Diary

Week 1

Theory

• We did the Representation Theory where we saw two ads, One of Water Aid and One for Yakult. In that ads we have to identify the representations made and the massage the producer is trying to show to the audience.

• We were Introduced to the Post Colonialism Theory who was made by Paul Gilroy. In simple terms, the theory is a way for people ( usually westerners ) to control the media to fit or show the best image towards a certain group while making 'others' seem odd or weird. This affects the audience and makes people believe that what we see in the Media is true in reality

Project

• This is when we were first introduced to the Main project of this term ( Term 2 ), Where we have to make a Podcast. There is a whole list of keywords important for a podcast.

Week 2

Theory

• We Continued to learn about Post Colonialism theory, Examples and etc. We also had an outline about our podcast like speakers and the main overview of what is going to happen. On a side note, originally one member wanted a Date advice show, But the rest disagreed so we choose a Music Breakdown Podcast.

• We also learned within the Post Colonialism that there is a "White Savior Trope" Where basically, the white skinned or western character usually playing as a main character would come in and save the day no matter the circumstance. This makes them seems like heroes while the 'others' are insignificant.

• We did a deep dive on "The Voice" where its news articles during the time of writing, features a lot of Black Representation. We were told to make our own case studies on "The Voice"

Project

• We did the Poll and our group got 42 Responses out of it, We immediately begin analyzing the results and catering our podcast based on those. At the time we also did research on what the podcast outline would look like.

Week 3

Theory

• We also learned how audiences changed in the media have changed, Like how they tend to not consume live content more, more digitally literate and etc. As a result of this the Media companies or products change to fit the ever changing needs of their audience.

• Technological Determinism is what we learned today, It talks about how new technological advancements have the ability to change humanity in a major way. Ex: Gunpowder, Writing, Radio and Internet. 

• We learned a new theory names "Moral Panics" Where because of the media exaggerating an event that happened, the audience now have an irrational fear of it. Ex: Rock n Roll is Devil Music, War on Drugs , etc. Within this lesson we watched many videos on the news giving us examples of moral panics.

Project

• Our group recorded the first attempt of our Introduction for the Podcast. Jason did the main Intro, I made the backstory and Jonathan did the Editing for the audios. We also finalized our group named to be LSD ( Lyrics Sound Decibels ). We also played around with the editing. 

Week 4

Theory

• A New Theory "Agenda Setting" basically stating that what we see in the Media is a result of many filters that in place by Media Gatekeepers. These are people who decide what to be shown and what not to be, As a result they can put different meaning or messages to audiences to fit with their agenda. We did a case study of this, specifically on Herschel Walker, where different news website have different ways to approach the same news.

• Personal Identity is what we learned today, It shows that we get SOME of our identity from the media and these days representations are complex, while it was simple in the past. But people identity change as the progress, with the media influencing them .

Project

• In this day our group went to the Podcast / Radio room within our school. One of the teachers, Mr Wayan gave us a in depth tutorial on how to operate and identify the various machines and technologies that is useful for Podcasting, such as: 

1. Microphones
2. Cables or Wires
3. Audio mixers & Interface

Week 5 

Theory

• We learned a new theory which is the "Fandom Theory" which just explains how fandoms impact and is has its + or - within the media. We were also shown the all sort of fandoms but a more deeper dive on Sonic the Hedgehog, Specifically how the fandom had managed to act out change and make their own content for the product.

Project

• We did even more research on the podcast by finding more references specifically on music types of podcasts. We found some good ones that we could use in our recordings like the way they talk, structure and etc. But those references especially help us on the Thumbnail and Social Media Profile. 

Week 6

Project

• We finally did the Podcast recording session. Our first recording was very messy and all over the place, We spent half of our time just getting used to the applications and equipment. For some reason, the microphone did not work and the Audacity software failed to save our recordings. At the end of the recording session, we had recorded the first episode and advert for our podcast, yet none of the recording was saved within the PC. As a result we have to redo and continue it next week. But the recording gave us a good experience on what to expect next time we record and what to fix or keep. 

Week 7

Project

• One of our members, Lakila had left the subject which makes our group from the original four into three. 
• Revisions were made on our podcasts like how we mention the topics in the recording and what to include and not to include. 
• We held our 2nd Recording Session, It went much better than the first as in just one hour or less we had managed to record all that we need, from the first and second episodes to the adverts for both said episodes. Some mistakes were made and we only had two microphones available during the recording, Which resulted in lower voice quality on Jason's and Angelo's part. But overall it was decent and enough for us to finally start editing. 
• I started and finished the Thumbnail for our group. The results are in my blog.

Week 8 ( DEADLINE ) 

Project

• Edits were made, the first draft of 1st Podcast episode was made by Jason. It was good but the edits were rough and transitions are very clear and abrupt. That needed to change. I was supposed to edit the 2nd Episode, yet because of work I didn't manage to complete 100%. 
• Because Jason was sick I redid the first episode of the podcast and revised a few of the parts to fit in the 10 minute mark and to make it a lot more seamless and interesting. The edits weren't hard but it was time consuming, I had to increase volumes in some parts because Jason and my voice weren't that clear in addition I also needed to lower the background music and added transitions. From the original 13 Minute recording for episode one I had to cut it to 9 minutes which made some parts very clearly edited but it was decent enough. *all edits were made in BandLab*
• I quickly did the second episode which was done in two days time. The editing process was much more simple than the first which go in more depth in the Editing Process post. With myself and the team satisfied we finished up our project. 
• I started to do the self reflection which was done in a day, In addition, I also made YouTube posts for the two episodes which included the thumbnail as the cover. I would include them along with my self reflection in My FINAL Podcast post.