The Making of a Radio Production
The making of a radio production is much like any other dramatic production. First you have the selection of the play. And then you have the casting. Thus far same old stuff!
This is where it becomes a little different! First, and you will be glad to hear this - you DON’T have to learn the lines. What you do have to do is have a very good working knowledge of it. This is so that when the actual recording takes place you don’t sound like you are reading it. Some actors do learn the script but lots don’t! There is a series of read-throughs to get the sense of the play and then blocking begins. This is different to blocking on stage as this will revolve around the microphones assigned to each actor. The reason for this is to give the listener a three dimensional image of what is happening. So if you are ‘coming into a room’ you would start a point away from the mike and then move toward it. Marks can be placed on the floor to show where the actor should be and these would correspond and in a stage play to points in the script. The above process can take as little or as long as the cast likes, within reason! There will be new techniques to master as the cast will be, in all probability, dealing with a new medium but these are not difficult and with a little practice become second nature. Recording, within the constraints of your business and personel situation, should take place on a Sunday afternoon/ early evening. This is so that the final rehearsals can take place on Saturday and again on Sunday so that the cast is ‘hot’ and ready for the final recording session. Some things to note. Just because it is being recorded it is far better to treat the situation as live. This way the cast does not relax and the production will flow better and have that all important edge that differentiates a rehearsal from a performance. There will be post production work to top and tail the production with an intro and an outro and to cut any ‘bad’ mistakes. Also cast members might be called in the re-record sections. It is usual to have the sound FX’s ‘spun’ in as the production is being recorded but it is also easy to add them later. There you go. Not hard and a great deal of fun. |       |
