Unit 39 Speech Package Production

Unit 39 Speech Package Production

Task 1 (P1, M1, D1)

Speech packages can be split into a variety of different genres and topics. Some of these include:

Lifestyle: For example, Fashion & Health

Business: Such as stocks & shares, mergers

Sport: reviews & results of games.

Consumer: Increase of prices on products, services

Current Affairs & News: Reports, Bulletins

Audience: National, International, Regional, Local

I have listened to three different speech packages and classified what I think the genres are, and the type of audience the producers are aiming to reach:

The Beijing Olympics speech package could be classed in both the sports and the news genre, as it is informing listeners about what is happening currently, whilst being on the subject of sports. This podcast is intended to reach an international audience as the Olympics is a global event that many people like to watch and hear about.

The second podcast I listened to is an informative piece which is categorized in the business genre, discussing the company 'Dell'. The audience reach would be national for all people who are interested in business, however it is only aimed at a specific audience- not everyone will find it interesting.

The next podcast was in the sports genre, as it was informing listeners of all the latest sports news. The audience reach would be national because it is a popular topic with a big audience.

Task 2 (P1, M1, D1)

On the radio, different topics have alternate genre's and target audiences depending on what the show is about and how many people it is aiming to reach. To give examples of the variety of topics on the radio, i am going to analyse some shows that have been aired.

The Olympics 2012 would be a sports orientated genre, and I think that the target audience for this show would be quite a wide range of people- from teenagers to older adults around Britain, as the Olympics is a global event that a lot of people watch. On the other hand, the 'Alcohol Price Rise' topic would be more suitable for an adult audience- as the age limit for alcohol drinking is 18, and additionally, this could be aired around the UK as it applies to all people that drink. The genre of this show is news, as it would be classed as quite an important subject to be informed about and taken seriously. The 'Asda- Where do they stand in the supermarket league tables?' topic would also be in the news genre, as it is informing listeners of how good the supermarket is, therefore people are going to want to know whether to shop there or not. The target audience would also be an adult audience- from late 20's onwards, as i think that these people are more likely to shop more often due to families etc. Additionally, due to Asda being a well known company, the reach of the show could be around the UK, because most people know what it is. The 'West Leeds council owned gyms- comparisons to national gym chains' article would be likely to reach an audience in the local area, as it would not apply to people that aren't from around Leeds. The genre of the piece is sports, and the target audience would be people who enjoy the gym- from teenagers onwards. Like this topic, the 'Leeds UTD- History, administration, what's been happening lately' issue is also a sports genre, but aimed at an audience from children onwards- as some children love football. This piece should be aired around Yorkshire because Leeds United is one of the main football teams for this area- therefore people from the region are more likely to want to hear about it than people from down south, etc. My last example is; 'Smoking Ban- Have the pubs and clubs suffered? What else has the ban affected?' this issue would definitely be aimed at an older, adult audience because of the age limit on Smoking- children wouldn't understand. This topic would reach around the UK, as the ban is applied everywhere, so everyone who smokes would want to know about it. The genre of this would be news, as it is informative of that current affairs.

Task 3 (P1, M1, D1)

The topic for my speech package is going to be on 'How music influences today's youth'. The primary target audience for my product is teenagers from age 15+ and the secondary target audience is adults. I think that teenagers would be able to relate to the topic better, which is why they are my primary target, whilst adults would also be interested in listening too because they may have children themselves- so they would gain a better understanding on the music their children listen to, and how the media claim it affects them. The genre for my piece will be a mixture of Music and News, as it is informative of the way music is blamed for the way teenagers behave.

Task 4 (P1, M1, D1)

I listened to a BBC Radio 6 podcast based on music news:

Straight away, a jingle introducing the show is played using a range of different voices, both with high and low pitched voices. This is giving variation to the piece, connoting that it is aimed towards a wide variety of listeners. The texture of the main producers and interviewers are smooth, making the podcast sound professional and genuine. The tone used throughout is an upbeat, fast paced range of voices, making the podcast run quicker whilst the listener is getting all of the information announced with ease.

