Headspace – Feedback from ZH for Tattoos Show, producer Callum, BA Luke, Presenters, Ben and Charlotte, Lauren – reporter

I would grade content about 63.

Before the show

The team seemed organised and calm when I arrived, Andrew David was helping with technical set up but once this was sorted you got it on air. The webcam was not on as a guest had requested that they didn’t want this, due to remaining anonymous, so this was good production. The show was not recorded, make sure you read all the briefing note beforehand, audio is needed for your blog and assessment. But the team were well prepared and good evidence of teamwork. I liked the name Ink Me up and it would have been good to hear this referred to a bit more during the show. The first vox was a bit quiet which was commented on by Andrew, nice quality and again a lovely range of different voices/ages talking about tattoos. The producer was professional, first guest was met and greeted by Lauren/producer and you explained clearly what you wanted him to do, with a bottle of water.

Very good guest who obviously felt comfortable behind the mike and had some good anecdotes.

Liked the pictures on social media.

The presenters asked some intelligent questions and got a good response.  Could Ben/Charlotte have referred to their own personal views on tattoos a bit earlier on? Keep it personal and visual as this is what audience are interested in. Nice interview which was well handled.

Remember to do full Back Anno – That was Clive McCarthy, etc it gives the audience a sense of who that person is and sounds more professional.

Producer was in control and gave good direction and communication. BA on desk was very capable.

Good presenters, with great voices, sounding natural.

Use of twitter was nice, could have been perhaps a bit more throughout the show. Ben seemed to lead presenting a bit more than Charlotte but good mix of voices, both relaxed. Remember to really listen to your guests, (I know it’s hard with the chaos of a studio) and don’t  forget to pick up on what they’re saying, you can go off the questions, if you think it’s interesting. Get to the reason why tattoos mean something, whats the story/emotion or anecdote as that makes good radio. Producer listen carefully to everything, keep talking into ear to a minimum.

Audio on tattooist by Lauren – excellent, good interviewee with something to say, nice fx, very good interview, could you have followed up maybe with Lauren in studio to discuss?

Inked Interview – again excellent piece of radio with a good guest who was a great speaker  and a good example of being ambitious about approaching interviewees. Nicely recorded by Ben with some interesting questions. Remember full back anno, make the interviews more integrated, Ben you could chat about how it was to do the interview after this, so it’s more seamless?

 

A very packed first 30 mins, nice team work, producer give the presenters maybe a bit feedback  about their performance,  BA was taking direction and doing a good job. Lauren was there and supportive which was good, bit of blurring over the producer with suggestions from team.

Helpful but keep it to producer. One person needs to have final say. Henry the second guest was good and had a some interesting views, you had taken the precaution of making sure he didn’t mention the name of the tattoo salon which had done the tattoo he didn’t like. Again the interview was interesting but if you listen back the presenters could perhaps have made more of the opportunity, don’t be afraid to ask off topic. Where did he get his love of tattoos, what does the raven mean and why? Etc Towards the end the producer was giving time checks, when really you all needed to be listening to his story. Dig a bit deeper, that’s the skill.

By 2.35 the show had been really pacey and packed and the second half seemed to be a bit lighter.

Good team work but make sure producer everyone knows what they’re doing. The No Adults Alone section was fine, again you could perhaps have asked him in a bit more detail about his take on tattoos, he did talk about his brother and his tattoos, which was good. I wanted to hear more.

The second half lacked a bit of the focus of the first 35 mins. You were all calm but make sure you Back Anno the live guest and make sure you make it a finished experience, the guest let himself out

Of studio.

If you do run short of stuff, make sure you think of a plan B

You could perhaps have interviewed Lauren, me, Evan?

End of show was nicely handled and the BA/Producer/Presenters all working well.

Good Points  

Some excellent content, which was off-campus, interesting guests, nice length and nicely produced. Definitely quality. 

Good team work, technically very competent and I think a professional effort.

Make sure you are all clear, communication needs to be stepped up a bit so all team are clear about what’s happening, especially towards end. If you have a problem, you just have to make decisions there and then.

But very professional to guests, you all thanked Andrew and a good solid show.

Well done. This was a good solid effort.

Zara