LO 1: Music Talk Show - Urban Expression

http://www.sheffieldlive.org/shows/urban-expression/

Area of research:	Notes:
Purpose	Urban Expression is a community radio show based in Sheffield featuring unsigned artists, shout outs, worldwide hip hop, underground hip hop, news/ rumors, old and new school artists.
Content	Urban Expression like any typical music talk show features a selection of tracks separated by periods of conversation. Listeners identify the program, likewise with other, more popular music talk shows via unique jingles and the content structure of the show. Urban Expression's Jingle is the voice of the presenter Jose, imitating a short clip from a typical rap. Due to Sheffield Live! being a community radio station, it can not run for profit and furthermore advertising and sponsorship on the channel is limited to account for less than half of its generated income. This means that adverts are played during peak listening times throughout the daytime and so are not heard throughout this program.
Genre	The tracks played on the show informs me that the genre of Urban Expression is present and past hip hop as well as related news updates on new album releases and upcoming artists. This plays influence to the contents of the cartwall, which the presenters use to select and order the tracks played on the show.
Target audience	The show targets local listeners with an interest in the underground rap and hip hop scene locally and nationwide. On the 30/09/14 broadcast, the presenter mentioned that they also had people tuning in from all over the world (USA, Africa, Uruguay and the North Pole).
Frequency	The show is broadcast live every Tuesday between 9 and 11 pm; although this is past the watershed, the show keeps explicit language to a minimum through song censorship in consideration of listeners who might take offense to certain words. This is important because the channel is community driven so the presenters must cater for the entire audience.       Sheffield Live! is a massively varied show with the intention of providing something for everyone; in total there are just short of 60 programs that have a weekly slot on the channel.
Production process	Music Talk Shows such as this require attention to all aspects of production; such as Cartwall and Play Server preparation prior to the show, sticking to a script and .  The show can be listened to on Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM between 9 and 11 pm on Tuesdays. 60 minutes after the broadcast, the show can be downloaded in podcast form from The Sheffield Live website.

LO 1: Ident - Travel Channel

Area of research:	Notes:
Purpose	·       The Travel Channel’s Idents give a unique brand to the channel and gives it’s audience a generalized introduction to the type of content they can expect to see.
Form & Style	·        An ident is a short sequence shown on television between programs to identify the channel. They generally consist of few or no spoken words as to focus on the impact from the visuals advertising the channel.
Content	The theme of these sequences are outdoor activities and sports. Niche Channel; wild sounds The audio that is juxtaposed with the visuals from the travel channels' ident are natural background sounds such as weather or the crashing of waves like in the 'Surf' Ident I have analysed.
Meaning	I think that these idents convey influence to its audience to 'get out' and experience what the world has to offer; giving a brief taste of that in the 10 second clips.
Genre	·       The content of these set of indents’ indicate that the Travel Channel features active, outdoor and ‘travel’ associated programs. This is denoted by the content of programs on the channel, such as Best of the Road which takes viewers on a road trip around the USA finding the most desirable places to visit.
Target audience	The viewer profile at the bottom of the page tells us a little about the demographic that accesses this channel and will have seen the channels' identification. The majority of their audience are middle aged adults; who may be looking for holiday destinations or places to visit with their family, from which the Travel Channel can provide information on.
Frequency	·       The Travel Channel Idents are played twice every ad break, which occur every 15 minutes and lasts for 10 seconds. This reinforces the brand to those who watch the channel, providing a familiar welcome to it's regular viewers.
Production process	This product focuses more on post production in order to the final product; video and sound editing software for example will be used to tweak any recorded content. This ident can be seen during any ad-break on the Travel Channel. Individual Idents can be seen on YouTube as well.

LO 1: Radio Drama - The Archers

Area of research:	Notes:
Purpose	·        The Archers Radio Drama is a regular show which entertains it's audience through a narrative resembling the daily life of country and farmer families.
Form & Style	·        The Archers is a fictional audial tale that may also pass as an audiobook. The show is a very conversational piece and formally performed, giving instant connotations of the type of demographic that tune in to listen to this broadcast.
Content	Listeners are introduced to the show with a popular classical theme tune, namely Barwick Green, instantly connoting a target audience of an older and upper class generation as we associate classical music with a more 'experienced' population. The conversation in the show tells me what the content denotes by analysing its dialogue and accent; the characters talk with received pronunciation, we associate this with a wealthy/posh person.There are also characters that speak with a strong 'farmer' accent, artificial 'wild sounds'
Meaning	This show intends to portray  a rural setting to it's listeners as they may be able to relate to it's lifelike rural narrative or want to be involved with the countryside if they are otherwise unable to access it. From which, this tells us that the Archers; audience may majorly consist of older people, who listen to the program for entertainment.
Genre	·        The Archers is a contemporary Drama, due to it's content being real situations and conversation that one may expect to hear from residents of rural settings.
Target audience	·       Over 5 million people tune into The Archers on BBC Radio 4 with another million accessing the show online, typically by an older audience. This is denoted by the RAJAR figures for BBC Radio 4, the channel that broadcasts this program.
Frequency	·       This soap opera runs for 12 minutes and is released 6 times per week. ·        This connotes and reinforces how popular this Radio Drama is , which has been running for over 53 years.
Production process	·       The Archers is an in-studio broadcast, all Background noises are in fact recorded live during the show called Foley Sounds. These can be for example horse's hooves clopping along road interpreted by coconut shells. ·       This program is pre-recorded and therefore depends heavily on pre-production due to the necessity of a set script. The Archers is broadcast every weekday as well as Saturday at 19:02 on BBC Radio 4; the show is also made available for catch up on the BBC Radio 4 website.

