Research and Planning

1. Researchand Planning By Ria and Lucie

2. Online Research How have your research skills developed? • Before I even began to plan out Detour, I listened to a variety of radio dramas to familiarise myself with codes and conventions. I also looked at radio drama posters and magazine feature, to help me when it came to making my own. From online, I was able to listen to dramas and save images, which I could then analyse. How were you able to listen to radio dramas online? • I mainly went onto the BBC radio websites, and listened to some of the radio dramas available there. I chose to listen to dramas by the BBC as they were ‘official’, but also because they are running shows, so I would be able to look at the latest methods and different aspects to keep my audience entertained. What could you find out about magazines online? • Online, I managed to look at real posters for radio dramas, and also features from radio magazines. I was also able to save images and analyse them so that when I came to making my own, I knew what I wanted to do and how to attract and entertain my audiences. How did online magazine sites influence content? • By looking at content on magazine sites, I learnt what to put into my feature, and what to leave out. I analysed layout as well, to make my feature look eye-catching and attractive.

3. For my radio drama, ‘Under the Mushroom Cloud’, I used and developed many skills relating to research such as finding online dramas on sites such as iPlayer and analyzing them. I found this helped in developing my own drama as I could gain an understanding of codes and conventions and what my audiences want.

4. Online Research • My research skills developed from AS as in the first year I analyzed different posters and features and looking at the different codes and conventions so In A2 I knew what to look at when researching. • Before planning my radio drama rough cut I listened to different radio dramas online on BBC I player which helped me decide on what genre to choose from. • Online I also looked on the internet on Google for real posters and feature pages of magazines and different interview styles to entertain my target audience.

5. ONLINE RESEARCH • When I researched for my media products it was helpful to look at existing media products and look for conventions, which I then incorporated into my products. • I was able to listen to radio dramas online through YouTube and BBC iPlayer. • I could find out loads about magazines online, like the different types, styles and content. • Online magazine sites influenced the content of my magazine a lot with the style, look and the article.

6. Online Research • From AS to A2, my skills have developed thoroughly. My own abilities with Photoshop, for example have definitely improved. With A2 and UTMC’s poster and feature spread, I had to convey a sense of darkness and devastation, and as such, I utilised the ‘Cloud’ tool to give them that specific theme of misery. • Online allowed me to listen to other radio dramas already on the airwaves, that were similar to UTMC. The BBC website was a useful asset in which to do this. • For AS, research into magazines allowed me to identify key features of them, and how I could incorporate them into my own design. • The main image of my music magazine: ‘Sound Wave’, was of an electric guitar, which I felt appropriate to the type of magazine that it was.

7. Detour - Online Research • I used search engines such as Google, to find existing products such as Magazines and posters. • I also used the BBC I player to listen to existing radio drama such as The Archers and War of the Worlds

8. Rough cut • We created a interactive blog to display and record the production and planning of our radio drama. We also used internet search engines (Google) to gather required information for our radio drama. • We also used social networking sites such as Facebook and student forums to carry out surveys and research to receive audience feedbacks.