Pre Production 

In the weeks leading up to the recording, I spent time with the team sourcing the post production sound effects and music that we would need. This involved searching on royalty free websites such as freesound.co.uk and BMGproductionmusic.co.uk. I also went through the script outlining the effects that we would be adding in post and the ones that we would do live with the actors such as the sipping from the mugs and the clinks of glasses. 

We also met up on various occasions to go through the script making any changes to stuff that we felt might not work for an audio adaptation and removing them as well as changing the details of location, actors and production crew too. We also read through the script in order to determine any soundscape elements that we might need to take into account on the day of recording such as the proximity in each scene for which we would need to bring in the panels to create a more closed acoustic environment. We also outlined how best to experiment with the atmos in various scenes such as those in the restaurant debating whether to create the atmos ourselves live in the studio or add it in post. We decided that we would try both and pick the best in post production. 

Once we had a lot of this in place, we arranged a recording schedule that we would attempt to meet throughout the session recording the scenes in accordance with the actors in each scene and the easiest way to set up the session. 

Recording

The day of the recording went well, getting everything done quickly and efficiently. We had time to go through all scenes multiple times as well as record a couple takes of the voiceover segments of the play. We were all very pleased with our actors’ ability and cooperation working calmly and effectively in order to achieve the best for the scenes; often willing to try new ways of conducting a scene to involve more elements of improve upon pre-existing ones. My one complaint would be that they did not delve into the digestives.

Post Production 

The week after the recording, the team met up to go through the takes and determine the best of each scene. Once this had been completed, it was down to me to head straight into the compiling of all of audio into a multitrack. It didn’t take long before the play started to take form with all the background atmos and sound effects being thrown in as I went along. Once all the audio was in, it was just left to go through the script and ensure that all the elements had been included as well as making sure that the audio was well placed and timed throughout the piece. I then spent a couple of days occasionally going back to it and making minor changes to make certain parts smoother and ensuring that the overall piece was as professionally edited as possible and achieved the desired affect on the listener.