Evaluation

 

After 6 weeks of production my final product has been produced and has been exported onto the major streaming platforms including Amazon Music and Spotify. In this evaluation I will assess how well my product has achieved its aim of inspiring more people to listen to history-based documentaries. The Warplane Chronicles was created for many reasons, but the main purpose of my radio documentary was to draw attention to the charities and trusts that are keeping vintage aircraft airworthy so that the next generation of aspiring pilots can see how we got from the Wright Flyer all the way to the modern F35B. My final product was successful and completed my objectives because I created an informative radio documentary about how the evolution of aircraft was affected by different wars these included WW1 and WW2, The Falkland War and the current Russo- Ukrainian war.

To create my final product, I used both primary and secondary research to complete my project, the aim of my research was to gain a wide and diver perspective on how to create a successful radio documentary as these types of documentaries are uncommon therefore, I had to dig deep to find knowledgeable and trustworthy sources. Beginning with Primary Research I first looked into how a successful feature/ radio show were created this was because I wanted to try and take different elements for my own documentary so it could be on the same level as a professional radio station. I investigated into one of the most popular stations this being Hits Radio, this station has many successful features however I focussed my attention on the production side of the show. I listened for a few breakfasts shows to try and gain an understanding of how I can edit my product this research impacted my product because it showed me, I needed to learn new editing techniques such as trimming and most importantly audio processing. Audio processing was mastered over the course of creating this project and what it does is allow me to regulate my microphone levels and filter out background noise therefore impacting my project and making it sound ultimately a lot better.

Another piece of research that really impacted my project was the historical research that I carried out, as my project is very history based, I needed to ensure that all the information I was providing was fact checked and therefore accurate for my listeners. For this research I carried out looking into various sources to find out different pieces of information which would lead on to being in my script later in production. The research I carried out for my Historical Research was primarily secondary research because I was looking into past articles and websites to gain a wider understanding of how each war impacted the evolution of flight, firstly I looked into articles I found on History.com that revealed information about the mechanical gear mechanism that allowed bullets to surpass a revolving propeller and by doing this research I was able to include this in my final product which again gives my audience an opportunity to learn something new that is accurate and compelling.

Finally, one of the most important pieces of research I carried out was my similar products research this included me looking deeper into how to actually make a radio documentary and what it takes to engage listeners with my final product. Unfortunately, due to the lack of actual radio documentaries I had to use well known BBC historical podcast to gain an idea of the structure of my product, I researched into three products that were like my initial idea, and I simply listened to them and made notes on how and why things were done. One of the podcasts I listened to was the Young Heroes podcast and I was particularly intrigued by this one because of its compelling storytelling narrative. The podcast focuses of describing how the Braile system that allowed blind people to see came about, the impact of listening to these products such as this podcast was it would provide a baseline to which I could build the foundations of my product on as a result my similar products research really helped me create my successful final product!

Overall, my research both primary and secondary impacted my work and by doing this research it allowed me to create The Warplane Chronicles. I would not have changed any of my research as it was vital that I gathered a diverse range of historical research as this was the primary source of my product.

I believe that my product was a success as it was created to educate people on the wars that happened in the past and how they influenced the way we see aircraft forever, technically my product was really well put together because I was able to be consistent with the way my audio sounded such as for all my interview and voiceovers I used the same microphone which was my Rode Wireless Go2s and this was because the audience would not be able to detect a change or dip in how the audio sounded. As well as this when creating my package I made sure when editing I was implementing the same layout for all my audio this meant when creating the product it was a lot simpler because I had each individual audio file named and all the relevant sound effect too so when I put it all into a multitrack session in Adobe Audition it was much simpler to create. The impact of this is that I was organised and managed my time wisely therefore once I had all my relevant audio files, I was ready to make each part of the documentary, and I wouldn’t have to be searching through my computer trying to find the necessary files.

As well as this my product not only sounded good because everything I downloaded was in as high of a quality as possible, but it also looked good this was done by creating creative but engaging cover art for both Spotify and Amazon Music. Each episode has its own cover art as well as a main logo for my documentary, the impact of this is it creates more of an appealing factor therefore more people may click upon my product. When creating my product and my cover art I constantly asked for peer and teacher feedback this was done because I wanted everything, I created to be of the highest standard I could and as close to a professional documentary that made be heard on BBC Sounds. In terms of improvements to my documentary I would have liked to of interviewed more people of different background however due to time restraints I wasn’t able to include more than a single interview per part.

