Sunday, May 9, 2010

Our evolution process

I can’t believe that this project is drawing to a close. It’s been an adventurous semester in which Sipho and I have worked, experimented and learnt together in a great participatory production with the Egazini Outreach Project. While the beginning stages were tough and finding our footing proved more difficult than we expected, I am thrilled with how things have all come together.


Three of three episodes have been recorded and edited...something I am glad to say we were able to achieve. Listening back on the material we have produced over the past few weeks I am able to say that our work has improved ten fold from when we started. We were able to refine the scripting process as well as the content of the scripts. Our initial plan was to work with the performers in developing the plot and lines of the drama, but since clashing time tables made this difficult, Sipho and I took on the task of writing the scripts in the hope that our workshops and journalistic fieldwork into the subject would guide us. Not only did the actual process evolve, but so did the content we produced. After years and years of focusing our attention on academic writing, we found that it took time to find our creative sides again.

Much like the scripting process, the recording process became easier as the weeks went by. It became easier both for us as media producers and for the performers themselves. As we became more invested in the project, Sipho and I began to take pride in and authority of what we were creating. This meant that it became easier for us to use our audio skills acquired through our courses to guide the performers in terms of recording quality material. After recording and editing episode 1, we became aware of certain areas that we needed to improve on. These included particularly keeping a constant ear out for popping sounds, high levels, distracting background sounds, mic distances and the need to have at LEAST two takes of all scenes. Not only were Sipho and I improving our production skills, but the actors became increasingly familiar with the techniques needed to produce a quality production. They relaxed and realised the beauty of a non-live performance. Mistakes didn’t matter, we could edit everything!

Lastly, I feel that the episodes have improved from the first to the last in terms of my editing skills. Editing an audio drama means being able to use Adobe Audition’s multi-track rather well. Starting off, to put together the recorded scenes, narration, ambient sounds and music took considerably longer than it did by episode 3. Putting together episode 1 took me well over an hour to finish, but by the time I edited episode 3 I found myself much more at ease with Adobe and using much less time to complete the editing process.

I feel that if this project went further than this term, we would have the opportunity to develop these skills for radio drama even more.

No comments:

Post a Comment