had managed to create a five minute programme, an achievement in itself considering half way through the editing process we were coming close to a ten minute programme. It sounded informative, interesting and festive and we’d even unintentionally given it a slightly humorous touch which added some entertainment value (although we seem to be the only one's that find it funny!). Whilst it may not necessarily be what we had on paper at the beginning of the project, it had still achieved its purpose.