Month: May 2017

Being a part of the Room with a View class this semester has definitely been an experience like no other. I chose Room with a View as it sounded like a very unique class, and it has certainly lived up to my expectations. Radio has never been something that I have considered doing, so I was interested in gaining some experience in a very new field. After our first class, I will admit that I was feeling

very daunted by the upcoming semester in RWAV. Many people in the class had had at least some experience with live to air radio, and many listened avidly to 3RRR. I felt very behind, as I knew very little about the station, and what was actually involved in creating a real, live to air program.

I consider myself very lucky to have been put in a group with the people I ended up with. Our group had a very mixed amount of experience and expertise that made it easy for us to evenly complete all of our tasks. Our group was very well balanced and we therefore shared the workload of each task very well amongst each other.

Our first major assessment was our demo show and annotation. It was the first time that our group worked together, and I felt as though it was very successful. We were able to put together a well thought out demo with the resources we had, and the little mistakes and challenges we faced throughout the recording, such as issues with music where we were forced to improvise, helped us to prepare well for our first show.  (For a deeper look at our demo show, follow the link: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/jessica-else/2017/03/31/demo-week/)

Our first show went relatively well as well, and I am proud of what we put to air. While we did have some challenges with the sponsorship announcements, we were able to overcome them to produce a well-rounded show. If we could go back, I would like to of used two live interviews, rather than just the one, however, considering our show being in between a number of public holidays, our options were quite limited. (For a more thorough reflection, follow the link: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/jessica-else/2017/04/28/group-2-rwav-live-round-1/)

This balance was clearly displayed once more when completing our final feature assignment, which I am very proud of. The topic of “fast-fashion” was a very interesting one, and one that our group was able to explore at a level that wasn’t too heavy, but did give enough information about the topic. We completed the research phase together, then split up the tasks to ensure our interviews and vox pops were completed, our script and narration contained the correct information, and the feature was well edited. Overall, I am happy with the quality of the work produced and the way that our feature was constructed as a whole, with our interviews, narration and found sounds to create a well-rounded feature. I am a little concerned that our narration does come across as too bias at some points, and that we do discuss some very heavy, and at time un-engaging information in the piece, however, I am thrilled with what we produced. One other issue I feel as though came up during our creation of the feature was that, while we all did contribute well to the feature, our roles were much less set out, meaning that our process did feel a little less clean and prepared as usual. (For more on this, follow the link: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/jessica-else/2017/05/24/fast-fashion-faux-pas-feature-review/)

Through my completion of the Room with a View course, I have learnt a number of things. I have been lucky enough to gain real radio experience, something that nothing else can really measure up to. I have been lucky enough to see how a real station runs, and all that is involved in getting a show together. Because I got the chance to present and produce on our two shows, I have gained a lot of knowledge on how a radio program is made from start to finish. I enjoyed watching our group go from the initial planning stages of the show, right through to hearing the show go live to air.

Aside from this, I feel as through my interview skills have developed a lot. We spoke quite a bit in class about how to complete an interview, and in particular those that are sound oriented. Prior to this class, I had completed a few interviews, however most of these were for written responses. Through this class I learnt how to complete interviews that are broadcast quality. I feel as though my interview skills developed not only from the class, but throughout its duration. Listening back to the original interview assignment I completed, it is clear to see the difference when compared to the one I completed live to air on our first show, and later over the phone for our feature assignment. (For a deeper look at my individual interview, follow the link:http://www.mediafactory.org.au/jessica-else/2017/04/24/the-interview/)

Because I have had to complete interviews with people I have never met, and talk over a live broadcast, I feel as though my overall confidence has grown. I feel as through, through the course, I pushed myself to move out of my comfort zone, particularly when concerning our shows on Room with a View. I’ve never considered myself someone who would be involved in radio, so actually putting together a show and presenting live to air was a big leap for me personally.

While I am happy overall with my performance throughout the class, there were definitely some things that I could have improved on. When putting my personal interview together, I wish I had pushed to get some more broad answers from my subject, and steer the conversation around. I feel as through I remembered this when going into my live to air interview, and my interview with Jane Milburn for our feature, and was able to create two much better interviews

I also wish I had spent some more time learning how to use the panel at 3RRR. I wasn’t as interested in panelling one of our shows as I was to complete some of the other roles, such as presenting or producing. However, it would have been good to spend some more time even just having a bit more of a practise and gaining a feel for the panel.

We still have our second show to come very shortly, and I am very excited to see how we do the second time around, with different roles, and with more experience.

I am hoping to put my hand up to complete some more Room with a View shows in the future, where I hope to extend my knowledge of live to air radio, and potentially have a go at panelling, as well as presenting once more. I have enjoyed learning a new skill set, and delving into something as new and unique as Room with a View has been for me!

