HEALTH- Post production- RADIO AD

Radio Advert Script

 “Did you know that 14.5% of people became obese after COVID?

 People with obesity suffer from fatigue, depression, high blood pressure. This is all bad for your health and can impact your later life and give you -type 2 diabetes -heart disease And yes... sometimes..... Cancer But this can all change if you do.

   By doing a little bit of exercise you can increase your self confidence to being active and become more focused and determined. Your self esteem goes from low to high which will relieve stress and anxiety which will improve your metal health. 

 By doing a little bit of exercise every day, you can vastly improve your mental health. But you don’t have to do it alone, bring your friends or your family, and make a difference together. But it all starts with you A little exercise makes a big difference”

 Recording day

On Thursday 26th January i worked at home to record my radio advert. This was easier than recording in college as i was on my own so i would have complete silence so no background college noise would interfere with the audio recording. In order to make the audio sound muffled and to make it more clear, i plugged in a headset and mic so i could clearly listen and record my voice.

All of the audio was recorded on the same day as it didn't take long. It took about 10 minutes to record it. The main issue i encountered was trying not to talk to quick. At first i would say the script too quick and it didn't sound right. So i decided to separate my paragraph long script up to a line at a time. That way i would read each line steadily and clearly one sentence at a time taking breaths after recording each line so it sounded more clear. Also Adobe Audition lets you pause and continue the recording and keep it as the same clip. So i used that to my advantage to say lines again if i needed to, as well as generally taking my time with the recording rather than reading the paragraph out all in one go and having it sound bad and getting out of breath.

Another issue i had which made the audio recording take multiple takes is that i found it hard to use the right tone of voice. At the start of the advert, i wanted my tone of voice to sound sad and low and depressing as Im explaining the negative impacts on your health when you don't exercise, so it fits. By halfway through the advert, the mood changes as I start talking persuasively, because since i talked about the negative effects, the mood changes because i now want people to feel persuaded to do exercise so these negative effects don't happen to them. That's the overall message of the advert, to do exercise so you don't feel down and have bad health. By listening to this radio advert, this should hopefully persuade people to want to start exercising so they can improve their physical and mental health.

Problems that occured

one problem i encountered is that when i was saying my radio ad speech into the computer, the audio sounded quiet and echoed. Therefore in order to tackle this problem, i found a mic to plug into the computer so the audio sounded loud, clear and smooth. 

Another problem i came across is that i read out the radio ad script that i initially planned and i thought that it sounded too long. therefore i took out certain sentences that didn't sound relevant or made it drag out. i shortened the script and tried again. the advert went from being well over a minute long to about 40 seconds long. I shortened it as i thought that if it was too long that it wouldn't retain my audiences attention and they wouldn't listen to the entire advert. as a result they won't hear the message.

Improved shortened script

 “Did you know that 14.5% of people became obese after COVID?

 People with obesity suffer from fatigue, depression, high blood pressure. This is all bad for your health and can impact your later life and give you -type 2 diabetes -heart disease And yes... sometimes..... Cancer 

...But this can all change if you do.

   By doing a little bit of exercise you can increase your self confidence.

Weather that's walking you dog, going for a run or playing football

 you don’t have to do it alone,

 bring your friends or your family, and make a difference together. But it all starts with you A little exercise makes a big difference”

as you can see i decided to shorten my script that i had initially planned. this was because during the recording process, i realised it would be too long, lasting over a minute, i shortened the script so it would last around 40 seconds, around 50 seconds factoring in I'm adding Foley sounds and music.

Editing Process

When starting the editing process i originally tried to edit using Adobe Audition since i used Audition to record the audio. i used adobe audition to increase the volume of the audio, but after thst i found it more difficult to layer up audio when adding music and Foley sounds. Therefore i decided to edit using premier pro as i found it easier to layer up the audio, Foley sounds and music as i could organise my assets in layers and decide where i want to put them. it also allows me to fade in and out the sound to where i see fit. So in the end i just found premier pro easier to use.

