Wednesday, 21 November 2012

LO4



Pre-Production Schedule


Casting:


Freddie Goring (Myself) – Narrator


I am going to narrate the production. This is because I have written and designed the concept of the radio drama and therefore knows it better than anyone else. This way I’ll be able to set the correct tone for the production.


Zac Millward – Castro, Gunther, Snoop and Howard


I have chosen Zac to do the voice of these characters due to his versatile range of accents.  This makes him perfect for these three characters as they include a Russian, German and afro American accent.


Ryan Gault – Sargent. Snips


After knowing Ryan for almost 2 years, I know that he can create a good obnoxious voice. This makes him perfect to portray the voice of the angry crab in the radio drama.


Locations:
I am going to record all my radio dramas dialogue at The HENLEY College recording studio. To record all my ambient noises I will either go out and record them myself or collect them from the internet on license free sound effects websites.

If the room that I am going to record in is unavailable, I will have to contact a member of staff that will be able to arrange another time. However, I have checked the dates and everything should run smoothly.







Recording equipment list:

To record all the voices and various foliage sounds, I will use a Zoom H2. I will need a tri-pod stand to keep the Zoom H2 still and reduce any unwanted sound.
I will also need a windshield for when I’m recording any sounds effects outside. If any, it will block out the wind and make the recordings more professional.

Prop List for Foliage Sounds

Prop
Sound Effect
Newspaper
Opening and dropping newspaper
Scissors
Crab snipping
Phone
Ringing Phone
Crisps
Treading on crisps

Any other sounds effects will be downloaded from www.freesound.org where all the sound effects ar copyright free.

Contingency Plan

If only Zac is available to the recordings he has agreed to do all the voices. He has a great range of voices that will work well for my radio drama.
If the recording studio is unavailable, I will record in either one of the practice rooms or the hall. Preferably the practice rooms would be a better for sound proofing the environment and achieving a higher quality.

Production Schedule:

Dates
Tasks
30th November
Record all voices for characters and narrator
1st December
Record all the foliage sounds. Download any sound effects.
19th December
Final edit of the radio drama and show audience for feedback.
21st December
Improve elements received in feedback.


Feedback
  • Howard - American?
  • Levels drop on narrator in tattoo parlour
  • Differentiate the chracters
  • More SFX
  • Add Snips' 'snippers' to 'move it' section
  • Treading on crisps SFX

Good Aspects:
  • Voiceovers
  • Narrator
  • Funny
  • Animate through vocals
  • Edited well
To Add:
  • Jingle to show different between night and day
  • Add voices/sounds to into scene


Production Diary:
30th November – I recorded all the voices for the characters and the narrators. Ryan wasn’t available so Zac did all the voices. Fortunately, he did this incredibly and to a high standard.

1st December – I went out with the Zoom H2 and recorded all the foliage sounds. These included the newspaper, the scissors and the phone ringing. As well as this I did some research on www.freesound.org and found other copyright free sound effects.

19th December – I did all the editing for my production Premiere Pro. After it was edited and exported I showed it to an audience of my target age group. I was pleased with the feedback I received and the constructive criticism.

21st December – I went over my feedback and improved elements that were picked up on during the initial showing. This meant adding to the script and recording more dialogue. Zac was available and it was done within an hour. I then re-edited it and exported my final version. 





Evaluation – Radio Drama



Overall I am extremely pleased with the outcome of my radio drama. I really enjoyed planning, creating and working with an idea that I have had for a long time. Having the roots of an idea made to whole process of making the radio drama more interesting and exciting. Elements of the drama that I feel went well were the characters (and their biographies), the script, the use of certain sound effects and the theme tune. Amongst these those things, I believe the real success of the radio drama boils down to the storyline. It took a lot of planning and brainstorming to produce a suitable plot that involved all the characters, as well as keeping it interesting and engaging for the audience. Although I believe the overall production was a success, there were still some parts of the drama that weren’t as successful and could be improved. For example, the scene where all the characters are introducing themselves, they should all give an indication of recognition when introduced. This would make it easier for the audience to understand which character had which voice. Without this it could (and did) become slightly confusing for the audience to understand who is talking. Furthermore, adding this element would give the production a more professional style, something I really tried to achieve.



After receiving feedback I decided to go over and revise the script to make some necessary changes. This was mostly to rid anything that could be confusing to the audience. Another thing that I wanted to add was a jingle or a sound effect to indicate the change over from night to day. It wasn’t that it was confusing to understand in the production but it would give it a more professional quality within the overall production. A lot of the feedback I received was very positive and interesting to listen to.



If given the chance to redo the radio drama I would still keep to the basic idea I had to begin with. This is due to all the positive feedback I received about the characters and their personalities. The things I would change would be more to do with the use of sound effects and character introductions. The sound effects I used were goo but some of them were slightly too loud, making it hard to hear either the narrator or the character talking. There was also plenty of room for other sound effects when necessary, for example; treading on crisps, opening doors and getting into bed.



As a whole the production seemed to be popular amongst my target audience which was one of the main things I kept in mind whilst creating it. As happy as I am with it there is definitely room for improvement to drama to give the professional style I really wanted to accomplish.


Bibliography



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