Radio Play Production

Pre-Production Work

Before the production started. I had to do two things.

First of all I had to think about what comes into mind when 'audio' is mentioned and what sound could be heard by me in the room.

Audio:

• Microphone - Used to record the audio (speech, instruments & other sounds etc.)
• Music - Vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.
• Sound Effects - Any sound, other than music or speech, artificially reproduced to create an effect in a dramatic presentation, as the sound of a storm or a creaking door.
• Narration - A spoken/written script of connected events such as a story or life event.
• Instruments - An object or device used to produce musical sounds.
• Vocals - Usually referred as part of a piece of music that is sung.
  Radio - The activity or industry of broadcasting sound programmes to the public as well as a station or channel.

Sounds around me:

This was later followed by some research on radio plays in general and to find an example of radio drama, have a listen to it and then label what sounds can be heard in them.

What does it consists of?

A radio play consists of preferably drama being scripted and recorded via audio in a studio. It is then broadcasted on mainly radio, but it can also be accessible on other forms of audio media which includes CD, tapes or maybe even downloadable formats.

What can be heard?

Example

• Speech - Actors reading out a written/rehearsed script.
• Music/Instruments - Either pre recorded or played live for the actual recording.
• Footsteps - Shoes used to be tapped on either gravel or a floor board etc.
• Environment - Either pre recorded sounds of the outside or recorded live in the studio along with the dialogue.
• Doors opening/closing - A door being opened and closed which was probably recorded live in the studio.
• Crowd - Pre recorded sound of people at a bar, club or other environment.

Coming up with ideas

This was the stage where I had to come up with ideas for the radio play. This consisted of what then setting, scenario and what sounds could be used for the production.

Setting

Kitchen in a Detached House

Scenario

Two students settling at one’s home during lunch a college day. They discuss a film production project they’ve been doing. The two talk about what could be done for the rest of it.

Sound

Recording

• Zoom H4n digital recorder
• Shotgun mic
• Headphones

Sound (Prerecorded/recorded/sampled)

• Doors - Panel doors being opened and close.
• Cupboards - Doors closing & opening.
• Drinks - Bottles of drinks being opened and close as a sound representative.
• Glasses - sound of drinks being poured and drunk.
• Wooden floor - Footsteps, (wooden legged) chairs.
• Bag(s) being opened - Use of a Zipper or Velcro.
• Notebook - Pages being turned.
• Paper bags/wrapping - Use of a sound of scrunching & rustling would come into this.

Script Writing

The script being written out in a 'radio play' format in Celtx:

Sound effects

Some of the props used to create some of the sound effects for the play were either unavailable or difficult to get hold of due to the lack of time every had on their hands, additional sound effects would be grabbed from sites like YouTube or other websites that provided free to use audio.

The method I used was to find a video containing the sound effect, download it and then record it as an audio file on the 'djay' iPhone app. The recording were later saved into a Google Drive folder.

The recording labelled 'Nothing At All' was neither used or related to the play as it was something I have had in my recordings months before.

The Recording & Editing

On March 18th 2015, this was the day of the recording, the characters for the play were played by Ella Perkins and Nico Mussel. Joe Baldwin also helped out with the background sound effects that we were able to perform for the play whilst it was being recorded.

A week later, the recording was added onto Logic Pro along with the additional sound effects being added on. This was also where transitions, volume adjustments and other forms of adjustment to audio sound come in.

The Final Play

Peer Assessment

"It is well done but I think something more exciting could happen as it is a bit dull to listen too and could've used more extra sounds."

"Well made and put together but can be abit slow."

"Pros:

The sound effects are good

It feels like a proper environment

Cons:

A bit boring to listen too

Some sound effects are too loud"

"The acting could be a bit happier because it seems like they are mumbling a bit but the play is long and the sound effects fit the play well."

"The acting seemed quite dull and not to full potential."

"I didn’t fully know what the setting of the story was. It sounded like a meeting of some sort. Characters sounded slightly flat, not much effort put into them and a couple of the sound effects sounded a little rushed."

"Was okay, found myself feeling a bit bored halfway through and it went on for too long. Sound effects did not really fit in very well and sounded distorted compared to the original recording."

Evaluation

What went well?

• The sound effects required were easy to find.
• All audio was put together easily.
• Methods to help the final play sound smoother were available and came out good.

What didn’t go well?

• The actors sounded completely bored which made the play a bit boring for some people to listen to.
• Some of the dialogue wasn’t executed how I wanted no matter how many times I explained to the actors.
• I did criticise and give advice, but it was not accepted.
• Some of the dialogue was getting either quieter or louder at times. Possibly due to the play being recorded on a single microphone.
• Background noises from other rooms could be heard.

What would I do next time?

• Have a better microphone setup (use two or maybe more mics) to help the dialogue sound better.
• Find actors who know how to sell out a personality and emotion.
• Record the play in a room that keeps the noise out.

Mobile Phone Short Film Production

Treatment

Film Title:

The Exchange

Genre: Drama

Plot Synopsis:

It’s in the year 2026 and mobile phones users are not in the know that phones and other electronic devices are being hacked and used to record everybody’s movement and speech. The government is failing to act and data from the devices is being used to blackmail individuals, leading to stories being published in the media. An insider will meet up with a blogger and will hand over a device and the evidence which could blow the whole thing.

