Unit 39 - Speech Package Production

Speech Package Production

Task 1 (P1, M1, D1)

Speech package analysis

The first speech package is talking about the 2008 Olympics. This is blatantly categorized in the sports genre as the Olympics is an international Sporting event. The fact that it is an international sporting event brings me onto my next point which is the audience reach will be international.

The second is on the subject of business, so it is obviously in the business genre. The main subject of the show is on Dell computers, which are a million dollar company, so the audience reach will again be international.

Lastly, the next podcast is the ‘5 Live Football Daily’ show. Taking into account the content and name of the show, I can safely say that this podcast is a sport based program. As the show is specifically talking about the premiership, which is the biggest national football league, I would say that the audience reach is national. Although, the premiership is followed by not just our region but all over the world. So, the audience reach may be international.

Task 2 (P1, M1, D1)

Radio Audience

There all literally thousands, perhaps millions of topics that are discussed on the radio. Ranging from sports to lifestyle, there is something on the radio for everyone. The 2012 Olympics for example would be a sports based program with a very wide audience reach. Considering that the Olympics is a very famous and well publicized event the audience reach would be international as people from all over the world will want to hear about it. The actual target audience would be again very wide, ranging from sports enthusiasts to Olympic hopefuls.

Another topic, the Alcohol price rise, is a very important issue, but maybe not as ‘big’ as the Olympics. Also, alcohol safety is not as much as a problem in other parts of the world as it is here in Britain, so the audience reach may only be national. The price rise will affect many people so the target audience will be ranging from teenagers (as these are the people at the biggest risk) too adults. This topic would come under the consumer genre.

The ASDA supermarket chain is a massive company, so the topic about where they stand in the supermarket league tables is of the business genre. Also, since it was partnered with the giant conglomerate Wal-Mart, it has been of bigger concern to more people. The audience reach of a topic such as this would be international because of the size of the company. The target audience would range from competitors of ASDA to people who are interested in the supermarket business.

A topic such as West Leeds Council owned gyms would defiantly be a regional program, as the gyms in west Leeds are not much concern of people living in other places. Although the program could be an interest of any competitors, so I could be national. The program could be considered several different genres. Sports, business, consumer, and lifestyle could all be genres that come into play with this topic.

The smoking ban was a very big issue within Britain. It was greatly publicized and was of interest to lots of people. This brings it under the News and current affairs genre. Considering that it was a national ban, it

will have had a national audience reach. The target audience will have ranged from pub owners and people who go to pubs too the tobacco companies as the ban will have some affect of sales.

Lastly, the topic of Leeds United. This will be an interesting topic for anyone living in Leeds who follows football, supports off Leeds or not. It will obviously be of a sports based program. The audience reach will be local as Leeds is where the biggest amount of Leeds supporters are from. Although, the target audience could range from the supporters to competitors.

Task 3 (P1, M1, D1)

Inital Speech Package Ideas

I am going to be producing my own speech package; the topic will be on music, specifically the contrast between niche genres and the pop industries. The genre will be Music and Current Affairs as it will also focus on gigs and their atmosphere. My target audience will be people around my age, teenagers in general. But also will be targeted towards older people who I want to gain a greater insight into what the younger generation feel.

Task 4 (P1, M1, D1)

Deatiled speech package anaylsis

I am going to analysis a BBC Radio 2 podcast. It is a speech package with Russell Brand and David Badeal. The voices of the people’s voices are of varied pitch. Russell’s is a slightly higher pitch than David’s, who has a quite low booming voice. Both the voices are quite load as the conversation between the two is the main and only sound throughout. Both speakers have quite a smooth texture too their voices. The rhythm of each voice is quite different. Russell has a quite fast paced way of speaking, and David’s is quite slow and slightly monotone.

The quality of the speech package is very good. Both voices ar

e very clear and there is not any background noise, so it seems to

me that an Omni-directional mic has been used. It sounds as though there has not been much processing and that it could be live (It would seem the speech package is live if it wasn’t for the fact Russell makes a point of saying that it is recorded) there is nothing much apart from the conversation between he two people and a few jingles.