LO 1: Audiobook - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

Area of research:	Notes:
Form & Style.	The Mockingjay is an audiobook part of the Hunger Game Trilogy written by Suzanne Collins and narrated by Carolyn McCormick. The voice acting neutrally portrays the narrative, only making minor changes to her voice when speaking for a character. With this type of audio product, it is vital that words are pronounced clearly and with a clean accent so that the story understood by all its listeners.
Content	Within the initial 10 minutes of the book, without having any background knowledge of the hunger games story; it conveys the genre effectively
Genre	The  Hunger Games is a Dystopian Action thriller, which is thoroughly connoted by it's storyline;       The synopsis reads ' Katniss Everdeen has survived the hunger games twice, But she's still not safe. A revolution is unfolding, and everyone, it seems has had a hand in the carefully laid plans everyone except Katniss, And yet she must play the most vital part in the final battle. Katniss must become their Mockingjay
Frequency	Audiobooks are generally one version productions per language; due to the popularity of this franchise, they have made it available in the following languages:       German, Italian, French, Japanese and English
Production process	This audiobook is unabridged, meaning the entire story is compiled into one video. The recording of the narrators voice takes place within a studio, relying on well prepared pre-production. The recorded audio will have not been produced within one session but over many days to keep the narrators voice fresh and constant throughout the whole book, Afterwards, this audio along with other sounds such as the introductory music can be edited and stitched together using software such as Adobe Audition. This particular Audiobook has been made available for free listening via Youtube, but can also be purchased online for portable use via a digital book gadget.

LO 1: Podcast - Charlie Sloth's Slothpod

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/1xcharlie

Area of research:	Notes:
Purpose	·       Charlie Sloth’s Slothpod is essentially an entertainment and leisure slot with purpose of showcasing new music. ·       This specifically consists of informal chat and current grime music.
Form & Style	·       Slothpod is a pre-recorded Podcast, typically featuring extra content from the Radio 1Xtra Show hosted by Charlie Sloth. ·       Conversational elements on the show are informal.
Content	·       Music driven show; genres of which are played include Urban, Hip Hop, R&B, Drum and Bass, Dancehall and Garage Music. This is featured alongside with related talk and interviews from artists. For example the 5/9/14 Slothpod features the rappers Ty Dolla $ign, Ghetts and Stormzy.
Meaning	·       This production intends to get the party mood going for the weekend by showcasing brand new tracks and entertaining listeners.
Genre	·       The Slothpod is an Underground Grime Talk Show; this is connoted by the use of casual language and the types of music played.
Target audience	·       Typical Consumers are aged between 15 and 30 generally males as well. Its audience share totals 0.5%. {This is data from the Radio 1 Xtra, as specific data for the Slothpod is not available; however these figures will be very similar}
Frequency	·       Charlie Sloth’s Slothpod is a 30-60 minute podcast produced weekly for BBC Radio 1Xtra, released every Friday at 5pm. This is significant because it heralds the start of the weekend; it brings about anticipation for its listeners.
Production process	·       This podcast is produced during the Radio 1Xtra Show; commercially made and commissioned by the BBC. The show is recorded live, so the process of production relies heavily on preliminary materials such as Scripting and Cart Wall selection. ·       Listeners can ‘subscribe’ to the broadcast, by downloading the program from iTunes and Zune.

Lesson Review

17/09/14
Finished the Podcast analysis, finish other 4 audio products, decided on my chosen product

24/09/14
Continue to research  5 different types of audio products

29/09/14
Peer Assessment of Becky's work, Strengthen specific detail, embed audio product onto blog

8/10/14
Began and structured the Unit Report
Complete the research of the 7 audio products
Continue to work on the comparison for my report 

13/10/14
Continue to work on and fine tune report, specifically meaning
(Current Progress)
Finish by Wednesday

17/11/14
Completed content and purpose for Steel City Pod idea
Target audience and profile
Work on initial content ideas

19/11/14
Section 1 completed
Upload and finish summary document
Complete sections 2 and 3

26/11/14
Continue Section 3
Work on budget, content and resources by Monday

3/12/14
Completed Budget and Resources
Total Costing and Complete Alterations on report

5/1/15
Posted Production Materials to blog, Production plan and minutes
Worked on Steel Reel Presentation and Survey Draft

12/01/15
Added Manter to presentation
Applied bedding Music
Working on Script