D1 - First Draft

Omniya Tajni

D1: Justify the codes and conventions of the radio genre are embedded within the planned content

I believe that with the production of ‘Discovering the delicious desserts’, I have created a product that follows the codes and conventions of lifestyle radio segments.

Radio programmes are available in all different mediums. With my radio segment it was created in order for it to be accessed digitally. This is a code for a radio programmed as audiences have the ability to listen online and download podcasts to their mobile phones.

Although my radio segment is a blind medium I was able to use sound effects to help the listeners visualise what the interviewees are saying in some cases. The sound effects used provide that extra familiarity and is able to set the tone for the listener. In my pre-recorded radio segment I included this a lot. In the first interview I was able to overlap a café atmosphere sound effect, this gives the listeners a sense of familiarity that they are at the scene/location that the interviewee is speaking about, which in this case is a dessert café. Before the second interview starts about a mother explaining how she treats her kids to desserts once a week, I recorded some children playing in a public park and sets the tone for the audience that someone will be speaking about children. In the last interview, I recorded an individual taking an order at the dessert café, this provides familiarity to the listener that they are currently in that location, which leads to the next interview as I interview a dessert staff member. The sound effects worked well alongside with the dialogue and provided that extra understanding to the audience as they had the sound effects to help them visualise what the interviewees were saying. 

With research into radio segments and specifically lifestyle radio segments they all seem to have some sort of jingle or opening/closing music as a way of transitioning between segments or shows, or to just allow the audience to recognise what show it is. In my radio segment, I have included an intro and outro music to fit the conventions. Although this was explicitly stated to include by the client brief, I would have included it regardless because I feel like having this outro and intro music sets the tone for the listeners and with a host speaking directly to them while the music plays, it really makes the listeners engaged with the radio segment. Due to the fact that my radio segment was about positive things the interviewees have to say about the dessert restaurants, I believed starting and ending with an upbeat soundtrack would set the tone for the listeners and make them realise that this is a happy place for the interviewees.

My pre-recorded radio segment includes lifestyle of individuals. My radio-segment consists of interviews of individuals speaking about their love for desserts and the connections they have with it. This is a convention of a radio programme, as during radio shows people talk about things in life, such as in talkSPORT you have individuals talking about sports, capital FM talks about music and singers and in my radio segment I had 3 interviewees speak about their love for desserts.

A convention of a radio usually consists of a host that helps run the show, this makes a connection and establish relationships with the audience. I believe that I was able to do this in my radio segment, as I start and end the radio segment, firstly explaining what the radio segment will consist of and finishing the radio segment. In addition to this, in the interviews I decided to record myself asking the questions to the interviewees rather than leaving them to give an explanation on the topic. This was done on purpose because I felt like if the interviewees just explained their love for desserts without any interaction with the interviewer it would have been uninteresting, so the fact that I asked the interviewees questions and interacted with them not only changed the whole mood of the radio segment but gives the listeners familiarity as they are able to recognise the hosts voice.

Overall, I believe I was able to meet the codes and conventions expected for a radio with the planned content that I have created.