Both of the people on the speech package have a Standard English way of speak. Their accents and dialects are very standard. Although, Russell does use a slightly different language register, it seems that the register he uses is a more of a younger generation language register, using several slag terms that are used to appeal to a younger target audience. this does have connotations of class separations between the two, as russell would be seen as working class due to his use of slang, however as he is known to be a crude celeb, it doesn't really matter that he is represented in this way.

There is a few jingles throughout the podcast, they use the presenter’s name and a few sound effects to keep the presenter in the audience’s mind. Both voices are in the same space, this gives the impression of a authentic conversation between the two people. At the end, the presenter closes with a couple of sentences that signify the end of the show.

Task 5 (P1, M1, D1)

Interviews

Interviews are great ways to gather people’s opinions and cast light of different points of view. The news speech package is a perfect example of how interviews can be used to offer other or more in depth point of views. Firstly, the segment about the ‘War of terror’ has an interview with a woman speaking about an Iraqi movement. She has a Middle Eastern accent, which instantly relates her to the story. Because of this it seems that she knows about the situation, even if she is just repeating what she has been told, making her seem much more professional and thus trust worthy. This interview seems as though it would have been pre-recorded in a studio.

The second interview comes from Leaf Hilman of the Krook Tribe, who have been dealing with the presence of a dam near their tribes and believe it is time for them to be removed. This story surrounds the removal of the dam and the corporate business surrounding it. An interview with an native that lives near the dam casts a whole new perspective on the story, as listeners can relate a lot more to the common man having to deal with problems, rather than cooperate statistics on the matter. Due to the nature of the guest this will be a pre recorded interview and will have been recorded on location.

Task 6 (P1, M1, D1)

Speech package Production

For my speech package I am going to be addressing the music industry, specifically what me and my friends enjoy, a niche audience, contrasting against pop music which 90% of the people in our area enjoy. I will also be focusing on the live performances of the certain artists, as I know form personal experience that the atmosphere is entirely different when moving around genres.

Introduction: Dead Bodies – Rancid

Vox Pox of punk artists/individuals talking about punk culture/music

Fade out music

Fade in: Glamorous Indie rock ‘n’ roll – The Killers

Vox Pox about the pop culture/scene

Interviews: Talking to a guest from both sides of the spectrum, punk and pop.

Why they like the music?

What is the culture like surrounding it?

What is the atmosphere at gigs like?

Why/ how did you get into the scene?

What do you think of the other?

Task 7 (P1, M1, D1)

Radio Station report

Speech packages are a great way to get a message across and get audience thinking, this is why they are used more by re ‘high brow’ radio stations rather than ones that are for a younger generation (such as Radio 1) one of the radio stations that use more speech packages than music is radio four.

The target audience for radio four is an older more sophisticated audience; different from the young, eccentric radio one listeners. So they can broadcast more intelligent programs that focus on more current affairs rather than music and sport, which are covered by the over BBC stations. It is a national radio stations as the BBC covers the whole of the Britain. Radio four uses all three of the mediums for radio. Analogue and digital are standard, and the inter net is used by providing a method for audiences to visit there site and listen live or listen to programs that have previously been aired. The speech packages are played as a variety of types, sometimes news and others entertainment based. More so, the speech packages focus on current affairs and politics. Also they are all available for download as pod sat on the BBC website.

A very local Radio station is PGFM, our schools own radio station. The target audience for PGFM is students ranging from 12 to 18 so considering that the radio is produced and performed on by the students, it reaches its target audience very well. There are many genres covered by PGFM, as the producers of the show (Our students) have many different views, opinions and interests. So there is a wide range of subjects, such as politics, music, school life, and many others. PGFM is available on analogue and digital radio, also PGFM will be soon acquiring the license to broadcast over the Internet, this will mean that we can reach a far greater audience as many people, especially nowadays internet consumed generation.

