WEEK 1 (2ND FEB)

This week was mostly dedicated to sorting out the groups, I unfortunately couldn’t be at this session due to work commitments but was immediately updated by my group about our arrangements and what play we had been given.

My role was Producer, which I am very happy with as it means that I can control over the planning and execution of the audio drama. The play we were given was ‘The oven Cleaner’ Which again I was pleased with as it was one of the ones that I enjoyed reading the most! We all agreed that we would immediately read and annotate the scripts in order to all develop our own understanding and ideas, and then I started to work on all the paper work that comes along side of the production side of things.

I am looking forward to getting started properly, and meeting with the group next week to discuss casting and ideas.

WEEK 2 (9TH FEB)

This week we had another lecture in the morning to expand our knowledge on the production of a audio drama, and then proceeded to have group meetings, these mostly focused on casting. I was under the impression that we could take charge with casting our actors and could use the actors contacts that Jeremy had provided if we wished as well.

I luckily come from an acting background and have many contacts within that industry, to which I had contacted three actors and all have replied and expressed interest, if not confirmed. This however wasn’t the case, Jeremy told us that we had to use the actors he had provided. Which in the long run is fine, but I have to say I was a little bit disappointed as this wasn’t made clear, and as a producer on this project I was really excited to engage in that process of making an audio drama. This also meant that I had to cancel the other actors I had already had contact with, which seemed very unprofessional on my part. None the less, the actors that we have been provided look great and am sure will be brilliant.

The rest of the day was spent in our groups processing the script and brainstorming creative ideas as to how we can make it sound like we are in a flat, and that all of the movements are happening. We decided that it might be helpful to actually record some sound in a flat and use that as actuality in the piece. So we have set a date for two weeks, in which we are all going to Sofia’s flat to record.

WEEK 3 (16TH FEB)

This week out of class, I made a start on all the paper work that is required. For example, the contact sheets, Risk assessment, front sheet for the scripts. This weekend session on Friday was a recording session which I again couldn’t attend due to personal issues but am focused on making sure my part is done in time for the recording and hand in. Sofia and I have been trying to make decisions on the style of the piece as there is allot of slap stick style comedy, we weren’t sure if we should make it all quite cartoon like and exaggerate or if we should keep it very naturalistic.

WEEK 4 (23RD FEB)

Today was the first week of recordings for the other groups, Many of my team couldn’t make it in today but Mark and I did have a small production meeting in which we timed the script so that if it was too long Abi could contact to writer regarding cuts. It however wasn’t too long, so we won’t be requiring too much moving around! We also met with Jeremy very quickly to discuss how things are going and if it was okay if we didn’t attend next week as we have our flat recording session.

WEEK 5 (2ND MARCH)

Today we went to Sofia’s flat to record all of our sound effects for the drama, We chose to do this as we wanted to be able to make it all ourself and not have to use external SFX.

Sofia and I had done the majority of the planing ourself and really just had to work our way through the list of SFX. this included doors, tea making, outside actuality, and a head being hit with an iron!

This probably being the most challenging, due to the fact that we weren’t actually going to be able to hit anyone. So we used a cabbage and dropped it onto hard surfaces such as the bottom of a frying pan, a desk, the floor and so on! (I believe later in the editing process mark layered all these sounds together to make it sound realistic). Another challenge was to make the sound of the girls cutting into flesh! For this we used a ripe avocado, and we tried to capture it’s slimy sound on tape. This seemed to work well and we managed to get all of the sounds we needed.

Mark swiftly uploaded them to our google drive, ready for when we needed to edit.

WEEK 6 STUDIO SESSION (9TH MARCH)

This Week was our recording session! In the lead up to this my main role was to prep all the paper work! This including our day schedule, Risk Assessment, contact sheets, front page. This was my main prep for the day of recording. I wanted to be able to create a smooth and relaxed enviroment for Sofia as I know she was nervous, So I chose to sit in with the actors, and be on hand for any prop usage or moving of the sound wall or microphones. I felt over all the session went very well and we ended with plenty of time to spare. It was really great to work with the actors and get to be in a new radio environment that I am not used to.

Below is two versions of the day schedule and recording order:

POST PRODUCTION

These weeks were dedicated to the editing and the paperwork following the recording session. Abbi and I split the work load and worked quickly to produce the Presentation document, SFX List, Music PRS and the Synopsis. We had finished the audio and had multiple sessions where we all listened as a group and gave notes. We had finished and sent our audio on the Wednesday, but Jeremy then informed me that we had to have the cast in the outro of the audio, which was NOT made clear otherwise we would have done that first time round. This then meant that We had to re record and re submit the drama, which was not ideal. But we got it done, Overall I did enjoy this module and felt we did a really good job of putting together a audio Drama considering we hadn’t done it before!!