Problem Solving

Theoretical Problems →

During the production of the Bhujangi Podcast, I took many preventative measures in order to avoid any problems. These theoretical problems are outlined below.

Vision Mixing

When it came to editing the clips, I could’ve manually edited all the camera angles and footage after recording, but I found this extremely time consuming. I decided to have someone live vision mix during the recording of each episode. This proved to be extremely helpful and allowed me to maintain a consistent timeline for each episode. It also served a great preventative measure against potential of technical issues or inconsistent edits later on.

On top of this, we also took several test shots before each episode to ensure the camera feed ran smoothly and didn’t lag. Previously, after I helped a classmate record their podcast episode, we skipped testing, and the episode didn’t record at all. I learnt from this experience and from now on make it a priority and test all equipment before every recording.

I chose vision mixing as it made the clips look more professional and consistent across episodes. It gave the podcast a cleaner and more structured aesthetic, appealing more to the audience. We also prioritised certain shots during emotional or key moments to enhance viewer engagement.

Guest Scheduling

One important measure was booking the recording room far in advance to avoid last-minute cancellations and conflicts. I would always book the podcast suite for the whole days in case of any delays or technical issues. I’ve had a number of guests being unable to record during the timeline I had provided. This was helpful for me to know as I had contacted them at an early stage of my FMP, allowing me to short list the available guests within time range of this project. This issues had actually happened with Fateh Singh, one of my guests on the show, although due to forward thinking we still managed to get the job done.

Remote Recording Setup

Having an online setup made my episode with Sikhfinity, from Australia, much easier as I did not have to worry about booking and using the school studio.

I used a software called Riverside Studio, essentially like zoom, but with recording and editing features.

Remote Recording Quality:

Taking in consideration that this online podcast was going to be over wifi, I had to think of preventative measures if my wifi or my guests disconnects.

Upon doing analysis, I learned, that Riverside Studio doesn’t just record the meeting feed as normal applications, but individually records and films both speakers, for there own side. Meaning if the connection is weak, the footage would still be clear.

Multi-language Production (Punjabi Episodes):

To ensure the accuracy and cultural integrity of the Punjabi episodes, I will implement a peer review and feedback loop. This involves having all final versions reviewed by bilingual speakers before publication.

Their input will help catch any linguistic or cultural inaccuracies and ensure that the message remains clear and respectful.

Additionally, I will host a small test screening with my Punjabi-speaking friends to gather early feedback on clarity, tone, and accessibility, allowing for any necessary revisions before public release.

Being fluent in Punjabi allows me to maintain authentic communication throughout the production process. However, I will still collaborate with cultural consultants and other native speakers to ensure technical terms and regional dialects are accurately represented. This collaborative approach helps guarantee high standards, while also building trust with my audience by showing respect for the language and community.

Preparation & Research

As I’ve continued to grow the Bhujangi Podcast, I’ve become more organised in every sense. Prior to the recordings, I would do a lot of research, including reading books and browsing the internet. I also asked others for advice and for unanswered questions.

This has actually expanded my knowledge and it truly allowed the conversations to flow more smoothly. The most important thing was to do this research in advance, not simply the night before, but weeks in advance.

I would also organise a joint notions page to organise all the questions and topics covered with the guests. I would also make sure to have a meeting with the guest before recording, just to make sure that we could go over the topics for the episode and establish a timeline.

Actual Problems →

Regardless of all the preparation, problems are inevitable. There were many stressful moments, requiring fast problem solving skills.

Guest Communication Issues

I was meant to have Jatinder Singh, a highly respected artist within the Sikh community, as a guest for episode 7. We had scheduled a date weeks in advance, although communication was minimal. 2 days prior to the scheduled recording, Jatinder contacted me, asking if it was possible to reschedule, since a family member he cares for had fallen ill. This meant that I had to find an alternative guest simply days before filming or worse, cancelling the episode entirely. In hopes of saving my FMP, I contacted one of my good friends, Fateh Singh. We had already spoken about recording an episode last summer. I asked for his earliest availability, as the recording would fall on one of the final days to hand in the FMP. This meant that I would have a very tight schedule with less time to record, edit, and market the new episode, all in a matter of 2-3 days. This also meant that I would have to wait till the last minute to update the written aspect and evaluation of my FMP.

During the recording of episode 7, we faced issues with our mics. Since they were not working, I had to contact Reece, the technician. Luckily, within 30 minutes we had the cameras rolling again with functioning audio, however during a practice test, the video brightness appeared very low. I I was trying to change the camera settings to increase the ISO, but for some reason the camera kept resetting my changes. Due to me having already lost time, I had to accept the issue and begin recording. This was a very crucial and difficult step for me to pursue, whereas I could have called the technician once again, but couldn’t bear to loose time. Upon reflection, once I finished recording, I found out I had finished recording 3 minutes before my booking was up. I would have been forced to cut the episode short and end it without an outro, another very crucial step for the episode.

Opus.ai not recognising language for short form content creattion

Another challenge I encountered during the production of Episode 6 was in the creation of short form promotional content, when using Opus.ai (now rebranded as OpusPro). This AI-powered platform is designed to automatically generate short, engaging clips from longer video or podcast files, making it an ideal tool for social media promotion, which I have been using since my very first podcast episode last year.However, when I attempted to upload the podcast recording to the platform, I was met with an error message stating that the file could not be processed because the language was not supported.I assumed this was a limitation of the platform itself, given how I had used it before and it worked with the same language, I was determined to resolve the issue rather than abandon the tool. I began troubleshooting the problem step by step.

First, I refreshed the webpage, thinking it might be a temporary browser glitch. When that didn’t work, I attempted to re-upload the file in case the issue had been with the original upload. After that failed, I closed the browser tab entirely and opened a fresh session to try again—but the same error appeared.I then logged out of my Opus.ai account, waited a few minutes, and then logged back in. This finally resolved the issue; accepted the file to therefore, processing the podcast as expected.This experience taught me the importance of persistence and adaptability in digital content creation. Technical issues are bound to arise, especially when working with new or developing AI tools. Taking a step-by-step approach allowed me to overcome the challenge and continue creating the content I needed to advertise my Podcast.

Unexpected Studio Booking error

Another issue I encountered came just before the recording of Episode 7. Instead of emailing the school technician for him to make the booking for the podcast suite, this time I used the new online booking system Siso Bookings. Luckily, I had met Reece the technician and he brought up the booking and he mentioned that it should be all set, I asked him to double check if the booking went through. After reviewing the booking system, it turned out that , when he checked he saw the system only booked the studio for 15 minutes. Although this was not my fault, I quickly made the technician to correct the system error and avoid other students booking the studio and making it awkward for my guest. In the end, the episode was still recorded successfully, but the experience reminded me of the importance of confirming studio bookings with technicians directly.