For our two live to air shows, Group 3 has attempted to engage as much as possible with social media, and ensure that Room With a View listeners are able to access extra information about the show.

For both shows we attempted to provide information on what was going to be occurring on the show, and then Tweeting to followers throughout the show so they could see actually what was happening during the live to air show

Provided in this post are some of our various social media posts from the 3RRR website and the Room with a View Twitter account.

More posts can be found on the 3RRR website and the @rwavRRR social media Twitter account

 

 

 

Our final assignment for Room with a View has been completed: our feature. It’s strange to think we have made it to the end of the semester, and I am proud of everything that group 3 has been able to achieve together.

Our group decided to focus on the fast-fashion revolution, and look at sustainability issues with clothing, asking the question, where do our clothes end up? We did some research and found some very interesting results: our clothes that we discard or donate are actually causing major problems. We felt that there was, and still is, very little information circling about the bad effects of purchasing and then disposing of clothes. I myself knew very little about this issue, and was looking forward to exploring this more and teaching others about the issue.

We completed a great deal of research together, and from this, worked out a script that we felt covered all the necessary information. Once this was done, some group members (myself included), completed some interviews to use in the piece, mine being with Jane Milburn of Textile Beat. She gave me some great information about how her organisation is trying to help combat the issues surrounding clothing and sustainability. I enjoyed our chat, and came away with some good information that we were able to use in our final cut. I also headed down to 3RRR with half of the group to record our script, which we ended up recording twice to ensure we had a mix of tones. From there, the feature was taken out of my hands as I have very limited experience with editing and did not feel confident enough to help with the process. One of our group members in particular helped to create a rough cut that was already sounding great. From our in class feedback, as well as our own personal notes, we recorded some extra pieces to the script, some vox pops, and used some more found sounds to tidy up the piece and finish it off.

I am pretty happy with how the piece turned out. I feel as though we shared the right amount of information with the listeners of the feature about the issue. I felt as though our interviews, vox pops and found sounds each added unique elements to the piece, to help lift it from being a potentially boring topic to being interesting and easier to listen to. I felt that our group dynamic was strong as always, and was a big help in ensuring we got all of the work done, especially when considering that our second show is going to air on the same day that the feature is due.

Of course, our group did face some challenges. When completing our demo and live to air shows, the roles we were taking on were very clear. Each person knew exactly what they had to do and by which date. With the feature, however, despite the fact that we did delegate certain things to certain people, the work we needed done by certain dates was often unclear or was simply not getting completed in time. We did still manage to get all of the work done at a pretty good pace, with each member contributing something to the final project. Having very clear roles is important in any project, and we probably should of outlined those better from the beginning.

Aside from this, I am also a little concerned that our piece does have a little bias, particularly within the narration. We have tried to pan this out through the use of vox pops, to show the other side of the issue. However, I am a little concerned our piece is not as objective as we had of hoped, and focuses more on the bad effects of purchasing and donating clothing.

It has been great to see the way that our piece has translated into the finished product. It is amazing to think that, only a couple of weeks ago, all we had was some poorly completed research and a half put together script. I’m very impressed overall with how the feature has turned out, and am extremely thankful for the group members who were able to use all of the bits and pieces we had, and edit them into something that sounds like a real-life radio segment. Group 3 has had a number of achievements together, and this one definitely is one of the best! We will be putting our feature to air on our second show on the 29th of May, and am excited to have many others hear and learn about the issue.

Our recent point of focus for Room with a View has been our final assessment: Our Feature.

My group has decided to take on an interesting focus for our feature, the fast-fashion industry. Prior to our initial research, I really knew very little about this issue, and was a little daunted to know we were going to create a whole feature on the issue. However, after that initial research, I became very invested in the issue, and am excited at the prospect of teaching others things they may not know.

On Monday, I completed an interview with Jane Milburn. Jane herself is very invested in the issue and the solution to that issue. She runs an organisation called Textile Beat, that aims to educate others, not just about the issue, but about the different things they can be doing to help with it. I honestly really enjoyed our conversation, and felt as though I took a lot away from what she said. I particularly enjoyed the second half of the interview, when I had actually asked all of my questions and Jane and I simply began to have a conversation. It was clear to see that she is very educated about the issue, and has a lot to teach people like me, who know very little about the issue, and have not been educated about it before. She definitely did provide a number of things that we will be able to work into our feature, that will help to build our narration.

In terms of where the group is with the feature, there is still a lot of work to do, however we are making progress. We almost have two solid interviews, and our script is on its way to being complete. In a couple of days we will be recording the narration so that we can begin to edit, and add some more potential interesting sounds and various other elements to ensure that our piece is engaging, despite the hard issue it is covering.

Going forward its important to keep in mind how to keep our piece informative and interesting, while also ensuring we get our second Room with a View show ready to go to air. If we can equally work on these things and get them completed, our Room with a View unit will be completed!!