I first inserted the audio recording into premier pro. I then used the razor tool to cut out the few seconds where i took a pause to pause the recording when reading out one line at a time. This allowed the audio to seamlessly flow together one line after the other and each line sounds loud and clear but hasn't been read out in a rush since i took my time to read out one line at a time. I then decided to use the razor tool again but to cut out the lines which i didn't say in a correct tone of voice. This is because obviously not every take of audio turned out the way i wanted it to

I then separated the clips as i wanted certain parts of the script top have like a slight pause to create a moment of thought for the audience to think about whats been said. I also left a small half a second pause to show a transition between a change in mood of the add. As the add goes on, the mood changes from negative to positive.

I went on a website called free sounds to gather Foley sounds to use in my advert. I needed 3 Foley sounds in particular to talk about three exercises; walking your dog, running and playing football so i gathered the sounds i needed. It helps add some background noise to the advert so it sounds like these sports are happening in the add, even if the audience cant see whats happening. It helps increase a sense of realism, and stops it sounding like my voice in silence with no background noise. For the football kicking sound i got multiple ball kicking sounds rather than repeating the same one. That way it sounds like the ball is coming from different perspectives as if its being passed around. This is because the sound might be the same but in each clip it has a different sound frequency so therefore it sounds different.

Even though I said that i didn't want to edit my radio advert in adobe audition, I needed to edit the Foley sounds as they were too quiet. Adobe audition became useful as I used it in order to increase the amplitude so it sounded louder than it did. I thought if the Foley sounds sounded too quiet then they wouldn't be noticed by the audience. I had to do this quite a bit for a few bits of audio to make it louder or quieter than i wanted it to be.

Getting Background Music for the advert

I thought if i make a radio advert which is just a recording of my voice, this may potentially sound boring and it will not gain my audiences attention and they will not listen to it. I thought if i insert some music to quietly play in below my voice as some background noise, it will help interest my audience and help give a mood to the advert. I used a Website called bensound which lets me gather some copyright free music. For the beginning of the advert, i am talking about the bad impacts of not doing exercise, so therefore its a sad mood so i am going to use sad music to fit the theme and it will quietly play in the background. Halfway throughout the advert the mood changes to a happy mood as i talk persuasively and positively to get my audience to do more exercise. Therefore i am going to use a more positive and happy so the point of the add is there is a transition in mood so they listen to the impacts of not exercise, so this makes them feel cautious so they then want to exercise which is the point in the mood transition. The positive uplifting mood makes them feel persuaded into doing exercise. I used a more depressing sad tone of music at the start and used a happy uplifting song half way through and towards the end. I use the fade to transition the music themes 

i Then organised my layers where i wanted them in  my advert. I timed the music so it fit into the right part of the advert. I then used a fade transition for the music audio by right clicking and selecting apply default transitions. I then dragged it out for how long i wanted the music to fade in or out for. I then separated some of the audio clips so there was a split second of silence in places to add a dramatic affect. I feel like this worked really well so i kept it in. I also adjusted the spacing of the audio so it would fit in the timing of the music.

once it was all done and put together i had to listen to it to make sure it sounded okay. as i expected, i would run into issues where either my voice would sound too quiet, or the music would sound too loud. to change this, i edited the audio in Adobe audition and altered the audio to amplify it so it sounded louder. I couldn't make it too loud tho as my voice would sound muffled and not clear. i also decided to turn down the music as that wasn't the focal point. I just wanted the music in there to add some background noise, but also to set the tone and mood for the advert so it gives the right effect to the audience. The more sad music was suitable as it helps create a sense of seriousness as i describe the bad effects of not being active. The transition to the happy uplifting music helps the audience feel inspired and motivated to exercise. i think this helps get the message across nicely, but as long as it isn't too loud and doesn't interfere with my voice as that the main thing i want the audience to hear. 

The Foley sounds i wanted to be a little bit louder than the music as i wanted them to be heard by the audience. Also if there a little bit loud it helps show the audience that there actually in the environment of these noises so it somewhat immerses them to the atmosphere of whats going on. this is all apart of making the audience feeling engaged.

