Radio drama production requires an intensity of creative
interpretation during each production stage. The drama process at Independent
Radio Drama Productions is, therefore, separated to ensure that the artist can
enjoy total commitment to his / her roles. These are the stages defined and used
in radio drama produced by IRDP:
1. Writing. The script is read through
with the actors. There is critical analysis and rewriting.
2. Casting
conference
between the writer, director and producer. This is followed by
auditions and further analysis of the casting requirements. It has been said
that a director is only as good as his or her casting. Directors have to take
responsibility for the casting of productions. Actors wrongly cast in parts
should not be blamed for their inability to offer a good performance.
3. Direction and
recording
of the stereo sound stage acting master. This is the recording
of the actual dialogue and script as acted out by the cast in a sound recording
studio. IRDP often does this without the live mixing of atmospheric sound
effects to ensure a total commitment to the creative demands of acting and
direction. The BBC production process tends to mix in the acting with all the
required spot effects and musical and atmospheric noises and tracks indicated in
the script. The BBC process is derived from the tradition of radio dramatic
production built up since the 1920s. Before the wide use of recording tape,
radio dramas would be performed live, so it was necessary to mix in the effects
live with the acting. The BBC also constructed huge radio drama studios to
provide the facility of recreating exterior and interior acoustic environments.
These traditions had many decades to develop before advances in sound technology
provided the option of the digital sound processor which can provide different
acoustic environments at the touch of a button.
A labour intensive production team of drama producer /
director, production secretary, studio manager, studio assistants and sound
effects technicians can combine together to provide a highly efficient method of
recording radio drama. The efficiency of the operation depends on the
preparation of the studio manager and director. It is necessary to prepare tape
bands of effects and music which are long enough to support the dramatic action
of the play. In BBC radio drama studios the effects will very often be played
into the acting studio through a speaker so that the actors are in a position to
pitch their performance to the sound of the drama. It can be argued that the
actor playing King Lear will be in a better position to tell the winds to blow
and rage when he can hear the sounds. On the other hand as radio drama is a
medium of the imagination, it can also be argued that an actor is perfectly
capable of performing without the effects if the right thought has been
established in the actor's mind with the necessary integrity of
characterisation.
The 'Stereo Sound Stage' is a geographical band of space
from left to right picked up by two special microphones that will reproduce in
stereo the action and movements of the actors in that space. It is a bit like a
'rainbow' of sound in front of the two microphones. Single voices and monologues
will be recorded on single microphones. A drama studio can be divided into
sections to create the different ambience of a large room, a small room or an
open air space. Different types of microphones can offer appropriate tonality to
an actor's performance and technical decisions on the use of microphones can be
an intrinsically creative part of the radio drama production. Sometimes the
dramas are recorded in a realistic location in order to produce background sound
and location sound with an exact degree of authenticity. Sometimes radio drama
production requires an 'enhanced sense of reality' and this can only be achieved
by work in a sound studio. The key factor in the success of representing sound
is the way in which the sounds stimulate the imagination. One of the ironies of
sound production is that the realistic actuality sound, say of a car crash, or
of some other event, does not succeed in creating the image intended by the
author, in the mind of the listener.
Sound technology has advanced so quickly in recent years
that a small black box with silicon chips can now process dialogue and speech
and place it in hundreds of different ambient environments. Digital synthesizers
and multi-track processors can now originate sound, mix and then separate to
start all over again.
4. Selection and
critical analysis of musical themes and
musical enhancement of the radio drama. This involves the writer, producer and
director exploring vast libraries of compact discs (and possibly still old vinyl
records), or commissioning composers to produce original scores. This involves
originating musical productions with musicians. IRDP's classical dramatisations
contain music specially recorded for the adaptations, and original compositions
by musicians / composers such as
Alan Gibbs and
Leo de Bono who have both worked
closely with IRDP on a number of occasions.
5. Post
production
planning and discussion to establish a 'sound philosophy' for
the individual production. This involves defining the surrealistic, subconscious
and background sound conventions of the play.
6.
Multi-tracking post production.
This involves strict almost mathematical planning, timing and
disciplined experimentation so that individual tracks of sound can be balanced
and mixed in different ways until a particular harmony of sound sources is
achieved. 'Multi-tracking' has become a well-established technique of sound
production in the film and music industry. It involves a wide form of recording
tape which is divided into eight, sixteen or twenty four or more single sources
of sound.
An 'eight track' sequence would probably be divided into
four pairs of stereo tracks. A stereo source requires two tracks to reflect the
left and right polarities of sound direction. An eight track multi-track machine
would therefore record on to the tape four different types of stereo sources.
These would include, for example:
Tracks 1 and 2 - Stereo music
Tracks 3 and 4 - Stereo sound
effects e.g. atmosphere of a railway station
Tracks 5 and 6 - The stereo
sound of the actors' words and movements
Tracks 7 and 8 - The stereo
sound of special incidental sound effects, e.g. the sound of a railway station
tannoy announcement, or an ambulance driving into the station.
7. Final
editing.
This can involve restructuring the plot of the drama by
changing the sequence of scenes. Editing can also affect the pace and rhythm of
the drama by determining the length of pauses and changes from scene to scene.
It could be argued that any director who undertook significant structural
changes to the play in post-production and editing would be undermining the
moral rights of the author. There would be an ethical issue.
8. The impact of digital
technology.
Digitalisation of sound recording and mixing techniques has
had a revolutionary impact on the political economy and democratic ownership of
the means of production in audio drama. Affordable portable digital audio tape
and digital mini-disc machines mean that directors and producers can record
cheaply and effectively on location. The key to success is a combination of
knowledge, technique and qualitative microphones. If period plays are being
produced the interference of modern traffic and airline traffic can be a
problem. The accelerating development of the PC means that qualitative software
packages for sound editing can reduce the studio infrastructure to a cost of
around £2,000 and the space of a desk! Sophisticated multi-track and
Hollywood film industry quality production is within the grasp of the
individual audio / auteur artist and the small production unit. Furthermore,
audio drama through production and transmission on the web is realisable as a
practice / theory project for College and University students. High quality
sound cards combined with surround sound encoders and decoders offer the
opportunity to produce audio plays in cinematic surround sound. This virtual
reality experience can be broadcast via the Internet and World Wide Web, without
the problem of access to licenced and politically controlled radio services. The
Internet offers the audience a liberation in choice. The Internet listener can
choose when and for how long to listen. The delivery of 'Real Audio' sound
depends on modem speed - sound files encoded for ISDN lines deliver stereo sound
which is near to CD quality, and 28.8 modems are able to deliver stereo of a
slightly reduced quality, whereas the sound files for 14.4 modems are in mono
format.
IRDP's website offers real audio sound files of audio drama
- please see our home page for
details.