The presenters both use different microphone techniques- mostly sibilance when pronouncing the words. This makes the sentences better pronounced, ensuring that the listener can hear clearly what is being said. Additionally, it makes the podcast suitable to reach a broader audience as the pronunciation means that anyone can understand.

There is a jingle before the 'voice', which includes an announcer explaining what the pocast is about. The atmosphere that is heard with the voice is quite electro, which could connote the type of music that is going to be discussed on the show. It also gives a more modern and futuristic tone to the show, which suggests that it is aimed towards a younger generation of listeners- from teenagers to adults. Each voice has its own space, which makes the piece sound better planned and more informative. Furthermore, this approach disallows any confusions about what is going on whilst listening.

Task 5 (P1, M1, D1)

I listened to a speech package called 'Free speech radio news', to find out how they put their interviews together. First, the commentator was informing people of the latest news live in the studio, until she announced the first interviewer, who was a pre-recorded interview in a studio. When the interview has ended, the commentator then explains more of the news which then she links into another pre-recorded interview from a studio. The next interviews are immediately introduced and have been pre recorded live from a location, over a telephone. The commentator then introduces the next interview which has also been pre-recorded live in a studio. The reason that most of the interviews were recorded in a studio is because the news is a serious topic, therefore better quality sound is needed for the listeners to make out what is being said without difficulty. the telephone interview from the location discussed gives the listeners an inside account of the events.

Task 6 (P1, M1, D1)

For the genre i have chosen- News/ Music, the usual things to be included will be some interviews, a backing track to set the mood of the piece and some Vox Pops, to make the piece appeal more to the listeners.

I will need a variety of different sources to produce my chosen speech package on 'The way music influences today's youth'. One of the main things I need to find is people to interview about the topic. The type of people I aim to interview are primarily teenagers who each prefer a different genre of music. My reason for this is that they can individually talk about the ways in which their preferred music has influenced their lifestyle- or if they think it has at all. I will also interview someone who has experience in the music business to find out their opinion on the effect of music on today's youth- how it affects their dress, their attitude etc.

I will use Vox Pops to open the topic; this will involve a variety of people shouting out their favourite music genre's. This will give an idea of the subject of the piece, but won't give too much away- keeping people listening until the topic is introduced. Furthermore, I will record another Vox Pop of teenagers shouting their favourite bands out, and this will be used during the piece to give examples of the wide range of music that is available in today's society.

My speech package will be recorded in different places. Whilst interviewing the teenagers, I will be using voice recorders because finding these people and recording them where they are would save time and be easier than bringing them into the studio. However, the main part of the speech package and the interview with a person from the music business will be in a studio, as recording there will give a better quality audio and make the piece sound more professional.

The interviews won't be as- live, because to get all of the teenagers in at the same time would cause more difficulty, and make the piece seem more planned out- the answers won't be as spontaneous.

Task 7 (P2, M2, D2)

Radio 4 is a BBC radio station that broadcasts nationally around the UK, primarily targeting an adult audience between the ages of 20- 60 and above. The radio station covers a variety of genres, including the news, radio dramas and politics. The station broadcasts in a variety of ways- both analogue, digital and on the internet through both the live BBC iPlayer, and podcasts. This use of different broadcasting formats makes the shows easily accessible for a variety of different people to listen wherever they are. The speech packages on this station are a main feature, as BBc 4 is 100% speech. The types in which the speech packages are formatted include entertainment, comedy and news programmes.

Task 8 (P2, M2, D2)

My speech package treatment:

Genre: Music/ News

Target Audience: Teenagers from 15+ to Adults

Format: Informational

Social Positions of Target Audience: C2- E (Working Class) I think that the working class and students are more likely to listen to this topic because the jobs they have are generally more involved with communicating with different people everyday- for example, working in a shop or going to college.

Date:

Duration: 3-4 minutes- this will include the interviews and information on why I think that music is influencing today's youth, and whether it is a good or bad thing.

Voices: Presenter, Teenagers (Interviewees)

Actuality/ Ambience: Studio recorded presenters- better quality, live recordings of teenagers- sounds more spontaneous and real; random teenagers have been picked to give their opinion.

