The 5Ws

Who is it about? 

What happened?

When did it happen?

Where did it happen?

Why did it happen? 

The 5Ws are the essential bits of information that readers, viewers and listeners expect to find within a news story. Journalists and news editors tend to include this information towards the beginning of the story- this helps the audience determine whether they will keep reading/watching/listening, but also means that if a story has to be cut this can happen without losing the most vital information.

This has shown me that when I create my news stories I should include the 5Ws in my stories and within the first two paragraphs.

Below is a link to a news story about the death of a famous singer which includes the 5Ws in the first few paragraphs.

News Story showing the 5Ws

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Below is a list of things that I have learnt from doing my preliminary task which will help me with the planning, recording and editing of my final radio extract.

• The software, Adobe Audition 1.5 enables you to edit out pauses and any mistakes - this means that I don't have to keep stopping and starting dueing recording if my actors make mistakes
 

• When choosing the people to be in my preliminary task I didn't give much thought to representation, and in particular directing my actors - this is something I'm going to think about more carefully with my full extract
• When recording, the person needs to stand very close to the microphone 
• Each voice is recorded separately which makes it easier to edit out any mistakes before mixing the different voices together
• You can cut and paste the different segments you want from one audio file to another and you manipulate the gaps
• I used a 'chorus' effect on my jingle which makes it sound different from all the other voices

• I used a relatively basic jingle with two layers: one being the voice and the other the impact sound - I used a relatively simple effect on the voice

• From carrying out this task I can now see what I can do in terms of structuring jingles - I can be more adventurous in the real extract
• For the archive clip, I made it more adventurous in terms of the number of layers of audio I used -  there was the voice, but also a number of sound effects

• Even though i've only created a jingle and a very brief archive clip i've realised what I can achieve through the use of sound effects - sound effects that authentically sound like an arena thats holding an award ceremony

• When creating my adverts or news stories I'm going to think carefully about what scenes I can create using a range of sound effects to recreate existing, authentic sounding locations
• I learnt that multiple sound effects (6 or 7) of essentially the same types of sound make a scene sound more realistic 
• During recording and editing I improvised a little recording of actors screaming or shouting for Ryan to win during the archive clip - the microphone was placed further away so it sounded like it was coming from the audience in the distance

• I learnt that compression makes everything sound louder so anything thats quieter is brought up to be more equal to the rest in terms of volume - making it sound realistic as radio

Finished Preliminary Task

Here is my finished preliminary task for Celeb FM.

Preliminary Task - Potential Music and SFX

I will be recording my preliminary task later this week so I need to choose some potential sound effects for my archive clip and maybe for the jingle. I also need to choose some music for the jingle and possibly in the archive clip.

I need the following music and sound effects for my task:

• upbeat, modern pop music for my jingle
• dramatic, serious, rousing music as the actor makes his way onto the stage in the archive clip
• impact sound effect for the station jingle
• drum roll sound effect as the announcement is made in the archive clip
• cheering and applause sound effects for the archive clip
• audience murmuring sound effect for the archive clip
• microphone reverb sound effect as actor speaks in the archive clip
   

Below are some potential tracks I may use - though I will make the final decision after I have recorded my voices and when I am editing together the preliminary task.

Here is an impact sound that I might cut down for my jingle:



Here is a sound effect that I might use for the microphone reverb (the opening second):

Preliminary Task Script

For my preliminary task I had to create a five minute extract from an imaginary local radio show which will include a jingle, a presenter introducing a guest, the guest responding and an archive clip featuring the guest. 

I didn't spend a lot of time researching or drafting the script, and I didn't specifically listen to the radio for this task - everything I did came from memory.

This task will help me to learn how to use the equipment - the recording and editing software. It will also get me to think about appropriate music and sound effects that I will use. 

Below is my preliminary task script with annotations: 

AS Foundation Production - Brief

For my AS media coursework I will be scripting, recording, and mixing a five minute extract from an imaginary local radio show which will include a news bulletin (with a jingle, outside broadcast, and voxpops), jingles, presenters and adverts.

Before writing my script I need to research the structure of news stories and listen to a number of radio stations so that my extract sounds as realistic as possible. Before I start  this research and planning I am going to script my preliminary task which will include a jingle, a presenter introducing a guest (who responds) and an archive clip featuring the guest.