Pre-production

For this assignment, I took on the role of Production Coordinator and shared the role of script editor with Joe for the play Shape of You (group one). The first weeks of production the team read through the script and discussed the changes we would be making. These included some of the sound effects and background music in the play, as well as some atmosphere locations. Notes were taken on the sound effects that we would do live and which ones we would include post-production. Some sound effects were pre-downloaded in order to grasp a better idea on what we would be working with.

As a production coordinator, I was in charge of contacting the actors. Informing them of time and location of the recording day, their character profiles as well as a copy of the script for them to pre-read if they desired. I also outlined a recording schedule, two options were discussed among the group. First, record scene by scenes in order and secondly, record all scenes including the same characters and then record the remaining of the scenes with the different characters. We all agreed that the second option would run smoother and would be more comfortable for the characters, as well as effective. I roughly calculated how long each scene would take us and got a schedule ready for the big day.

Recording

Early morning on the day of the recording, I checked in on all actors to confirm their ETA. Once they arrived, Kate read through the scripts with them and went through the schedule. All the actors were extremely professional and talented during the rec session, and we were very pleased as a team to have gotten such lovely actors. Every scene was recorded on average three times, actors were very cooperative and included all changes suggested to accomplish the best takes. I documented all takes and included short notes to each in order to keep track and stay on time. Everything went by smoothly and quicker than expected, we were able to give the actors a short break and finished everything on time.

Post Production

The team met up the following weeks from our recording session. Joe put together the best takes and added in the special effects and music. Drafts were sent back and forth, making minor adjustments such as longer silence breaks, less volume on background music and alternative special effects. Finally, we were all happy with the final piece and turned our best work in. This experience overall was rewarding as I had no experience in either roles in the past. Having a team that was well educated in radio production was very helpful and I got to learn and grow a lot from them.