Character Breakdown:

Blogger - Who will be handed the evidence and pay money in exchange.

Insider - The one who meets the blogger and hand over the evidence.

Target Audience:

-16-30 age range

-Tech enthusiasts

-People who like Drama

Audio:

Shotgun Mic/Boom


Storyboards

To create the storyboards for the film I searched on Google for 'storyboard templates', had a pick of which one I thought would be the best to use and printed a few copies out.

The images were hand drawn into each frame with a desription of the scene under each frame.


Shot List (no particular order):
Medium Shots
Side Shots
Close Ups
Long Shots
Two Shots
Extreme Long Shot







Recce

Location: Green Park, Bath

Photos:


Advantages:

• Quiet area (not really any people there during the time).
• Fits the requirements for the plot synopsis.

Disadvantages:

• Close to construction work so could lead to possible background noise.
• Potentially poor weather conditions.

Day of Filming

The filming took place at Green Park on Wednesday 28th January. Aaron Hopper was playing the role of the Blogger, Ben Oakes was playing as the Insider. And Shan Doherty made a last appearance as someone spying on the two during the conversation.

Ben and Aaron reading the script.

Rehearsal before the upcoming shot.


Self-Evaluation

Pros/What Went Well

• The location was local and easy to get to.
• All of what was needed was easy to find and use.
• I mostly got exactly what I wanted for the final film from the camera angles and the actors.
• Managed to get nice and sharp shots.

Cons/What Didn't Go Well

• Even though the actors spoke up, there was to much wind. Meaning the microphone struggled to hear what they were saying.
• Shan had no idea how to 'stare in disbelief'. In this case expectations weren't met by reality.
• Between each clip were changes in background noise. Meaning I had to apply an 'Exponential Fade' transition between the clips' audio to help it sound smoother all together.

During the filming, some of the shots were a bit out of focus. Could have been down to the light coming onto the back of Ben's head.

Skills Development

I didn't feel there was much new that I have learnt. Hence that I have had previous experience from previous college task and whilst in past education and spare time. I also know how to work my way around editing tools that are new or relatively new to me.

Although if there's one skill I would say I've developed, it would be how to deal with background noise and use audio transitions to make it sound more smooth.

How did Pre-Production effect Production/Post-Production?

I don't feel there's anything to this really. I felt Production/Post-Production met nearly all of the requirement from Pre-Production.

The Final Film

Peer Assessment 

Aaron Hooper:

• Great acting from everyone in film
• Good use of music
• Effects used on title fitted perfectly with the music
• Nice story, especially with the small twist at the end
• Great variety of camera shots and angles

Kerri McKenna:

• Really well put together shots
• Some of the shots were out of focus though
• I really like the second shot
• The bit when Shan comes in, at first I wasn’t really sure what was happening, but then I saw the other too walking away from each other, maybe you could of got Shan sat a little closer to them.
• The title sequences are really good.
• Overall, really good film, well done!

John Brennan-Craddock:

•  Great acting 
• The music was very fitting to the themes of the film
• Great twist at the end
• The talking was hard to hear in some places

Shan Doherty:

There were some issues with continuity, where people appeared in shots. Also some of the dialogue was a bit quiet. The shots were good and in focus and the scenery was nice.

Abi Ringham:

• Good use of shots
• Nice location
• Storyline fits well
• Dodgy sound
• Some shots are blurry
• Titles & Credits made it look professional.

Ruben Goodman:

• Good use of music
• All shots were good quality 
• Wide range of shots
• Could not hear some of it
• Good script

The Abandoned Work

Before this version of the project was started. There was another piece of work that was done.

The reason why I chose to abandon this work was because I was not happy with how it was set out. I also didn't feel it met the requirements of what the brief was originally after. To add to it, it would NOT be something I would be proud to film, nor would it be something I would be proud to show off.

But after going through this process in the project, I feel like it has helped me develop the skills to find time and come up with alternatives that will fit in with the requirements that the brief was looking for. Also, this helped me learn from my mistakes and to make me think twice before getting to carried away with the project so that the materials for it won't be irrelevant to the brief.

Camera Shots (Video)

On December 3rd, me Joe, Ben and Kerri went out to the Royal Victoria Park area to get a selection of camera shots including...

Wide shot - x3
Close up - x3
Over head should shot - x3

After the filming, the footage we got was edited into Adobe Premier.

The 180 Rule

180 rule

 

'The 180-degree rule' is a basic guideline in the film making industry that regards the on-screen spatial relationship between one character and another character or even an object within a scene. An imaginary line referred to as the axis connects the characters, and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character is always frame right of the second character, who is always then frame left of the first. If the camera passes over the axis it is called jumping the line or crossing the line.

For example, in a dialogue scene between two characters, Daniel (orange shirt, frame left in the diagram) and Lucas (blue shirt, frame right), the camera may be placed anywhere on the green 180° arc and the spatial relationship between the two characters will be consistent from shot to shot, even when one of the characters is not on screen. Shifting to the other side of the characters on a cut, so that Lucas is now on the left side and Daniel is on the right, may disorient the audience.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180-degree_rule)