Week 5

PRODUCING YOUR SCRIPT

Whether your play is being produced in a BBC studio or in a domestic/community space, some basic principals still apply.

The Acoustic Space

This is all important. The recording space needs to be as ‘dead’ as possible. Echo and reverberation can always be added in post-production but they can’t be removed. A BBC drama studio will usually have carpet and acoustical tiles, although there may be some areas designed with hard reflective surfaces. Screens and baffles can also be used to create a particular acoustic. The ‘deadest’ part of the studio is often used to record ‘outdoor’ scenes.

If you haven’t got access to a professional studio, you can improve the acoustics of the room with carpet, rugs, curtains, hangings and soft furnishings. You need to minimise noise outside the room as far as possible.

Some producers opt to record ‘on location’ . Thus if the play is set entirely in a creaky old house or on a boat at sea, they’ll use portable recorders, on the grounds that this technique offers a more naturalistic sound picture and may help actors to enter their roles more effectively. However this method does need careful planning and a degree of luck.

Recording

Most recording now is done digitally rather than on tape. The BBC use computer-based systems like SADIE, many indie audio producers use Pro-Tools, while for the domestic consumer there are various apps like Garage Band for the Apple Mac, or the free download Audacity for either Windows or Mac. 

What all these have in common is that they are multi-track, enabling layers of sound (music or effects) to be added in post-production. The vocal tracks can also be edited or processed as required before all the material is finally mixed down to a master file.

Using Microphones

Microphones have different pick-up characteristics: directional (narrow focus); omni-directional; cardioid (heart shaped  pickup area); ‘figure of eight’ (two pickup areas on either side). The cardoid type is most convenient for actors moving in and out of range. Some consumer mics can be plugged directly into the USB socket on a computer (e.g the Blue Yeti mic, which also has adjustable pickup). Others may need a digital interface unit ( e.g the Focusrite Scarlett 212) to connect  to a computer. 

In a professional studio several mics ( and other sound sources)  can be fed into the  mixing desk in the control room. However, the BBC often use a single mic set-up with the scene’s main performer being front and centre. Mics are usually mounted on a stand, although location recording is sometimes done with binaural mics on the actor’s head.

Working with Actors and Spot Effects

Although it is technically possible to record actors in different spaces or even at different times, and then assemble the various takes in post production, the normal practice is for actors to work together in the same space, as they would on stage.  But there are differences and special challenges. The actor has to suggest physicality and action - without rustling the script. The actor also has to play to an invisible audience, via the mic, while being aware of the mic’s characteristics and avoiding ‘popping’. If actors fluff a line, all they can do is pause, go back to the beginning  of the speech and repeat it. The voice is the actor’s only resource…

Some productions, especially in the BBC, still use ‘spot effects assistants’  ( equivalent to ‘Foley artists’ in the film industry) who perform the actions the characters are supposed to be carrying out in the world of the play. The old studio used for The Archers contained an alcove area with various pots, pans, glasses, bottles etc which could represent Carrie’s kitchen or the public bar at the Bull. Some BBC studios had a short flight of stairs or a door to open and shut. These techniques can still work, but it’s sometimes easier to add them in post-production.