Task 8 (P1, M1, D1)

Speech package Treatment

Genre: Music/Current affairs

Date: 12th February 2009 (Finished)

Duration: 6:17

Voices: Presenter, member of both cultures, professional/musician

Actuality/Ambience: Live gig performances, crowd noise, live music

Music:Clips from various punk/pop songs to anchor the topic

My speech package is an entertaining, casual yet informative piece that will try and include a wide audience range. My main target audience is teenagers, like myself, who are interested in either one of th

e music genres that my speech package is addressing. My wider target audience it the older generation who will have been around when punk started, I want to give them an insight into the current culture and give them the feeling that what they were involved in the beginning is still alive and kicking.

Self-image is an important part of my speech package. This is because it is dealing with music, which makes up a huge part of self-image. Considering Punk has a large, historic and cultural following people who associate themselves with the culture and listen to my show will feel very much a part of what is being spoken about, the sense of unity that makes up a lot of the punk culture will be strengthened as it is being spoken about on the radio and being hear by hundreds of others.

Another thing that is important to consider in my speech package is age group. For the pop side of my speech package I will not have to consider ages as much as pop music is more for the current generati

on of teenagers, rather than an older group s they will have their own Ideas of pop music from when they were that age. But, the punk culture has been around for nearly 40 years and many people will have been a part of it. So this means that the age group will be very large, taking into account current ‘Punks’ and the older generation of ‘Punks’.

A program that is aimed at a Family Audience would cater for everyone is a typical family; children, adults, teenagers… and provides a program that can be enjoyed by the whole family and not just a certain demographic. Comedy’s that don’t contain any elicit language or situations can be considered a family text, as they provide something that the whole family can enjoy. However my speech package contains no language, it would not be considered a suitable for the whole family as children tend not to be interested in music, never mind the cultural side of it.

Class is important to consider as a different social grouping will have different opinions on various subjects. Also, the terrible stereotype that most working class people are of lower intelligence is used a lot within the production of a text. Generic ‘Lowest common denominator’ programming seems to be aimed directly at the working class, whereas higher brow programs at the middle. Since punk was originally a working class stereotype, my speech package will be aimed primarily at this class, however since pop music is listened to by everyone it could range from working class to upper middle class.

Task 9 (P1, M1, D1)

Research

Below is my initial essay on punk and pop music. Mostly consisting of my own knowledge and opinions, it isn’t really research but it helped me organizes my ideas and put them into a coherent passage that I could pick from when I needed inspiration or ideas.

Essay

The first passage on the wiki page of music is:

“Music is an art form in which the medium is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch, rhythm), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. “

I believe that music is much more than “sound organized in time”, music is an idea, a message, it is a feeling. Music can portray any emotion, any attitude and any feeling when it is done for the right reasons. For the meaning, the passion, not for profit or recognition. My speech package will focus on the contrasts of a niche genre of music, punk (which most is based around an anti music industry idea) against the pop industry so I will need to research into both.

Punk rock started in the early 70’s as a revolt against the norms in music at the time, such as the hippie movement and the pop industry in general. The most publicized band were the Sex Pistols, who many believe started punk, but this is not the case as at the time there were many underground bands such as Crass who go unmentioned by the media who tend to focus on the rather mainstream punk bands, which kind of goes against what punk was supposed to be about. Punk stood out from the crowd for its anti establishment attitude and this is mirrored by the lyrics in punk music.

One of the most famous songs by the Sex Pistols is Anarchy in the UK, which preaches the idea of anarchy, life without rulers, devoid of government. The Ramones were the American ‘version’ of the Sex Pistols; there is a big debate amongst English and American punks as to who came first. As punk progressed into the 80’s hardcore punk appeared, it fused the original style with a more hard and loud way of playing and singing the songs. There are three bands know as the pioneers on Hardcore Punk; Bad Brains, a Rastafarian punk band, Black Flag and Minor Threat. These brought about a new age of punk, which brought about many great bands such as the Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks and The Misfits. Through out the late 80’s punk branched of into many different genres, such as anarchist punk and Ska Punk, but by the 90’s people claimed that ‘Punk had Died’ however it never did any such thing, punk just went back underground to where it began… Until the punk revival of the 1990’s when such bands as Green Day were signed to major labels and brought punk into the public eye ones again. Pop punk bands, such as Blink 182 and Sum 41, emerged who took the sound and made it suitable for the pop industry. This is when Punk was closest to death. However, punk was taken back from the industry and given life again from bands like Rancid and NOFX. However, punk music and the subculture that surrounds it has been going on behind the scenes since the 70’s, it just took a few bands to bring it back into public view to get it noticed again.

