Radio Drama: Production Log

Radio Drama Introduction
In our radio studio induction where we learnt how to use the radio studio:
- How to set up the microphones
- How to make sure they all record
- How to use Soundtrack Pro.
Although appearing relatively simple, when it came to recording individually we came across a few technical problesm, i.e not recording in other booth, unable to hear eachother and feedback issues, this however, was relatively simply rectified


Recording
With a script ready, we were ready to record. We allocated parts, in correlation to how confident we were with our voices, yet decided we all at least wanted input. Initially, the issue still stood that we were unsure of how to progress with the first scene, for the characters of Gary, Jay and Simon, and were wondering as to whether to get other actors in for it. After dabbling with various accents and natural tones of voice, we finally settled on pitch shifting the characters of Jay and Simon in the editing and to borrow someone for the larger part of Gary. When it came to the major characters, the first thing we did was have a few dry run throughs, getting to grips with not only the script but with the types of people we were to be portraying, allowing ourselves to ad-lib in practice and play about with accent and sociolect to aid a more realistic and natural portrayal.

Next, we opened up Soundtrack Pro and set up our folder so anything we saved would be saved in there on the macs. We did this by:

• Logging in on imedia, opening Soundtrack Pro and continuing through the warning.
• We clicked on 'Preferences' and 'Choose', and changed the heading under 'General' to 'Scratch location and edited media location'.
• We then clicked the recording tab and did the same.
• We had to make sure we always had our work backed up on a memory stick.
• Export as MP3, 192 kbs quality file.

We changed all the settings to record and began to go through some run throughs of the script:

• We pressed 'R' on Track 1 and made sure it was set to 'built in input'.
• The middle lights had to be on green. This made sure the volume was increased on the microphones.

We had to make a note of where the sound effects had to be and, after several tries and being finally in character, managed to get a run through of the drama the way we wanted it. We encountered a few issues with the recording levels and the microphones but after some playing around we managed to record the script without any problems.

We booked a slot in the radio studio to record, as having finalised the outlines and briefing of the script and our respective parts to play. However the issue still stood that we were unsure of how to progress with the first scene, for the characters of Gary, Jay and Simon, and were wondering as to whether to get other actors in for it. After dabbling with various accents and natural tones of voice, we finally settled on pitch shifting the characters of Jay and Simon in the editing and to borrow someone for the larger part of Gary. When it came to the major characters, the first thing we did was have a few dry run throughs, getting to grips with not only the script but with the types of people we were to be portraying, allowing ourselves to adlib in practice and play about with accent and sociolect to aid a more realistic and natural portrayal.


Using Soundtrack Pro, we set ourselves up a separate folder to record all our tracks into one place, not to lose anything, and by our third listen back of recording we found our portrayals much more in tune with the characters at hand.

Admittedly we did find issue with recording levels and equipment but after some playing around we managed to record our script without issue.

Editing: 7th Feb

We started editing our radio drama on the 7th of Febuary; although we initially had issue as we had exported the file into .wav format, as opposed to the usual .mp3. This caused issue due to the amount of time it took to load into Soundtrack Pro and the size of the file.
After 45 minutes waiting, we re-exported the file as an mp3 file, taking another 10 minutes. Unfortunately by doing so the file had exported corrupt, fulled with defects and sections missing and so, we then had to export it from the original source of the studio again, into the correct format this time.
Unfortunately due to this one initial mistake we barely managed to make a date with the editing, however whilst waiting around we made plans of attack for the next session to catch up on what time we missed out on, having decided to each take a scene and edit it seperately; this way we can each focus on the scenes more precisely and also share experience editing and hopefully finish editing it all sooner.

Editing: 10th Feb

Having regulated our mishap and finally having a proper chance to edit, we each settled on a scene to begin editing.

I chose the opening scene, and considering the location and sound effects needed I had to take the following into account:
 - Gary and his friends are in the pub
 - Gary's two friend's voices needed to be pitch shifted
 - Gary's mobile needs a message tone
 - Gary gulps the rest of his pint before leaving

After been shown how to use Soundtrack Pro to edit, e.g the blade tool, lowering and rising volume levels, blending in sound effects. We got on with it, admittedly things were slow to begin with, being unfamiliar with the sound effects available and the software at hand, but over time we got more and more adept at it.

The section I had most trouble with, aside finding the most perfect background accompaniment and individual sound effects, was the pitch shifting of Lisa's and my voices. I had to slice the track and place it onto a second row to then edit using the available effects at hand then play with them accordingly in Pitch Shifter to get the desired effects.

The other scene I did involved phone call, this involved me first of slicing the file into the necessary segments and layering the received conversation on a second track. I then edited via the Channel EQ and finally the Phone Filter Notch, to create the necessary effect. I found I had to raise the decibels as the it came out a fair bit quieter due to the effect applied, the issue raised with doing so meant that all the background noise was magnified also, thankfully due to the need for background sound to set location this masked it.

The clip showing the difference in editing can be found here.

A clip on my editing can be found here.

Listening Party

We held a 'Listening Party', where we listened to our radio drama, as well as others within our group, and provided feedback and constructive criticism on how to approve.

Here is the version we used:

Final version

Following the audience feedback, we re-edited where necessary and here is our final version.