Tim's Periscope

First draft- over 2 mins long


Evaluation:
TV: Christmas Shopping Package
Before we went out to record our footage we thought it was important to first assign roles to each member of the team for two reasons. Firstly we thought it would make the whole process of creating the piece simpler, as much like in a professional environment everyone would understand their task and what was expected of them. Secondly we thought it was a good way to avoid friction within the group as it would be clear who had the final say of on each aspect of the project.

The first creative task for us to complete was to write the scripts that would be used in the package. Two scripts were required, one for the P2C and one for the link. I helped Edward write his piece to camera for which we used short, punchy sentences, so that the purpose of the story would come across in only a short space of time. Because of the visual nature of TV, the script didn’t need to ‘paint a picture’ in the same way it would need to for radio or print. Although we were happy with what we had written at the time, the script for the P2C did need amending slightly once we were out in order to make the words flow better and to allow Edward breathing time. If we were to redo this task I’d recommend that we practice the P2C a bit more in the classroom so as to avoid having to rewrite parts of it once out.

Once we were out of the classroom and into Farnham my role was to be in charge of the camera. This involved not only the operation of the camera but also picking the shots I wanted to use and positioning the camera so we were able to get our chosen shots. This portion of the project went well, however there were a few times when the tripod was not moving freely so our tracking was a bit jerky. In future I have learnt to check the equipment more thoroughly before commencing shooting.

My final role in this project was to edit the piece with Louisa. I felt this went really well however I also feel that in future editing may best be left to one person as the equipment available only really allows one person to work at a time so the other person is left somewhat redundant.

Berlin Wall piece 

This is the piece that we did about the Berlin wall. Link by Louisa, voiceover by myself. The rest of the group helped with script writing and editting.








My first Voxpop, recorded in Farnham town center a few days before Remembrance Day.

Although I didn't have the original sound files, I have re-editted the one from Edward's blog using Cubase SX, rearranging the order slightly, adjusting the volume so it wasn't so up and down, and cutting it so it sounds like it's just me asking the questions.

The team of trainee journalists making this Voxpop was myself, Louisa, Edward and Laura. Otherwise known as the 'A Team' :-)

Many thanks to the people we stopped in the street for taking the time to help us out with our Voxpop.

Voxpop Re-edit by Tim Pilgrim




Radio Evaluation
Once we had been set our assignment of going out into Farnham to gather some vox-pops regarding Remembrance day, our groups first task was thinking of some questions that would get us some good sound bites from the public. As our time to complete the assignment was short, we decided quickly on our questions before heading out. The questions we decided on were ‘Do you think Remembrance Day has lost its significance?’ and ‘In 70 years time do you think the soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq will be remembered with the same reverence?.’

Although at the time we were quite happy with these questions, we encountered problems with them pretty quickly.  The problem was that the questions were too closed, so it left the opportunity to give a one word answer, meaning we had to encourage people to give us more in depth answer. If we did this assignment again we would definitely need to rethink our line of questioning to encourage more naturally full answers, for instance we could have reworded the first question ‘What do you think about the significance of Remembrance day?’

Our first visit out into Farnham to gather vox-pops was fraught with technical problems, as after speaking to a couple of people our mini-disk recorder ran out of battery and all the recordings we had made were lost. I think we were just unlucky to get a faulty recorder as we checked the battery level before setting off and found that the recorder had a full battery. In future it might best for us to address the technical problems as soon as we encounter them, rather than just leave it and hope for the best, which is the tactic we used to our cost.

Once back in class with our recordings, having been out for a second time with a working recorder, Louisa and I worked on a first edit of the vox-pops. We cut out any long pauses as well as most of the questions, so the whole piece ran shorter and the same questions weren’t repeated too often.
I then did a second edit myself once I had got home to make it sound like it had been just me asking the questions and cutting down the responses to shorter sound bites.


News Bulletin

Here is my first attempt at doing a radio news bulletin.

The task was to find two local stories then write a short bulletin for them. Although I most definetly don't have a voice for radio, Im quite happy with how it turned out as I seemed to get through it without 'Umming' and 'Arhhing'.

The piece was then editted slightly in Cubase to get the volume up and I rearranged the stories so the one about the convicted police officer played first, as I though that was the better story.

Below is the completed recording and a copy of the script I was reading from.

NewsbullitenradioEDIT by Tim EP


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Burglary
24/11 TP

Hundreds of pounds worth of damage has been caused to a charity shop in Ash following a break in on Sunday morning.

A burglar broke into the shop by smashing through the front window before making off with 40 pounds in cash.

The burglar is white, in his mid-twenties and was wearing a black and white hooded top.

Police are appealing for witnesses.


Prison Officer
24/11 TP

A prison officer has today been sentenced to 12 months in jail following a conviction for wilful misconduct in public office.

Between 2007 and 2008, Raymond Wilson, of Margate, communicated with a prisoner by mobile and text.

Wilson was also found guilty off helping the prisoner to transfer money between bank accounts

The conviction follows a lengthy joint operation between Surrey Police and High Down’s Corruption Prevention team.

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FIRST DRAFT

As some of you may have seen, a few weeks ago I changed my name to The Universal Philosopher of Absolute Reality Tim Pilgrim.

Although happy with this wonderful addition to my otherwise drab name, I still think it needs a little something else.

A little va va voom. A pinch of pinache. A dollop of drama.

My current problem with it is the Tim bit. It's just not cool enough.

You never see a great leader called Tim Mandela or a Martin Luther Tim. No famous film stars called Tim Pitt or QuinTim Tarantino. No ruthless dictators called SadTim Hussein or insane fundamentalists called Osama Tim Laden.

Never has there been a famous rock star like Tim Jagger or Timmy Mercury. No even an Eltim John.

Instead people called Tim are usually twats like Timmy Mallett or Tim Nice but Dim.

Or cripples like 'Timmy' from South Park and Tiny Tim from Dickens Christmas Carol.

There's even a film called Tim. This would be ok if it were a big Hollywood Blockbuster with guns and fast cars and sexy women, but no. Tim is a film about a slow person.

And by 'slow' I don't mean shit at the 100m sprint.

To almost hammer home the point there was even a Canadian TV series called The Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim (they got the whole whammy in there). Was it a show about a sleek secret agent, who drinks fancy cocktails and gets the girls? No, of course it wasn't.

It was about a time travelling tramp called Tim Pilgrim.

I'm not even making that up sadly.

So this leaves me with a problem. I need a new name. But what name?

I need a name that portrays my genius, my wit and my dashing good looks (I'm not delusional, honest)

Something heroic and God-like will do. Hercules or Thor perhaps?

Or something exotic like Tiki or Popolimbo?

Popolimbo Tiki Thor Pilgrim does have a nice ring to it I must admit.

Or maybe I could use Princes method and just use a symbol?

Something like Ω or @.

Arggh, decisions decisions.

For now I'll have to stick to Tim I suppose, but one of these days I'm going to march down the depole office and give those bastards something to really snigger about.


Until next time, peace be with you.

The Universal Philosopher of Absolute Reality Popolimbo Tiki Thor Pilgrim.....esquire.