Week One
While I missed the seminar due to work commitments, our director Adelaida filled me in on the roles that everybody has been assigned to. I will be taking on the role of Studio Manager for my group as we produce the play Prodigal Sister. I’m looking forward to having a read of the script and diving straight into planning and production.
Pre-Production
A week in advance, the group came together to identify the sound effects that would feature in the piece and how we would produce or source them. After looking through Justine’s edits we were very satisfied with the sounds needed. During our meeting, one of our actors pulled out as they’d been offered a paid gig. As a team, we looked through the Spotlight profiles of other actors that were available and came to a group decision. I met with Sarah and Justine the day prior to recording to go over the script and divide it into sections so that recording would be easier on both myself and the actors. We set the studio how we’d like it and finished off our pre-production documents, feeling very happy & confident ahead of the recording day.
Production Week
We met in the studio having divided the script into sections. Following James’s helpful advice, I came up with a file management system of labelling my files after the line range and take – for example l1l35t1 for lines 1-35 take one. The recording went very well, the majority of the effects needed for the edit were able to be performed live by the actresses, so not much will need to be done in post other than actually piecing the recordings together. I’d also like to thank Naiara and Tim for their help with studio training and Naiara especially for helping us get set up on the day. Due to this, driving the desk was easy, the only real challenge being getting the levels as the actresses naturally drifted away from the mics, but Adelaida also did a good job of getting them to stay in one position.
Post-Production Week One
Due to work commitments, the group haven’t been able to get together. I have, however, been working on the piece and keeping the group updated via group messages. I’ve found that this is an effective way to keep people in the loop and get feedback even while we’re not together. The edit is coming along quite well, the script almost edits itself and the actors having performed the effects live has made the edit much easier. The notes taken by Adelaida and Justine have also helped with the edit process, as the three of us were identifying the best takes meaning that other than picking up a couple of lines, I don’t have to sit and listen to every single piece of audio, although I’ve been listening to most in order to ascertain which ones had the best tone.
Post-Production Week Two
There’s not much to add really, the drama has been progressing nicely. The audio is completely normalised with the FX. I’ve also been helping Sarah with the post-production paperwork as the only member of the group with a radio background. I’m quite pleased with how the edit turned out although I almost wish my group had a more challenging and ambitious script as the edit seemed almost too simple. I’d love to work on something that had a bit more scope for creativity as opposed to two characters sat in one room for the duration of the play.