Pop music, if taken literally, has been around since the beginning of music. Anything that is popular, that has the majority of listeners, is pop. From Mozart and the musicians if the Classical era, to the chart topping artists of today, any music/artist that is idolised, famous and followed has been cast into the ‘pop’ circle. However, the main focus of my speech package is going to be highlighting the differences that the punk scene has to the pop scene of indie music and generic groups that have the ‘X Factor’. Instead of focusing on anything that is defined as Popular, I am focusing on the scene behind the indie and pop genres. The ‘indie’ genre actually has its roots in post-punk or new wave bands coming out of the 80’s.

The term indie being originally coined as a term for a band on a independent label, has now formed into its own genre and scene, just as punk was originally used to describe the anti-popular image that came with the music formed into a scene. Bands like The Smiths paved the way out of the 80’s and into the new millennium were indie founds its calling. In the naughty’s a few main indie bands such as the Wombats, Killers and Feeder made their way into the charts and thus spawned the popular indie scene. Often characterised by the easily relatable lyrics, soft yet energetic riffs and warm, enjoyable singing indie cast its net over a very wide audience who accepted the music and scene as their own.

Questionnaire

I gave out a few questionnaires throughout my school to point out the difference in audience for each genre. The questionnaire was a basic tick box of which genre of music your favorite is, or the closest to it.

As predicted, the pop and Indie have the majority of the listeners. Together taking 2/3 of the audience. Punk however had only 5 out of 100 listeners. This shows that there is a great void between theses two cultures and that one is significantly more popular than the other. This research helped me gain knowledge of the social demographic that surrounds me. It put into perspective how much of an individualist passion punk music must be to have 5% out of 100 people that even know what it is. And also it showed me how wide spread pop music is and that ‘popular music’ is called that for a reason.

According to the Guardian; “2008 was a record year for singles sales, in unit terms. Just as surprisingly, more albums were sold in the final quarter of 2008, a season marked by retail and distribution failures, than in the same period the year before. 2008 was a record year for singles sales, in unit terms. Just as surprisingly, more albums were sold in the final quarter of 2008, a season marked by retail and distribution failures, than in the same period the year before.”

And

“Yes, 2008 was a terrific year for singles, but only because of booming digital sales.”

Theses quotes, contrasting against the very few, if any sales figures for punk rock music again shows how pop/indie dominates over the former. This evidence has fueled my already existing passion for reveling the differences and hypocrisy that are overlooked in today’s pop obsessed culture.

Task 11 (P1, M1, D1)

Final Product

Task 12 (P1, M1, D1)

Evaluation

Purpose

Originally my aim was to highlight the difference from each culture. I believe that I made this purpose. But throughout the making I became more interested in peoples thoughts about the cultures (punk/pop) and began to form my own idea about how my target audience sees the opposing genre but also how the feel about their own. It came to my attention that the people who followed the punk culture had a lot more to say, more feeling and more of an idea about their culture, which contrasted with opposite argument as they didn’t seem to know what to say, when simply asked “what is it that you like about your culture/scene” they didn’t seem to know what they liked or why they did, they just did.

Audience

I had a few members of my target audience listen to my speech package and give their opinions:

Curtis Pearson – “I thought that [Danny’s] speech package was very enjoyable, it kept me entertained using a variety of music beds. For me it just put into perspective how much each scene can be different, even though a lot of the aspects are the same.

Curtis’s was a member of my primary target audience, a young working class punk, and he took the preferred reading of my package. His comments show how my speech package used the uses and gratification theory to its best, by informing the audience whilst still keeping them entertained.

Edward Lawson – “All I can say is that it was an eye opener. It cast the light on the fact that these two cultures seem to be very similar yet the people from each seem like enemies in normal day to day involvement.”

