February 2012
From the Producer
Been a busy stressful few days as the deadline is looming over us. As Producer i have tried to keep the role professional by sticking to a Production Schedule ensuring all group members are on task.
Therefore this week has been hectic with last minute recording sessions and editing ’till our eyes go square’. I have to ensure all rooms and equipment is booked. That the actors have updated scripts and that they know when and where we are recording – this job i gave to Brian (Director) as he had been their main contact within the group. My main goal this week has been working on this blog creating presenters cue, uploading pictures and the final script.
While recording i have to work closely with both Brian and Lee as Brian stays in the studio with the actors therefore i have to ask him to direct them the way i want a certain lie acted. I work closely with Lee as he is editing and therefore it is my direction of the overall sound as a finished piece, he has to ensure he is following my vision. However we have made most decisions as a group which has helped us work together smoothly.
Click here to see video recordings from this weeks acting session.
From the Director/Casting Director
As Casting Director my main role is to direct the cast, funnily enough! However before that I need to find my cast, which was a pivotal point in the production process. I used a number of online resources to source the cast, the most useful being Star Now. A challenge in this was the fact that a lot of actors who had registered themselves under the radio and voiceover categories hadn’t uploaded any audio tracks to listen to!
After sending a few enquiries to several actors and inviting them for audition, we held two audition days to cater for as many actors as possible. The number of talented people auditioning was staggering; it was incredibly difficult to pick between them all, however as our basis of selection was largely down to the tone, pitch and general sound of the voice, we had to whittle it down by chopping up the tracks recorded during audition and compare and contrast them against the other actors, seeing who fit best with who.
Peggy Reading, an actor we wanted to cast early on, is part of a theatrical group and was able to suggest a few people that we could audition. This was a great success as all but one of our actors (Peggy included) was from this theatrical group.
John was cast as Harry
Alice was cast as Georgia (from Star Now)
Jo was cast as the Mother
Peggy was cast as the Old Woman
The directing of the actors was a further challenge, as I hadn’t any real prior experience and the whole procedure was a new experience for most of us. Teaching some of the actors who hadn’t done radio acting before was also vital, explaining that any unwanted noise would mean that the line had to be said again. This could be as simple as turning a page of the script too soon, coughing, or the rustle of clothing.
Further, I had to ensure that the actors didn’t project their voices as they are taught to do with theatre, as radio is a very intimate medium and needs to remain sounding as such. Facing the microphone was also a key point as some actors were prone to turning to face those whom they were addressing.
Other than these minor points, the actors were fantastic to work with and worked in a very professional manner at all times. They had a good sense of humour and we had a lot of fun.
Video Clips
Watch some of our recording session from this week, leave comments on our Youtube page.
Videos
From the Editor/BA
My role as editor means that I have the responsibility for the overall treatment of the drama, this involves the layout of the audio, the sound effects that are added and also the recording technique used. My duties are however are not just in post production, it is also my responsibility to select the equipment best suited to the producers needs and ensure it is all set up in the studio ready for the actors. For this production, we used 2 AKG 414 microphones arranged at right angles to create a stereo field, we also used a single Rhode stereo microphone placed just beneath the 414s, both arrangements recording simultaneously so that we had two different studio sounds to choose from when it came to post production. I was also in charge of operating the studio desk and Pro-Tools. My role means that it is crucial that I have thorough knowledge of the studio equipment and also the recording equipment and software.