Final Piece

This is my final product for the radio advert. i like how it ended up in the end. It turned out exactly how i visioned it to be. It sounds good and gets a good message across. I also didn't drag it out too long so i think it works well.

Feedback

Following this, i wanted to gather feedback from my target audience in order to find out if they like it. Because even if i like it, that doesn't mean my audience do. So i wrote 5 questions out and got my audience to listen to my advert and give me some honest feedback based on my Final product. These people were aged 16-19 so they match the age demographic that this advert is aimed towards. 

The questions were:

1) What do you like about the advert?

2) Do you feel more motivated to exercise after hearing this and if so then how?

3)Does it draw your attention?

4) Do you understand the message of this advert?

5) Is there anything would need to be improved?

I wanted to gather this feedback as a focus group so i got 5 people to ask them the questions one by one so they could honestly answer. I decided to do this over a survey as i wanted detailed responses for some questions as a survey will give me shorter answers. I gathered this feedback in the form of a video recorded focus group to ensure i was getting a detailed response from my audience rather than short answers if i was to do a survey. Because since it is a voice recorded advert, there's lots i could of got right or wrong so i want to know what my audience thought.

Reflecting On Audience Feedback

What they liked about the advert

One Key thing they seemed to like is how it goes from a sad emotional tone to a energetic happy vibe to grasp the audiences attention. They like this theme because it helps give negative and positive statistics to really express the message of the advert. so from this feedback this shows that the message of the advert was well communicated to the audience.  They also like how the Foley sounds and music blend in with the voice by the fade transitions so it seamlessly flows together rather than it sounding like it has just been randomly played in the middle of the advert for no reason. someone also told me how motivational it is which helps get the message across to get young people to exercise. 

Does my audience feel more motivated After listening to the Add 

One of the people responded saying that they feel more motivated to exercise as they don't have to do it on their own as they can do it with family and friends. This can be a key factor to get people to exercise. this is something i mention in the add and its important part of the message. If i was to make another add like this in the future, this may be something i touch more on to help motivate my audience. Another thing that my audience mentioned it that the uplifting music at the end really lifted their spirits up after the sad tone music. The use of happy uplifting music is a key part of the advert which i think helps make my audience feel way more engaged in the advert and makes them feel motivated and involved into doing exercise.

Do they Understand the Message of the Advert

My audience told me that they understand the message of the advert. They said due to the fact that it is very clear of what the message is and it gets it across quickly. They also told me they understood how it was to inspire and motivate young people to exercise and to stop people getting obesity. This was the general message so I'm glad my audience understood.

when making the advert it was important to not make it too long as it wouldn't retain their attention. also it wouldn't get the message across as it would be too long. So it was important of me to shorten the script to quickly get across the key message. Communication is a key factor of getting the message across, this meant it was important that i was clear in not only the wording but also the pace i talk at and how clear i speak. so i made sure i communicated well with the audience so they understood. I think this overall helped it do well.

Do they think there needs to be improvements/ do i agree with their feedback?

1). Most people in the process of getting feedback said that they think the guitar riff sound that is played at the start of the advert should be removed as it takes away from the dramatic and serious theme that is being presented at the start.

I do understand what they are saying as this could make some young people laugh and not take in the adverts message or take it as serious as they should. this could prevent them from wanting to exercise or listen to the adverts actual message.

The sole purpose of me putting this sound in is i thought it would add to the sad dramatic tone at the start and would be subtle. I do take onboard that feedback but i think want to keep it in the final product as the sound helps the add have pauses to the speech so the audience take on board what is being said by having a brief split second pause to have a sad tone of a guitar playing in the background.

2). Another thing someone mentioned is to try to say more things about more sports for people with other interests.

As much as i think this would help more people feel engaged as not everyone will feel interested by the 3 activities i listed, i just wanted to list a few basic ones. I didn't want to go on listing loads of sports as i wanted the advert to be shore and sweet so i only wanted to list a few sports as an example. just listing 3 things helps get the message across without making my audience feel bored if i was to go on. But i do take on board that feedback and understand what they mean and how not everyone will feel engaged if i don't include a sport they like.