By Claire Mullen

Production processFor audio recording

Pre-production is the phase that happens before recording beings. During pre-production as an actor your main involvement will probably only be auditioning for the radio drama. If you receive the role than looking at and signing a contract and possibly attending a read through of the script, however having even one rehearsal is unlikely according to Industry professional Peter Greenall who having come in to run a workshop with us said that if you were to successfully get the role, you would be lucky to even get the script a couple of weeks before recording never mind a rehearsal.

What can you do as an actor?As an audio actor who has been given a role within a production, there is little you can do during the pre-production phase. Before production begins, as soon as you have received your script or scripts if it’s a series, read through it a few times making simple notes on the scenes your involved in as you go. This shows professionalism as you are preparing ahead of recording, it also will help ensure you don’t go in blind with no real sense of direction. A marked script that you’ve looked at and gone over will ensure recording runs smoother and quicker, lessoning the risk of having to stop as a result of uncertainty.

If you have a main role within the piece you can even email the director/producer with any questions you may have or simply asking them what they think of your interpretation e.g I interpreted my character was eager when talking to this character, what do you think?

Peter went on to tell us he had done this when preparing for the BBC Radio Drama Hood, where he played little John.

Pre-Production (actor)

◦ During the pre-production stage as an actor a schedule will be devised based on when you are available to record. The director/producer and other members of the team will create a schedule and plan based on each actors own availability.

◦ Radio dramas will often be recorded out of sequence or out of order and so you may find yourself recording the end of the play or episode first. This will be a combination of availability as an actor with other factors being the length of the particular scene or the complexity of it.

◦ Availability: The actors selected will not all be available at any one time, as Peter informed us, when recording the people present will be Director, sound recorder/engineer, a couple of producers and there is a possibility of another actor, however often you may find yourself acting alone, with perhaps one of the people present simply reading in the part for other characters in a scene.

◦ As an actor having a marked script shows professionalism as it tells the director they have looked at their script ahead of time and have an idea of how to perform the role already. If you emailed the director and got their thoughts it shows enthusiasm for the role as well as a desire to perform the role to the directors wishes. Doing these kinds of things in advance will help the production run smoother because you will already have an idea of what is happening within the scene and your characters objective and emotions within the scene. If you did not make notes or look at the script beforehand you will not have a clear understanding of the scenes context or sub-context, you will be performing a cold-reading. This can lead to mistakes happening like tripping over words or missing pauses and as a result a section that may of taken 5 takes most could take 10+. Not having a marked script or a rough idea of characterization also shows unprofessionalism, it implies that you don’t care about the production and as a result can cause you to have a bad relationship with the director and fellow production members and makes it less likely for you to get hired again.

Production (Actor)

Headphones + Microphone technique

When recording at DCAS as actors when we were in the recording space, recording we were required to wear headphones.The reason we were required to wear headphones was inorder to hear instructions from the audio personnel working inthe control room at the time, as well as each other when soloOr duo recordings were taking place. The reason it wasImportant for us to be able to hear them as actors is becauseIf they were offering any feedback or making suggestions wewould need to follow them. These instructions were simpleThings such as can you step away a bit from the mic, or canyou lean close to the mic. This is a type of microphonetechnique. You’ll find within recording depending on the angle you are facing the mic at or the distancewill effect the overall performance.

An example of this was in the group production I was in called ‘When I lived in Peru’ there is a Tanzanian market scene in which there are many sellers and people while Martin the main characters walks through. The focus is on him and so the sound matches what he would hear. As sellers we would start near the mic then slowly move away from it calling out, this created the effect as though we were trying to prevent him from leaving.

Sound example (lee running) Tanzania

Another example, is when Lee was playing a citizen from Tanzania who ran after stealing Martin’s camera. While in the control room acting as recorder/director, I suggested Lee move away from the mic as he ‘runs’ to create the effect of slowly moving away.

Home RecordingIf you are doing home recording you can still create the same effect depending on the microphone, I would recommend compression microphones as they are the type of microphones often used in studios and for audio recording. Make sure there is some type of pop screen or cover for the mic. This will help prevent peaks within the audio.

◦ If you are just starting out or producing your own work, then you will also be involved in the work of Audio personnel. This includes Sound Engineer/recorder, producer, editor. Some of these may follow some of the same roles in the over all audio production.

◦ As a member of the audio personnel you are responsible for setting up the equipment before recording begin. This includes setting up the computers in which the sound is recorded onto, setting up the mic stands and mics themselves placing them in the correct positions, plugging them into the correct socket, and setting up the headphones and script stands for the actors. And patching in. If anyone of these steps did not occur then the recording session could end up on hold while they set it up and as a result cause the recording fall behind schedule.

