Weekly Journal
Regular evaluation updates are required, as with every unit. Please
remember to take photos and get behind the scenes footage as you film.
You might find it easier if you note down a record of what you did each day
in a diary form.
Please use the following guidance to help you with each week.
Week 1
What have you been asked to do?
How has analysing other productions
helped you to understand the genre
better?
How will your understanding of codes and
conventions now help you to produce a
better production?
What did you learn from practising
recording Foley sounds? (Radio Drama
Only)
This week you worked on your research
As it is before the watershed, I need to
consider if everything I produce is
appropriate for daytime Radio and TV. I have
been asked to make a 15 minute per
episode radio drama for BBC Radio 4 for 16-
25 year olds. Comedy, action and fantasy
were voted the top 3 most popular genres for
this work so I will aim to have my work focus
on those topics. This week has been about
researching into radio dramas and what
audiences want to see from them so I can
decide how to approach making my own.
Because before this topic, I could have had
absolutely no knowledge on radio dramas
and such, so this has given me the
opportunity to learn the relevant things to be
able to do well in the course. So by looking at
other productions I can see what they do for
content using the 3 important parts (narration
(script), music and sound effects. These
come together to make the radio drama
come together.
Now I am familiar with the codes and
conventions, I can produce a better
production because I now understand foley
and have experience in it which will greatly
help me and I have an idea about what
expectations are and how achievable
certain sounds and scenes are when it
comes to foley- knowing what I can use to
mimic these effects.
That you don’t have to use exactly the same
item as the sound you are trying to create.
You can simulate it with common household
items that sound similar. Foley is not about
recreating sounds exactly, it’s about being

What did you learn when using Adobe
Audition? What skills do you need to
develop with this software?
How did researching your target audience
help you develop your idea?
Are you on track for this week? If not, how
far behind are you?
What work do you need to complete
outside of lessons to stay on track?
Week 2
What did you learn from your planning?
How has it helped you to progress your
idea?
creative and trying to get as close to the
sound as possible. Almost like ‘stretching the
truth’.
I have learnt how to put clips together and
trim them down. It seems like a pretty
straightforward software so far and I have not
had any issues with it as of yet.
Researching our target audience with vox
pops and surveys proved to be very helpful
as it gives an insight into what people want
to see and hear from our radio dramas. What
genres are most wanted and the complexity
of characters and story. It was a chance to
ask our viewers what they want to see so that
I know my work is relevant to the majority
vote. Vox pops were helpful because it shows
who exactly is giving us this information, and
being a recorded interview means that the
interviewee is more likely to elaborate on what
their point. Whereas if it was a written survey,
people usually tend to not write as much, more or
less because they can't be bothered. Vox pops put
people on the spot and they give more
information. However, an online survey is better
in other ways, because people will be more likely
to write their honest opinions as it is anonymous
and they take it in their own comfort, not in a
studio speaking into a camera. Surveys would
provide more accurate results but vox pops would
give more information to use. This is why it is
useful to use both to gather as much information
as possible.
Yes.
none
This week you worked on your planning
My planning helped me clearly outline what
the story for my radio drama is so I can build
the rest of my work off of that. It allowed me
to progress because I could see my work in
front of me and check to see if my story was
strong enough, long enough but short
enough and it was varied for dialogue,
narration and could easily have foley and
music added in.
How has your idea developed/changed
during the planning stage?
How did you ensure that your script was to
a high standard?
What issues did you have when planning
your production? How did you overcome
them?
What did you learn from the recording of
your Foley sounds?
My idea has been slightly changed to have JJ as
the narrator instead of just a voice. I think this is
better because it adds an insight to the story and
the storyteller has an emotional connection to the
story. It is also told by the narrator telling the story
to two people, one of whom is drunk, so they can
ask simple questions to help the listener to
understand and the sober person can provide an
alternative opinion or say that they had heard the
story another way which is much more effective.
I kept reading it back through to make sure
the dialogue sounded natural when spoken
and that it worked for American accents
(choice of words e.g. sidewalk). I made sure
that the language and structure was very
colloquial to make the listener believe that it
really is people in a bar having a
conversation or that these things really did
happen.
How to develop the story at a good pace
whilst sticking to the 5 minute limit, making
sure it’s long enough but not too long. I fixed
this by choosing to end on a cliff hanger so
that I don’t have to allow time for an entire
beginning, middle and end. This will allow me
to add more detail.
Upload images of you recording your Foley here
as well as on your page

How much work did you complete outside Character profiles (1 hour)
of the lessons?
Are you on track for this week? If not, how No
far behind are you?
What work do you need to complete I need to finish my script at home.
outside of lessons to stay on track?