The main strengths of my product are that I have created something that anyone who might love planes will enjoy however I have also received feedback that people who aren’t necessarily plane geeks really love my captivating narrative as each part of the documentary links to the next as a result I believe that I took my listeners on a journey through both time and discovery. During the creation of my FEP I researched into soft and hard skills that I may use upon production upon review I know that I have used all of them however some more than other for example collaboration is a soft skill and I had to use this a lot during the creation of my product, this involved me reaching out to potential interviewees and making sure when I was interviewing everything had already been set on and agreed upon such as questions. This good collaboration between me and my interviewees resulted in a better sounding product because the interviewees saw out interview as more of a chat over a typical asking lots of questions interview and I believe this worked better for my product. Another soft skill I implemented was empathy which really played a key role throughout my documentary as it means that I was using a tone during my documentary that was respectful to those who may no longer be with us. This is essential when doing documentaries on sensitive topics however you have to find a balance between sounding informative and respectful but not monotone and boring, I think I was successful with this due to feedback I have received.

On the other hand, I also used many hard skills such as sound design, this was one of the most important aspects that I learnt during the creation of my project, sound design means how can I use different sounds and songs to convey an emotion from my audience.  I used sound design to really pick the right songs and sound effects to immerse me listeners within my product I did this by carefully looking at my script and thinking about what the audience would feel in the scenario I talk about and then by matching a song under a voiceover for example it makes the whole piece come to life with emotion. The impact of this is that my audience will easily foster the information I am providing because it is presented in an engaging way. Another hard skill is leant and optimized within my product was script writing this was due to a script being the foundation of the entire product I was creating without a script there is no structure within balancing different pieces of audio. For an example my script not only had to be engaging but it had to be factually correct and accurate as much as possible, script writing impacted my product because without one I am unable to structure where things go within my product and therefore my running orders that were created in planning have nothing to adhere to. Over the course of this product I have revised and changed my scripts from being longer voiceovers to more concise information the impact of this is that my listener will not feel a sense of information overload and therefore take in what I am saying yet overall, I believe I executed my script writing well hence a well-rounded product.

During my creation of my FEP I did not face many problems or limitations and this was due to learning from last year that the hardest thing to get is interviews and managing time, this year as soon as my product was green lighted I began contacting interviewees before production started which gave me loads of time to gather the necessary resources such as questions and if I had a cancellation I could always change it without being on the last minute. However, in my proposal and pitch I did state that I wanted to include visual elements although I brough this in photos I did not do it as intended because I changed my idea from being more like a live radio show to a pre-recorded podcast as this would benefit my product better than a live show. I do not think this limitation hindered me because I did include photos of the creation of the project and evidence of where I had been, yet I think I chose the right path overall and created the best radio style documentary I could. The only problem I had was when recording sometimes you get a bit of static or background noise and before this project started I would have had to re record the whole thing however I have learnt during the creation of my documentary that I can filter out this noise by using equalisers and audio processing which overall makes my product sound much more appealing.

My FEP is linked to my future career path because I want to go into the radio industry and to do that I have to conquer these hurdles that I faced when creating larger audio packages, I believe by creating this product I have further refined how I can create an audio package that is appealing to not only plane lovers but also people who just enjoy leaning something new. My next step is hopefully heading into an apprenticeship with the BBC and the skills I have learnt from this project are transferable to any future audio package I may create. The final product has also taught me the fundamentals of creating engaging audio and the production/ editing techniques behind it.

I know that my FEP is unique as I stated before there are not many purely audio documentaries however I hope that I have redefined how you can use audio to create an emotion and most of all immerse my listener in what I have created, before I started this project I was told that only one other person had done a radio documentary style FEP which is a challenge as I had less of a foundation to base my product off yet I think I made it work and created my own foundations to what a great audio-only documentary sounds like.

Lastly to minimise disruption caused during my FEP I made sure to improve my time management from last year in my FMP, like I stated before the hardest part about these products is not only getting interviews but physically doing them as their as so many instances in industry where people get down to the day before the interview and cancel. I minimised all of this by simply having good time management and starting early where I could, I believe I got ahead of the game when it came to interviews hence why my product was so successfully created without setbacks. Another thing I also did to minimise disruption was also mentioned early on in my evaluation I used file management to my advantage this meant that I kept a folder for each part of the documentary and within that I had two other folders one being the music and sound effects files and the other being the voiceovers file. This small thing allowed me to create an episode of my documentary with ease and without any disruption.

In conclusion, I am happy with the product I have created because I achieved the outcomes I wanted to complete which were to change people’s minds about aviation and open their eyes to the skies and see how the aircraft we have now evolved from the Wright Flyers decades ago, I wanted to take my audience on a journey through time as though they can witness this evolution through the power of different sounds and songs. One skill I will definitely take forwards with me from this project is time management and organisation as without these I wouldn’t be able to create this project and meet the deadlines in which it had to meet as a result my product would have been not as thought out and seemed rushed but I was able to use my time wisely and create a product which really packed a punch!