Music: Different genres of music- rock, dance, indie etc to give different examples of the styles that teenagers are listening to and influencing them.

Sound FX: Voices of teenagers shouting their favourite genres to listen to at the start to give the listener a primary idea of what the speech package is going to be about. Vox pops of more teenagers shouting their favourite artists during the piece to show how diverse the youth of today are.

Additional Notes:

My speech package on 'How music influences the youth of today' is going to be an informational piece, but spoken in a casual, informal tone to show the type of audience it is trying to reach. Additionally, this will help listeners gain a sense of personal identity. For example, the people who are being interviewed will speak in their own dialect to help the listeners realise this is a community piece.

Task 9 (P3, M3, D3)

In many ways rock music is a positive. It encourages expression of ideas and helps to give a common area of interest to teens. Although it is often blamed for youth problems, the truth is that these problems were around for millennia before Elvis picked up a microphone. Being in a band encourages hard work and discipline because writing songs, and learning to play instruments well is not easy. In today's America, there is a safe barrier around the teen years, so rebellion against society has to be very extreme, and that is hard to do today.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090105094910AA3lRuK

By 1995, only 10 of the 40 most popular CDs were free of profanity or lyrics dealing with drugs, violence and sex.

The American Medical Association asserts, ”The vivid depiction of drug and alcohol use, suicide, violence, demonology, sexual exploitation, racism and bigotry could be harmful to some people.“

”The National Education Association estimates that many of the 5000 teenage suicides each year are linked to depression fueled by fatalistic music and lyrics.

A 1994 University of Michigan study concluded that ”glamorization in the music industry has been an important determinant“ of increased drug use by teenagers.

Dr. Joseph Steussy, professor of music history at the University of Texas, confirms that music affects behavior, psychologically and physiologically.

Child psychologist Dr. David Elkind states that ”music can influence young people as much as any visual media.“ Teenagers rate music ahead of religion, books and television as factors that greatly influence their generation.

Task 10 (P3, M3, D3)

Health And Safety Paperwork:

Task 11 (P3,M3,D3) Speech Package- Does music affect teenagers?

Task 12: Evaluation

Purpose: My original aim in this unit was to create a speech package about whether music was affecting teenagers in a positive or negative way, and to give different reasons for a debate. I think I did achieve my original purpose- I managed to find different people to interview about their own views on music- these were in the teenage category, so their thoughts were genuine. I also did research for expert opinions on the effects of music and what it could be doing. I think teenagers would listen to this speech package, as music is a big part of society, and something they could give their own opinions on.

Audience: From some audience feedback of my primary target audience (which was teenagers), they took the preferred reading of the speech package; it allowed them to debate whether they thought music was influencing them- and whether it was a good or a bad thing. They liked the use of the different vox pops naming various artists, as it drew them into the topic, because they could identify with some of the names mentioned. The audience also liked the music beds, and different clips from songs I used because it gave the speech package more variation.

Representation Issues: I gave both positive and negative messages to balance the debate; giving more room for the listeners to decide which opinions they agreed with. The voices in the speech package included both genders, to keep equality and to show that the debate involved everyone- just as music is for everyone. I used both a rock & a pop music track to keep the piece feeling modern & youthful. The language used in the speech package was all said with a yorkshire dialect, and was quite informal- something the listeners from the area could relate to, as if a conversation was being held between the interviewers & students. I think in a professional product, interviews and research would have also been included, as well as the music beds, however the technical aspects like the sound levels would have been of a higher quality, due to more hi tech equipment & editing.

Technical Issues: The voice levels were fine, sometimes the speech sounded a little quiet, but most of this was adjusted in Audacity, or the music bed was quietened more to make the speakers stand out. The microphone work was fine, at first it was quiet- but again, I used Audacity to solve this problem and the levels were fine. I think there was enough variety to keep the audience interested- I included vox pops, clips of different songs during speech etc, so that the listeners got a better idea of what the debate was about. I used multi track editing to give the piece more variation- fitting in with the idea that there is different music to suit everyones taste.

Self Evaluation: I think my strengths in this task were the editing; it improved as I got used to using Garageband, and found out how to add effects to the voiceovers, to make them sound clearer and more professional.