Week 3 / 4 Production This week you worked on your production

What practical work have you
done and how helpful was your
earlier planning?
I have recorded foley sounds in and around my
house. I recorded by a busy road to get sound for my
busy freeway. I have also used the radio booth at
college which has proved to be very helpful when
recording conversations between characters. My
earlier planning helped me to keep on top of where I
needed to be with my work by when and where I
needed to go each day. (If I needed to help
someone else record or them help me)
How will this be useful as your
production process continues?
Upload your behind the scenes
photos and videos (explain what
they show)
What issues did you encounter
when recording and how did you
overcome them?
How well have you worked to
your production schedule?
Are you on track for this week? If
not, how far behind are you?
What work do you need to
complete outside of lessons to
stay on track?
High Grade Tips
This will be helpful because I will have goals to
complete each day to help me stay on top of my
work. And make sure I allow time to re-record
anything that does not work perfectly.
When I was recording outside of the radio booth (i.e.
at home using my phone microphone) there was a
noticeable hiss underneath the audio which affects
the quality of my work. I overcame this by recording
as much as I could in the recording booth and trying
to find spots in my house that had a lot less hiss like in
my cupboard where there were clothes to absorb
sound. This worked well.
I should have done more towards the beginning of
the week so that I could find time to re-record things
more easily and have more of an opportunity to edit
and test recordings before it was too close to the
deadline.
I need to finish up my rough edit and make sure
everything is up on my weebly site like my Jurassic
park clip and sound table.
Finish my rough edit and updater my Weebly page

Use screenshots to support your analysis – especially when comparing your work to other
pieces.

Considered and capable demonstration of processes – detailed documentation of your

production process – such as still images, and annotated screenshots of your specific
production and editing process – including ‘what’ and ‘why’ and not just ‘how’.

Specific – be specific! Don’t just say e.g. ‘the lighting was good’ – show us where the
lighting looked good and why you think that.

Final evaluation on whole unit This week you worked on your production

Comparison to researched I believe that my production is of a professional standard

productions because of the sound quality and I think that the audio clips
blend together well and aren’t too loud and sharp.

Production Strengths I believe the strengths of my production are how creative I

was with making my foley sounds for example, for the spray-
 paint sound, I used a deodorant can and closely sprayed it
onto brick outside my house. Through surveys I was told that
my production had a very clear storyline which was easy to
follow, also that it has a strong opening. Also that they
understand characters, the characters’ motives and what
they do. Feedback from teachers was extremely helpful to
remind me what I need to look at to be able to push myself
to that next grade. This included adding in more foley and
considering different kinds of sound effects and music.
Production weaknesses Weaknesses of my production included someone was
recording their lines too close to the mic, so their words
sound harsh and sharp and much louder than other
characters do. Also, the story loses structure towards the
end and becomes harder to follow along as there isn’t
much foley and dialogue is limited so it can be interpreted
quite vaguely. My recordings were not all completed in the
first couple of days so I had to work around gaps in my work
before recording the final bits of dialogue. I also I feel like I
rushed Chance’s lines is at quite a few points the accent
does not sound convincing and some points, voice actors
stutter or sound like they are reading from a script and it
does not sound fluent. My surveys told me that foley was “a
little too loud at one point because I can’t hear the main
character properly”. I will improve on this next time by
adjusting the volume controls more precisely on each clip
to make sure you can hear the more important things and
not just background noises.
Did you meet your goals? Although I struggled midweek and wasn’t sure if I would be
Why/why not? able to meet the final deadline, I pulled through without too
much stress and finished all in good time. My intentions for
the radio drama was for it to be an interesting and gripping
drama which I feel I put across well. I achieved my goals of
being able to tell my story 50/50 dialogue and foley.
However, I do not think it holds up consistently with being
interesting the whole way through the 5 minute piece. Next
time I will make sure that I spend more time on the script..
Self-evaluation As a practitioner I think that I worked well on this topic and
produced some effective work. Overall I am happy but
there are definitely areas I could improve on, starting with
being more organized with timings and re-recording actors’
lines if they stutter or struggle. Also thinking of more foley I
can record to add more to my radio drama as sound is so
important in this topic; especially background sound. In
terms of personal development I think I would work better
with constant feedback to help me improve and to have
another’s opinion so I will definitely ask for more next time. I
definitely need to spend more time on the writing and refer
back to writing techniques to make sure it stays on topic
and boosts my mark as much as possible.
High Grade Tips

Use screenshots to support your analysis – especially when comparing your work to other
pieces.
Considered and capable demonstration of processes – detailed documentation of your
production process – such as still images, and annotated screenshots of your specific
production and editing process – including ‘what’ and ‘why’ and not just ‘how’.

Specific – be specific! Don’t just say e.g. ‘the lighting was good’ – show us where the
lighting looked good and why you think that.