#truturz

Photo designed by Andrew Akinola.

By Tru Prosper

Week 3 has to be the highlight of my time here at Creativity Works thus far. Week 3 entailed forming groups of 5-8 people, where we worked together to create a podcast from scratch. 

We were firstly introduced to the roles and responsibilities of radio. The roles discussed were;

We moved on to discuss the importance of sound, where we had the pleasure of meeting Rob Janke. Rob was very helpful in breaking down the various things to consider when recording, such as clipping. I had a small understanding of how clipping worked, until Rob stopped by, where he explained that audio clipping is waveform distortion.

Rob went on to discuss how important positioning is when recording for a podcast. He said the recommended distance away from the mic would be between 6-10 inches. He then went on to mention that, projecting into the mic is a crucial thing to remember in order to get a crisp recording of ones voice. Turning your head away from the microphone can end up hindering the sound, thus making you appear muffled or unclear. Rob also mentioned how important it was to not wear anything noisy that would get picked up on the mic, such as a leather jacket or loose necklaces, etc.

After being given the rundown on the significance of sound, we were then presented with the tools we would need to get the show on the road. The tools included a laptop, a remote control with an extension cable, a windscreen, an AD-17 AC adapter (USB type), a USB cable, an adjustable tripod stand, a padded-shell case and a mic clip adapter. We as a group all became familiar with the instruments, before splitting off into our respective roles.

My role was the producer, in which I was in charge of making sure the groups vision was achieved. I was very pleased and thankful for my peers within the group, as they all showed amazing teamwork and listening skills. We as a group worked for three days straight, where we put together social media accounts, banners for our twitter and soundcloud pages, as well as researching content to discuss on the podcast.

We had come up with the name Culture Shot, where we played on the idea of small doses of good information. Given the fact our target audience would range from 18-24 year olds, we thought that small bitesized chunks of ‘culture’ would be a more effective way to reach our listeners. Our slogan we agreed on was ‘A podcast with topics on everything cultural, taken either bitter or sweet, with the perfect chaser on a good night.’ I’m extremely proud of this slogan, as I feel it captures the entire essence of the general theme of the podcast. 

To stay true to the general theme of ‘pop culture’ and news, we all brainstormed together and conjured up the idea to discuss topics such as; Brexit, pop/kpop and 60 seconds worth of headlines, where we threw in a random conspiracy. We thought the random conspiracy segment would serve as comedic relief, after discussing such hard hitting topics, such as Brexit. 

Once the topics were all in order, our presenters were then taken into a room to record. Once the recording was all done and taken care of, our sound manager, Mawuli, took charge and had the responsibility of mixing and ensuring our presenters voices sounded good. Once the recordings were cleaned up, the finishing task of placing the music bed underneath was completed, therefore rendering the podcast ready to be published. 

I was overall pleased with the outcome of our podcast. The task definitely highlighted how well and hard our team worked together.

By Tru Prosper

This visit to Twitter was not like our previous visits to such big companies. Although the visit was not like what we’d seen in the past, that does not take away from the fact that the visit altogether was very insightful and inspiring. 

Prior to us visiting Twitter, we had visited Matty Groves over on at AppNexus, where we reviewed and drew inspiration from various types of film documentaries. After taking a look at such amazing work, we were put to the task to construct a 90 second documentary revolving around any piece of item that holds a high amount of sentimental value to each of us. Once we were given this brief, we were handed the great opportunity to present our documentaries at Twitter (wow!). 

Fast forward to arriving at Twitter, it was presenting time. During the course of going over my peers fantastic work, I was both delighted and intrigued to see what items others had put such value in. While that was a nice aspect to the visit, seeing how others had put together and formed their documentaries was both stimulating and motivating for more reasons than one. It really made me start considering videography as a hobby, if not a profession. One documentary, if I had to choose one, would have to be Lucrece Grehoua’s ‘Boy In A Ship’.

This one stood out to me purely because it exemplified Matty Groves standard of a well contrived documentary. The elements that mostly stood out to me was the content. The documentary, to me, gave me an insight on one man’s view/take on a relationship he’d been in. While it wasn’t a generalisation, it did incite a variety of thoughts regarding men’s perspective on relationships. 

I'd also like to draw light to how well-put together the film was edited. There were various cutaways that served more purposes than one, for example, the cutaway where Emmanuel’s (the actor) hands were the only thing in frame. I felt that this short clip helped to show the audience that he might’ve been quite anxious. What that says to me, is that he is nervous, thus showing that he cares about how he might be perceived.

Overall, there were plenty of documentaries that did an excellent job of showcasing my peers skills. Thank you Twitter for that opportunity. 

Everyday on this course, I continue to learn something new. 

Private Properties have become a recent rising topic of discussion in the borough of Lewisham. Many people have found the onslaught of skyscraper private properties overwhelming and quite frankly, bothersome. While there have been conversations about how these properties create a grand amount of living opportunities to those who can afford it, there has also been talk of the adverse effects these properties have created. The effects many have discussed include, overcrowding and limited parking. 

As you’d expect, with a substantial influx of new residents brings with it copious amounts of new vehicles. The resolution the council have decided would be the most efficient, would be to implement ‘permit resident’ parking. Whilst this is a good solution to the problem, charging residents for something they’ve been doing for free, seems pretty extreme. Is this really residence convenience, or just another stream of income for the government?

by Tru Prosper.

Tru Prosper Biography

Tru Prosper is a twenty year old freelance graphic designer, of British Caribbean descent, who hails from South East London. She has worked with famous British comedian, Angie Le Mar. The opportunity presented by Angie Le Mar has allowed Tru to expand her skills, from designing flyers, logos, posters and promo trailers, to radio assistant producing and videography.