Contribution and Role:

My contributions were in the recording of the actors whilst Alex directed. This involved me setting up the microphone to record, setting the levels and monitoring the recording process as Alex directed the actors on the way in which he wanted their lines to be said. After the main recording session we also recorded some foley in the foley room of the Sound Theater. I also contributed by lending my own voice for the minor role of the bandit character.

 

After we had successfully recorded everyone’s vocal part I had the job of dialogue editor. This involved me taking all the clips that we had recorded, discarding the out-takes and firstly sorting each line in to what we viewed as the best take, and then one or two other takes.

This looked like:

 

This proved quite a lengthy task as we had 6 talking characters, each with two or three good takes for each individual line of dialogue. Even though a lot to work with it proved to be beneficial, in that we could mould the sound of the conversations in several different ways depending on the way the actor had delivered the line.

After this process was done, myself and Alex met up to pick which take we were going to use for each line, and started compiling it in to a final dialogue track. The individual actor’s dialogues were kept separate still to allow for editing later in the process.

One this was done I started building the atmospheric bases for the track, the sounds of the countryside, the market in the town of Iska, the games thrown for Lucius of the Marini, and the scene in the bathhouse.

Once I had completed this process I sent over the dialogue tracks and atmos to Alex to add the Foley that we had recorded whilst I started work on the Music for the scenes.

 

We did not want the music to become too invasive and detract from the story telling, so it was decided to use it sparingly. Music was composed by me and written after many listens through of each scene, recorded using Logic Pro X.

Monday November 10^th – Finished script.

10^th onwards:-Put out casting call for 4 actors after myself and Alex taking minor roles.

Monday 17^th November – Confirm casting, send scripts

Wednesday 26^th November – Had table read of script with actors

Wednesday 3^rd December – Finish recording and start editing

Tuesday 9^th December – Recorded actors of Gen, Lucia, Lucius. Recorded Foley

Wednesday 10^th December – Recorded part of stranger, edited dialogue in to place.

Thursday 11^th December – Finished dialogue editing and added atmospheric bases.

Friday 12^th December – Work on music and foley placing starts

Wednesday 17^th December – Product finished ready to be submitted

Thursday 18^th December – Deadline

List of Contributors:

Tom Britton – Crispin – IN: “Iska..” OUT: “That’s all you had to do, get the right damned port.”

Max Dahle – Ennio – IN: “Well the weather isn’t as bad..” OUT: “You make on mistake.”

Alexander Pollard – Lucius – IN: “Lucia, Sister?..” OUT: “Go and take this welp with you, Guards!”

Ashleigh Parker – Lucia – IN: “I’m in the bath…” OUT: “…before Lucius realises I’m gone, Thankyou.”

Vashti Hayes – Gen – IN: “Had enough have you?…” OUT: “I’ll get the first round in.”

Joshua Sherlock – Stranger – IN: “Are you okay down there?” OUT: “What!? No!”

We are all familiar with how music and sound add to the visuals of a movie, to build on the overall experience, and it has long been debated in the film world as to whether the visuals or the sound contribute more the overall viewing experience, and arguments continue to this day over which is more important, however, in radio, the whole experience is solely reliant on the sound. It has to do 100% of the work. In some ways this makes the job of the audio professional easier, in that they are perhaps allowed more freedom to tell the story through sound and music.

 

I have used The Radio Drama Handbook as a research source when looking in to the functions of music in a radio drama, they state:

“The power of music in radio cannot be underestimated. After all it is central to the vast majority of radio output” (Hand & Traynor, 2011, p.50)

 

They then go on to describe the four main literal functions of music in a radio drama, these being:

 

As a link – boundary between scenes.

 

To set the mood – tells the story of the character’s, the setting, the ‘mood’ or feeling of the scene.

 

Stylised sound effect – Instead of using foley, the music can be used as a sound effect. The example that Hand & Traynor (2011, p.50) give suggests using percussive instruments in place of a thunderstorm.

 

Indexical Function – Another way of setting the scene, representing what is actually happening.

 

Andrew Crisell describes this as “music as part of the ordinary sounds of the world which radio portrays.” (1994) If we compare this to the world of cinema sound, using the terms diegetic and non-diegetic to describe to role of music, then the indexical function of music in a radio drama would be diegetic.

Diegetic in film being a

“representation of sounds occurring in synchronisation with the visual events which appear to cause them” (Bignell, 2002, p.193)

As the indexical function of music is described specifically as being part of the ordinary sounds of the world being portrayed, then this would come under the banner of Diegetic music.

In terms of ‘Cohort’ this might be used say if there were street performers or singers that formed part of the plot, which is drawn attention to as part of the central story line.

Bibliography

Bignell, J., 2002. Media Semiotics: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Manchester University Press.

Crisell, A., 1994. Understanding Radio. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.

Hand, R. & Traynor, M., 2011. The Radio Drama Handbook. New York: Continuum.