On Saturday, I spent 4 hours at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting with the intent of spending most of that time in the radio studio. While it didn't quite work out that way, I still feel that it was time well spent. Instead of spending all of that time in the studio, I worked on editing the almost 30 minutes of audio files that I obtained conducting the interview with Steve Dunn and Steve Sylvia from The Steve Dunn Band. I wanted to end up with about 5 minutes of footage for our one hour show.
Our studio time did not go unused, though. Four members of our group were there for at least part of the time and we all got some time in there recording various bits. Part of my time was spent recording another commercial. Our show needs to incorporate at least three original commercials, so each of us is working on making one to potentially be included. Because they range in time from 30 seconds to 1 minute, we potentially have room for up to 20 spots.
On a different note, I am looking forward to today! Our class is Sports News 2 with WFSB's Joe Zone. During our last class with him, he gave us all four stories off the then-current AP wire. Our assignment was to take those stories and re-write them into a 90 second news broadcast giving an average of 20-25 seconds for each story. We will put our stories into the teleprompter and read them on camera. Our 'performance' will be taped so that we can see it and critique it.
Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Our Mock PSA
Similar to our creation of our first commercial, we also recorded a mock public service announcement. Really, this is very similar to a commercial but tends to be longer and uses fewer - if any - effects. For a real radio station, the revenue is also considerably different. PSAs are played for free while commercials are paid for by the advertiser. Paul and I again paired off for the recording and editing of this mock PSA.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
My First Commercial
In a previous post, Commercial Break, I talked about the class when Paul and I created a radio commercial. I wanted to post that commercial here. Not bad for our first attempt!
Studio Work
In a few moments, I am headed out to meet some of my fellow students in the studio to continue working on our radio final. I have some ideas to record some commercials for the 'broadcast' in addition to some work editing the interview that I conducted on Thursday with Steve Dunn and Steve Sylvia from The Steve Dunn Band
.
We have four hours of studio time signed out as a group so that we can really get in there and bang out some material for the show.
One of the show segments - the reason that I did the interview - is going to discuss drunk dialing. Steve Dunn released a song by that name, Drunk Dial, and it inspired the segment. We are going to have our hosts discuss drunk dialing, play the song, and run the interview.
.We have four hours of studio time signed out as a group so that we can really get in there and bang out some material for the show.
One of the show segments - the reason that I did the interview - is going to discuss drunk dialing. Steve Dunn released a song by that name, Drunk Dial, and it inspired the segment. We are going to have our hosts discuss drunk dialing, play the song, and run the interview.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Another Great Day of Classes
Today was our 4th and final class for AVID. Today's topic was using AVID to edit the audio - setting levels, balancing multiple tracks of audio, and trimming the clips to achieve the best, overall effect. I am really looking forward to applying what I have learned to the footage that I shot last week!
In addition to our class on AVID, we went back into the radio studio to learn more about NexGen. Specifically, we learned how to load things like the commercials and sweepers that we recorded using Adobe Audition into NexGen so that we can use them in our show.
While this may not sound like a very productive 4 hours, that is because there are a lot of little details that were covered during the classes. Both video editing - whether with AVID or Final Cut - and NexGen are loaded with important details that need to be addressed properly. With regards to NexGen, it is pretty simple to add spots, songs, etc. to the program. However, if the details are glossed over it will make things much harder for everyone in the future. Losing an advertising client because the wrong spot played because you failed to enter the right information while loading the spot into NexGen would not go well for your career. With AVID, proper attention to the details is important. Adding cross-fades between clips or peppering in too many effects could make or break your presentation.
In addition to our class on AVID, we went back into the radio studio to learn more about NexGen. Specifically, we learned how to load things like the commercials and sweepers that we recorded using Adobe Audition into NexGen so that we can use them in our show.
While this may not sound like a very productive 4 hours, that is because there are a lot of little details that were covered during the classes. Both video editing - whether with AVID or Final Cut - and NexGen are loaded with important details that need to be addressed properly. With regards to NexGen, it is pretty simple to add spots, songs, etc. to the program. However, if the details are glossed over it will make things much harder for everyone in the future. Losing an advertising client because the wrong spot played because you failed to enter the right information while loading the spot into NexGen would not go well for your career. With AVID, proper attention to the details is important. Adding cross-fades between clips or peppering in too many effects could make or break your presentation.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Commercial Break
Half of our class time today was spent 'building' a radio commercial and half was spent delving further into AVID editing software. My half of the class - the same group that is working on our radio final - started with the commercial while the other half worked on AVID.
Because one of our number was absent, we had 8 in our group. We were further paired off and presented with sample scripts to use for our commercial. Because we had four pairs and only two studios, we had to take turns in the studio. While we waited our turn, we searched the files for sound effects and music beds to play behind the dialog. Once in the studio, my partner and I took turns at the mic reading our parts of the script. I had the 1st and 3rd line and my partner had the 2nd and 4th. I went first at the mic and simply read both of my lines over and over until I was comfortable that we had at least one good reading of both lines to work with. My partner then did the same. When we loaded our tracks into Adobe Audition, we set to editing them down and applying effects. Our target was to end up with a 30 second spot. Our script called for part of it to be read in a 'monster truck voice' so we added an echo effect to that part. To all the dialog - including the 'monster truck' spot - we added a filter that gave kind of a tinny sound quality to our voices - Audition calls it 'Supermarket Speaker.' Once we were done adding the music bed and the effects, we had what I thought was a very professional sounding commercial - especially for our first attempt!
After a short break, we switched to the AVID class and learned quite a bit about editing effects into our video packages. It is pretty amazing what we can do with one or two clicks of a mouse! While this portion of our day was not hands-on, it was great to see AVID in action.
Because one of our number was absent, we had 8 in our group. We were further paired off and presented with sample scripts to use for our commercial. Because we had four pairs and only two studios, we had to take turns in the studio. While we waited our turn, we searched the files for sound effects and music beds to play behind the dialog. Once in the studio, my partner and I took turns at the mic reading our parts of the script. I had the 1st and 3rd line and my partner had the 2nd and 4th. I went first at the mic and simply read both of my lines over and over until I was comfortable that we had at least one good reading of both lines to work with. My partner then did the same. When we loaded our tracks into Adobe Audition, we set to editing them down and applying effects. Our target was to end up with a 30 second spot. Our script called for part of it to be read in a 'monster truck voice' so we added an echo effect to that part. To all the dialog - including the 'monster truck' spot - we added a filter that gave kind of a tinny sound quality to our voices - Audition calls it 'Supermarket Speaker.' Once we were done adding the music bed and the effects, we had what I thought was a very professional sounding commercial - especially for our first attempt!
After a short break, we switched to the AVID class and learned quite a bit about editing effects into our video packages. It is pretty amazing what we can do with one or two clicks of a mouse! While this portion of our day was not hands-on, it was great to see AVID in action.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
As of this writing, I am 42 years old (though, that will be changing in 4 days as my birthday is March 20) and I am going back to school. Classes actually began on Monday, March 14. I am back in school in hopes that I can break into the radio and television industry. As such, I am attending classes at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting.
The classes thus far have mostly been introductory classes - Monday was Intro to TV and today was Intro to Radio - I have enjoyed the experience.
My decision to go back to school - and to this one in particular - was based on the fact that I have always wanted to be involved in radio and/or television.
I'll keep you posted!
The classes thus far have mostly been introductory classes - Monday was Intro to TV and today was Intro to Radio - I have enjoyed the experience.
My decision to go back to school - and to this one in particular - was based on the fact that I have always wanted to be involved in radio and/or television.
I'll keep you posted!
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