Eddie took an oppositional reading of my text, as he picked out the similarities rather than the differences, but he does makes the point about the people from each of these cultures being very similar, yet being enemies, which I think was an intragal part of my text as it brought together these two ‘enemies’

My speech package was made for a few different target audiences. Mainly, it would be for people new to the culture behind theses genres of music, which would mainly consist of a younger social group. Also, my speech package was aimed at the secondary target audience of punks, and the older generation of punks who were into the culture originally and who may want to gain an insight into who it is now, plus people who are interested in the culture of pop.

As my audience consisted of a wide range of groups, I needed to make sure that I gave each sides point of view. Even though I was leaning to one side throughout, I believe that my speech package represented the pop side fairly.

Representation issues

Throughout my speech package I tried to keep a balance view, however being on one side of the argument made it hard and I think that it came through in the end.

“You can see which side [Danny] was on, although I did feel that the views were balanced to a point.” Arran Cook

Both males and females voices were used; however a few more were male. I suppose this is because a lot more males follow the punk culture than females, considering its is seen as a ‘violent’ and ‘angry’ scene and that these traits are more associated with men rather than women. I did not included, or exclude different ethnic groups throughout my planning/production as I believe that music applies equally to any ethnic grouping, so an opinion from a different ethnic background would not have made a difference to my speech package. The music I used was a mixture of punk and pop songs, obviously as I enjoy punk music there is more punk than pop, again mirroring my slightly bias view.

“The Music bed was…. Interesting.” Neve Park

“It kept me entertained using a variety of music beds” Curtis Pearson

When I compare my speech package with a professional standard production, it does show that mine was not produced to that standard, however the content and issues are as important and professional as any professional production.

Technical Issues

Using the variety of different record equipment available to me presented the problem of the levels being different on some of my recordings. This, however a small problem, took time to edit. Also, I used several clips from a film, the levels on theses clips were much quieter than the rest of my speech package so the audio need to be enhanced which I did in the program ‘Audacity’. One of the major issues I had was the length of my speech package. I made the mistake of using the wrong time scale so when I came to finalize my product it was much longer than expected. I worked around this by cutting down on the amount of music and made the whole package sound a lot more fast paced and in your face. A few sound effects were used to split the different parts of the speech package up, e.g; switching from punk to pop songs.

Conventions/Narrative

Things that are typical of my genre are:

• Music

• Peoples Opinions

• Sound effects

• Vox Pops

• Interviews

From that list it would seem that my speech package achieves its genre as it includes them things at least once. A professional speech package would be very similar as I based mine from the professional ones that I studied as research. Obviously there would be several differences such as star vehicles and certain limitations that radio’s have, for example; in radio the information must be balanced as not to upset certain listeners, however I had a little more freedom as my speech package is not being broadcast to thousands.

Professional productions do have slight advantages such as funding and the ability to visits more exotic locations and talk to more important people (star vehicles) however this does not mean amateur productions cannot be of the same standard content wise.

During the making of my speech package I tried to give several conations to the audience. The music it self was used to connote the ideas behind each culture. A fast, hardcore and angry punk song was used straight away to set ideas up that the culture was fast and angry, however the song had a deep meaning, which again connotes the meaningful ideas behind the punk culture. Also, the pop song was specifically chosen to cannote a more chilled out, less in your face culture.

The radio static was used in between sections firstly to split up the sections of my speech package. However, it also signified that this speech package is music themed. To extend the signification, it gave the listener the impression of someone changing a radio station, and as it jumps between punk and pop music, it shows that the person cannot decide between the two, hence the reason for my speech package.

Self Evaluation

Throughout the production of this piece I have gained a few new and valuable skills. Before, I had a faint Idea of how to use the studio to do a recording, but now I have grasped this task and can take quality recordings with ease.

One of the main problems I had was my time and organization. I have has to rush to get my speech package finished on time and written tasks have taken longer than expected. However, I think that when it comes down to the creative side I show my strengths as my speech package has had positive comments and I believe that it is a great piece of work.