In this assignment we needed to first evaluate another teams radio show. The radio team that my group was assigned was the team “The Fifth Dimension“. The teams theme was the show the Twilight Zone. I LOVED THIS THEME. As a Twilight Zone fanatic myself I was a little envious my group didn’t come up with it!

As far as an evaluation for the show goes I broke the grading ruberic down into bullet points and criticized from there:

1. Quality of Audio Sound: The first step was speaking to the audio. I found the first segment a little choppy, the volume was a little quiet around the 2 minute marker until . There was also one inexplicable sound around 1:45, and I found the “callers” to have a little bit of en echo. At 4:00 the volume begins to sound normal again and continues throughout the rest of the segment.

2. Quality of Audio Editing: As far as Audio editing goes, I found that the first contributor really made use of sound effects and though some of the audio bites used didn’t flow very well, there was a great use of them. The editing of all the segments together were great and flowed really well outside of this. The editing of the the “Swap Shop” was interesting, I like the different use of voicing but the sound editing of the clapping was a little distracting. I really wanted to commend the “Twilight Zone Poem”. The sound editing everything from the “the things are so delicious” to the background music really told a story!

3. Use of Sound Effects: In the second and third readings didn’t use any sound effects which kind of made the segments a bit dry. The commercials and bumpers were great and really made use of sound effects! I especially liked the second bumper I thought that the bumper’s music really was in line with the theme.

4. Use of the Music: Loved the use of “haunting sounds” at the end of the segment, it was again very appropriate for the theme. I also loved the repeated use of the “Twilight Zone” theme song. I think the background music used in the first commercial was a little out of line with the theme in that it was more upbeat and happy then the spooky creepy theme.

5. Does the Show have a Structure: I think that this show did a really nice job of making a clear easy to follow structure throughout the last half of the show. I think that the first parts (introduction and story readings) seemed a little confusing and made me question what the show was trying to accomplish. But this was all clarified towards the middle of the show when the contributors did renditions of previous Twilight Zone episodes and Twilight Zone inspired readings.

6. Does it Tell a Story Effectively: I think that the show definitely had sense of drama and intrigue. Even though the beginning of the show was a little unclear I was given insentive to listen and continue listening because I wanted to know where they would eventually go with their theme. I think that they were able to draw me in also with the fun audio clips that were used from the very start.

7. Star Rating: I would rate this show 4 out of 5 stars

In the second part of this evaluation I had to look at my own team “Digital Dynamite” radio show and criticize what I thought of our final product given the same grading rubric.

1. Quality of Audio Sound: I think that our sound volume was very consistent throughout the entire show and that all the segments were all around the same volume. The volumes in Nancy’s segment was very level and I think it came out beautifully. I think that the first bumper was a little dry. I also really like Amber’s segment as well, it flowed very well.

2. Quality of Audio Editing: I really want to commend our audio editing effects. I think that we moved seamlessly from segment to bumpers to commercials. I also like that we were able to split our stories up. It sort of makes the show less black and white but still is clear and consistent.

3. Use of Sound Effects: We all made really good use of sound effects, I think I could have made better use in my segment but otherwise Amber and Nancy really maximized the use of sound effects. I think that Amber really did a good job of using sound effects in her segment which kept me as a listener very attentive, as if I were really listening to her tell a story.

4. Use of Music: In all of our segments we used music throughout it, and I think this really gave our stories dimension and keeps the listener really active. I think that by not making the music too loud it does not over power the speaker and really makes it more of a background sound but still contributes to the story.

5. Does the Show have Structure: I think that our show is structured very well. We all tell about 5 minute stories and they are nicley broken up, but not to the extent or in places where they don’t make sense. We were able to add all the things we needed without it seeming like we were just working down a checklist.

6. Does it Tell a Story Effectively: I think that all of our stories stuck to our theme and that we all coherently drew to the same point. I think that by all sticking to the same theme that we were able to keep the listener drawn in as well.

7. I would rate this show a 4.5 out of 5