◦ If you’ve booked a studio for a certain amount of time you want to aim to get the planned recordings done in that time, falling behind could result in not all scenes that were meant to be recorded during that session being recorded as a result and you may end up having to book another session and spending more money than initially intended.

Production (audio personnel)

◦ It is important for both a director and actor to have a clear grasp on signals and language within audio recording. As an actor when you are being asked to try something out for example. “the script says (CLOSE)” this means you are closer to the mic or “(OFF) but I heard her say..” off means they want the actor to say the line facing away from the mic, it is the equivalent of theatres off-stage.

◦ Signals and language will change depending on who you are as well as the director you work with and the studio you work in, so it is important to also be adaptable and quick on the uptake of new language.

◦ If you didn’t understand the signals or language as an actor then you would not understand what to do when given tips or feedback, this can result in multiple takes before having a take the director likes and wants to use.

Signals + language

◦ The editing process happens during post-production, this is when the final takes are chosen edited together in order of appearance, sound-effects and music are added as well as cleaning up the final recordings and editing the sound ready for broadcast.

◦ Mixing and Mastering◦ The mixing process, is the process of ordering all the tracks into the correct order as well as

adding layers of audio e.g sound effects, music. During this process you will select the chosen tracks and order them according to the script. You will then proceed to add the needed sound-effects or music.

◦ Prep: It is important that all sound-effects and music are selected before production beings as well as having the different pieces of audio ready for when it comes to mixing.

◦ Once everything is edited together, you must now look at the individual tracks and sound effects.◦ Fade in/Fade out: Adding the fade in and out is simply adding a fade into the sound and a fade

out. It makes the track sound smoother and less clippie. For sound effects that build up it can also make them have a more believable build up.

(Tromp, 2011)

Editing Process

◦ Compression: in this process you are making the dynamic range between the quietist and loudest parts of audio, smaller. You do this by reducing the louder signals and boosting the quieter ones. Through compression you are able to bring the perceived volume up.

◦ Controls of compression◦ Threshold: this is how loud the volume of the signal needs to be before you begin compressing.◦ Ratio: this effects how much compression is applied to the track. An example of this is if the ratio for

compression were set to 6:1, the input signal will be required to cross the Threshold by 6dB in order for the output level to increase by 1 dB

◦ Attack – the speed in which the compression starts working.◦ Release – how long it takes for the compressor to stop after the signal drops below the threshold◦ Knee – this sets up how the compressor will react to signals once they have passed the threshold.

Hard Knee: clamps signal straight away. Soft Knee: compression starts more gently as the signal gradually goes passed the threshold.

◦ Make-Up Gain – this lets you boost the compression signal.◦ Output – this lets you boost or reduce the level of the signal output coming from the compressor.

(Vincent, 2012)

Compression

◦ In audio recording frequency equalization, abbreviated to EQ is the process of shaping an audio source through the reduction of it’s signal or the addition of certain frequencies, as well as balancing and adjusting the pieces of audio.

(Jones, 2013)◦ Why do we need to edit?◦ Without editing you can not get a final piece together. It is important to edit tracks so that they are ready for

broadcasting over radio, no one wants to listen to an out of order radio drama with a big gap between scenes. Editing is something necessary to process.

◦ Adding in sound-effects helps create an image, although you only hear voices, you need to let the audience imagine what is there and where the characters are. It gives a more realistic and imaginative feel to the piece.

◦ When adding sound effects you also need to adjust the volume making sure the sound effects are at a high enough volume to be heard while still being able to hear dialogue and making It sound natural within the scene.

◦ When I was editing Flash Gordon, I listened to the level of the sound-effects and the edited piece through headphones, the result meant that the sound-effects weren’t loud enough and didn’t immerse the listener into the scene. I feel this happened partly due to me using headphones, as my headphones picked up the sound louder then it would be had it been on the radio or without headphones. The result was, that we could not properly hear every sound effect and sometimes missed them completely if they weren’t playing on their own.

Equalization

BibliographyCrook, T., 1999. Radio Drama: Theory and practice. London: Routledge.Jones, C., 2013. music tutsplus tutorials basics of equalization. [Online] Available at: http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/the-basics-of-equalization--audio-16587[Accessed 29 June 2016].Tromp, H., 2011. music tutsplus a basic guide to mixing and mastering audio. [Online] Available at: http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/a-basic-guide-to-mixing-and-mastering--audio-11038[Accessed 30 June 2016].Vincent, S., 2012. music tutsplus the beginners guide to compression. [Online] Available at: http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/the-beginners-guide-to-compression--audio-953[Accessed 30 June 2016].