Memoria de producción Podcast : ¿La nueva radio?

Abstract

The podcast is a powerful tool of communication, promotion and marketing (IFP, 2019). It is a unique product due to the total liberty that presents. This liberty is achieved through all the possibilities of the format, such as its length, structure, schedules, thematic or edition, for instance. Anyone with a microphone and an internet connection can begin to elaborate podcasting. One of its strengths is the variety of topics: musical, cinematographic, gastronomic, conversational and even mindfulness or meditation. The first Spanish podcast dates from 2004, created by José Antonio Gelado, current adviser of Podimo. Despite its longevity, podcast popularity has been consolidated during this year. The publication of books like El gran cuaderno del podcasting is a reflection of the apparition of a new way to communicate that aims to keep evolving in the future. Some experts in the matter, like Florian Schartner or José David Delpueyo, affirm that the trend of growth has been so slow that it might keep growing from now on. In order to prepare the making of this kind of piece, many hours were spent in search for any possible information of value. In the process it was seen that there is a poor amount of documentation around podcasting. This situation offered the possibility of developing a singular audiovisual piece which could serve as a window through history and evolution of this emerging product. One of the fundamentals was the election of sources. As it is seen in the final product, Spain has a great tradition in podcasting, so there were many options to begin with. Sources and their statements would provide the approach to the topic, so it was not until all of them confirmed its participation until the redaction of the script could begin. Investigation brought to the surface many different questions referring to podcasting origins, its main essence, its definition –if there was one– the chance of making a living of it and how it could evolve in the years to come. To answer these questions 20 and some others, around 15 different individuals and producing businesses were contacted. In the end, seven of them agreed to collaborate in the project. Finally, we had the approval of seven individuals who could provide, due to its position, several points of view around podcasting. These persons were Alex Fidalgo (podcaster and creator of Lo Que Tú Digas), José Antonio Gelado (the first Spanish podcaster), Nieves Adsuara (broadcaster at Cadena Ser–Radio Castellón), Florian Schartner (podcasting expert), José David Delpueyo (podcast producer and founder of Nación Podcast), Juan Ignacio Solera (Chief of Executive Operations and founder of Ivoox, the pioneer podcast platform in Spain) and Eduardo Alonso (Head of Studios in South and Eastern Europe of Spotify). For production, Universitat Jaume I provided all the gear precised por shooting. All sources but Nieves Adsuara –who works in Castelló– were from different points of national geography. This became a planification challenge since our schedule was based on university’s material disposal. However, and thanks to our sources' availability, we could manage to organize the three encounters who committed to a personal meeting in the same week. This was doable because in the week of the 13th of March started a holiday educational period, which allowed us to use all the recording equipment for over a week. The mentioned interviews were such inspirational achievements at the moment. One of the problems we confronted during preproduction and production phases was the planification of the images to record, the ones which may support the narration and illustrate the given information. Face to face meetings permitted obtaining a considerable quantity of content, but it was not enough to fulfill all the coverage. On the other hand, the rest of the interviews took place through video conference platforms. Despite its unique opportunity to contact hard access sources, its recording and audio quality were pretty inferior compared to the camera recorded meetings. To smoothen its screen impact, a background was designed through Adobe Illustrator software. This background’s conception was to act as a sort of frame which fills full screen while slightly hiding the lack of quality of the video. 21 Even though the problems about the visual looking of the piece, we think the result is one to be proud of. The sources listed are ones of great quality and magnitude, not only for its size in the industry but also for the intrinsic value of each one of their testimonies. Variety of perspective is the main strength of the work, displaying and confronting a whole lot of topics that surround this growing discipline. As a proposal of improvement, maybe it would have been curious to add some source who provided a common consumer experience, to complete a whole wide view. Opposite there are some undeniable weaknesses which should be noted. As it could be foreseen, lack of habit and ignorance of the proper ways of doing resulted in improvable aspects. Any sort of recording –despite it is a film, an interview or any other production– comes with a charge of stress that needs to be managed. While consistency and practice provide the assurance to control it, in our case this made us lose focus in part of the interview’s preparation, obviating to adjust some setting parameters that would have translated into a better outcome. Nonetheless, and assuming the failure in execution, we are proud of some of the shots. Podcasting, as a concept, despite its tangibility, represents a pure digital idea, an abstract term difficult to translate to a fully visual language. The obvious bet could be to record a radio inspired set of images, but our intention was to show and encourage creativity. Whether we made it or not, there is a valuable set of images to support the information we wanted to transmit. That being said, we have experienced a progressive improving as recording sessions had been following. This is something that can be seen when comparing Nieves Adsuara’s interview with Alex Fidalgo’s one –the first and last meetings shot during March’s 13th weekend–. For the edition, regarding music choices, it was decided to use free copyright compositions. As an introduction it has been used Alex Fidalgo’s Lo Que Tú Digas song, imitating one of its programs. In the main title sequence the background sound is Funk Cooking Music by MOKKA by Old Jeans. It also appears at the conclusion of the video. The other song used is Upbeat Indie Rock by Infraction by Holiday. Both songs are from Infraction YouTube channel, a free copyright music provider. 22 Audio editing has been a rough task too. To minimize differences between video conferences and the rest of interviews, all audio levels have been equalized to a - 6dB gain. About colour grading, it has been necessary to adjust temperature and staining parameters to get the suitable level of white balance. In addition, to give every sequence a much more realistic look, the parameters adjusted have been the ones which modify white and black tones, shadows and contrast. Attending to a hypothetical broadcast, there are two indicators which must come to attention to make that choice. This coverage target oscillates between ages 18 and 24 years old, which are by ponderation the greatest number of consumers of podcast. Moreover, and referring to its on demand nature, the perfect broadcast media would be a streaming service. Netflix, as for its vast influence and dominant status, could be a nice fit for this product. Filmin, a platform known for publishing great journalistic and documentary like content, represents an interesting option too. Each one of both authors contributed in each phase of developing. Marc Durà spent his main efforts in interview production tasks, contacting and scheduling the appointments with the several interviewees. Also, he supervised the final draft of the script and did the same work in the edition phase. On his side Pablo Javier Tasso designed the production planning, as well as being in charge of applying for equipment. Also, he did the script writing and edited the most part of the final piece. To sum up, Podcast ¿La Nueva Radio? shines for the sources that contributed to its making. It also conforms a singularity, for which is one of the few pieces around podcasting made until now. Regardless of all the fails occurred during its production, it is a product of appreciable interest and valuable quality. Finding the correct images has been quite a struggle, but even though the result is not perfect, is an interesting window to a growing medium which has more to show than it appears. Furthermore, an incursion in a task of this entity has attached a vast list of benefits. There is no better way to learn about a profession rather than doing it. Through the whole production we have learnt about matters which are commonly treated on the surface in the degree subjects. A product of such characteristics demands full knowledge of camera setting, production and editing, skills that you are forced to develop in order to complete the assignment.