The group had to make several creative changes to their original radio advertisement plan due to technical problems. They cut lines from the script to meet the 30 second time limit and re-recorded a woman's voice that was too fast. They also had to improvise a zip sound effect. The group worked well together, discussing improvements and dividing recording and editing tasks. They used repetition of the shop name and descriptions of products to target their audience. Audacity allowed basic editing but limited major changes. Feedback helped them realize issues like an unclear voice and uncreative script that needed adjusting.

1. RADIO ADVERT EVALUATION
By Shaun Elsworth

2. WHAT CREATIVE DECISIONS DID YOU HAVE TO
MAKE TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND HOW DID THIS
DEPART FROM YOUR ORIGINAL PLAN?
We had a problem with the original script as it went over the
agreed time of 30 seconds. To overcome this we had to cut out
lines that we had originally recorded without messing up the flow
of the advert. We achieved this as our advert makes sense,
flows well and is exactly 30 seconds.
We had a problem with the woman's voice when we recorded it
because it was too fast and had too many breaks in so you
couldn’t understand it. We had to record it again and edit it into
the original recording.
We originally planned to use a zip sound effect that we were
planning to get from the internet but, we could not find one and
had to improvise by recording the zip from Max’s hoodie.

3. BOTH INDIVIDUALLY AND WORKING WITH OTHERS
HOW DID YOU WORK AND WHAT CHALLENGES DID
YOU FACE?
I feel that I worked well individually and with my partner. Me and
my partner regularly stopped and discussed how our advert was
sounding, what needed improving and what we needed to go
and record so we both always knew what point we were at. I
was working on finding relevant sound effects and bedding
music that could be used in our radio advert and passing them
on to Max who was editing them in using Audacity.
We worked well with other groups as we helped Ryan and
Jordan with voices they couldn’t do themselves as I was the
voiceover in their final piece and Ryan was the woman's voice in
our radio advert.

4. WHAT ADVERTISING TECHNIQUES DID YOU USE TO
HOOK YOUR INTENDED TARGET AUDIENCE?
We used many advertising techniques in our radio advert to
make sure the target audience remember Waves Surf Shop. We
used techniques such as repetition of the shop name, the
location of the shop and products that the shop sells. This helps
hook the target audience as the information that we want them
to remember will be stuck in their heads after they listen to our
radio advert.
We also used a clear description of the products available for
example, we had the voiceover guy saying “we even do kids
wear and skate wear”. This helps hook the target audience as
they know exactly what we are trying to sell and they wont get
confused and switch off.

5. HOW DID TECHNOLOGY ENABLE THE CREATIVE
PROCESS? WAS IT DIFFICULT TO USE ANY OF THE
EQUIPMENT AND DID YOU LEARN ANY SKILLS.
We didn’t find it difficult to use any of the technology as we only
used a sound recorder where all you had to do was press record
and stop and audacity which is a simple editing programme.
The technology we used did effect how creative we could be as
the recorder limited the sounds we were able to record and
because we were using audacity it meant we couldn’t make any
major changes to the recording whilst we were editing it.
I learned a few new skills over the course of the project. I
learned a few basic techniques on the Audacity editing
programme and I learned how to record a clear and decent
advert.

6. WHAT CONVENTIONS OF RADIO ADVERTS
HAVE YOU USED OR NOT USED AND WHY?
We used a variety of different conventions in our radio advert.
We had clear speakers so that the listeners can understand
what the speakers are saying, we had sound effects throughout
our advert to give the advert some life other than just having
speaking all the way through. We had a bedding track to give the
advert an upbeat feel and it helps to keep the audience listening,
without it the advert would be really dull.
We added in the website address and location of Waves Surf
Shop so that the audience know where to go if they are
interested in buying any products.
We also used repetition of the company name and contact info
so that the target audience remembers the key info.

7. WHAT OR WHO ARE YOU REPRESENTING IN
YOUR ADVERT AND HOW?
We are representing surfers as both male and female as we
have used voices showing a male surfer and a female surfer
talking to each other in our radio advert.
We are representing salesmen as very confident and
enthusiastic with the products they are trying to sell and very
clear when they speak.
We are representing Waves Surf Shop with our advert so we
had to make sure that the advert wasn’t rude or offensive in any
way to give the advert maximum effectiveness.

8. WHAT FEEDBACK DID YOU GET AND DID THIS HELP
YOU REALISE ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT?
Mr Henley gave us feedback on our first edit and made us
realise that the woman's voice couldn’t be understood. From this
feedback we recorded again and slowed down the speech so it
can be understood by everyone.
Our original script was about two chilled out surfers talking about
the products at Waves but Mr Henley helped us realise that this
idea wasn’t very creative and we came up with a fresh script
which is much better.
We also didn’t have a background track in the first edit and
someone made us realise that having one is much better and
helps the radio advert to keep hold of listeners.