Recording Alan,Carrie and The Train Conductor 02/05/2013

Recording

Microphones Used:-

1. Neumann U87 x 2
2. AKG C414 x 1 (Used For Guide Track)

The Recording took place at 13.00 Pm and was finished by 15.00 Pm. 

Voice Actors

Gary Duncan portrays Alan (13.00 Pm - 15.00 Pm)

Maggie Pentcheva portrays Carrie (13.00 Pm- 15.00 Pm)

Irvine Cruickshank portrays the Train Conductor (15.30 Pm - 16.00 Pm)

Gary and Maggie were the first to be recorded, using the record and rehearse method. They were given the opportunity to read through the script several times between takes in order to help build their characters and make the lines of dialogue flow more naturally when spoken. Unlike the professional actors they required more read throughs to become familiar with the script. 

Irvine was recorded last, lending his voice to the Train conductor. Due to his natural ability to act well, he took less time to record than the other two actors, providing several takes within roughly half an hour. 

All Actors were recorded using the same method as used with Archie and Chrissie to make the recordings as consistent as possible.  

Organising the Radio Drama.

The multiple takes were lined up in a separate session to be arranged. The best lines were separated from each recording and combined into one session for further editing and mixing.

Train Passing Recording

Recording Time: The recording took place at 11.40 pm on 01/05/2013. 

Location: The recording engineer lived near a railway banking between Kirkclady and Ladybank.

Train Times were looked into from between 11 pm and 12 pm and the session was left in record until a train sound was captured.  The recordings took place late at night to minimise outside noise from distant traffic, this also prevented other sounds from being captured such as animals etc. 

Several Attempts to capture trains previously had failed due to gain levels on the recording equipment and the microphone positioning. However after a small amount of trial and error the recording was successfully captured. 

The technique used to capture the sound was a stereo spaced pair of SE Electronic SE1A microphones.

The Microphones were placed at an open window as opposed to being placed directly outside of the house as it stopped any wind creating noise during the recording.  

During the recording there was a slight creaking sound captured which was created from the wooden window ledge where the microphones were situated. The vibrations created when the train passed by cause the window frame to vibrate slightly causing a quick but noticeable sound, therefore the audio was cut slightly to remove the unwanted effect. 

Train Passing (Recording, Stereo)

https://soundcloud.com/group-2a/train-passing-recording

Train Passing (Edit, Stereo)

https://soundcloud.com/group-2a/train-passing-stereo

Train Passing (Edit, Mono)

https://soundcloud.com/group-2a/train-passing-mono

Studio Session 01/05/13

Objectives of the session were-

• Rough placement and editing (where required) of ambiance tracks
• Choose and begin placement of Archie and Chrissie's dialogue
• Record the security guard, train worker and tannoy announcement
• Record and edit any other sound effects required
• Create music for the end credits/trailer

We began the session today recording some of the minor roles:

Security Guard

I was performing the part of the security guard, using the Neumann U87 I stood arms length from the microphone and delivered the lines. The part will be heavily processed at the beginning during post production as it will be this vocal that brings Archie out of his thought during scene 8.

Train Worker

Campbell's friend Scott came in to play the role of the train worker. We began by getting Scott to approach the Neumann U87 from the other side of the room, ad-libbing (asking people if they want drinks etc). We done this to make ensure his approach within the drama sounded natural, as it could be tricky to automate it accurately using panning, filters and level automation. We then had him position himself arms length from the microphone and perform his lines. It was not a huge part so after a few takes we were happy.

Train Tannoy

Originally we were intending on recreating or recording an automated tannoy announcement, however it was decided, to speed up production we would change the part to that of a driver speaking through an intercom. I recorded the line and then we put an EQ on the audio, added a high pass and a low pass filtre and added some distortion to make the audio sound like it was coming out of a small speaker.

The rest of the session was spent listening through the cuts of Archie and Chrissie's dialogue that we recorded on Monday and choosing the best takes to use when we mix it.

I felt the group worked well today, we didn't get as much done as we had hoped, however we seriously underestimated how long it would take to listen through all the recordings from Monday's session. In order to meet our target of finishing the mixdown by the weekend we will have to work very effectivly.

Recording Security Guard, Train Worker and Tannoy Announcement. 01/05/2013

Recording

Microphone used:- Neumann U87.

Train Worker:-  The Train Worker was portrayed by Scott Yorke. The lines were read over several times before recording commenced allowing Scott to get into character. A Neumann U87 was set up across the room from Scott so that we could record him walking towards the microphone for an effect which would simulate the Train worker walking down the isle. This was effective as it gave depth to the recording. 

Security Guard: - The Security guard was portrayed by Liam Hutchinson. Since Liam had written the adaptation it took very little effort for him to read out the lines.  This helped speed up the recording process and allowed for a better representation of the character as he had a mental visualisation of how the security guard should talk. 

Train Tannoy:- The Train Tannoy dialogue was also played by Liam. Due to this being such a small part we felt that Liam could put on a voice which could be unidentifiable from his previous recording. The Tannoy effect would be heavily edited to make it sound like it came from a very small speaker, this also helped to make his voice less recognisable. 

Organising the Radio Drama.

The multiple takes were lined up in a separate session to be arranged. The best lines were separated from each recording and combined into one session for further editing and mixing.

Radio 4 Delivery Specs

The BBC has delivery requirements for audio to Radio 4, they can be seen in the photo below.

Snapshot taken from Recording & Delivery Requirements for BBC Radio Networks – 2008 (BBC(1) 2008) 

Music reporting form is available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/tv/production/delivery/paperwork.shtml

PasB (Programme as Broadcast) is a script which completely matches the audio.

Compliance form (and guidelines) are available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/radio/compliance-and-policy/

Details of presentation details and written trails can be found here: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/site/radio3_delivery_guidelines.pdf (BBC 2013). NOTE: these are delivery guidelines for Radio 3, due to access restrictions I was unable to get the Radio 4 version of this document, though I'd imagine the guidelines for publication and paperwork documents are similar.

"Presentation details, Compliance forms and Written trails are an essential part of programme
delivery and must be delivered at the same time as the transmission copy" (BBC 2008, p.2) - it is essential we deliver at least these items from the publicity and paperwork list.

The Programme Information Guide (PIG) (BBC(2) 2013) can provide us with information necessary for completion of paperwork.

Also it appears that the BBC radio resources page (http://www.bbcradioresources.com/programme/) that I used to obtain tech specs in a previous post has been taken down or is under maintenance so below is a snapshot of sound guidelines taken from 'Technical standards for delivery of television programmes to BBC Worldwide' (BBC(3) 2011, p.12-13) The audio standards seem to be the same here as they were for radio and until I can get back onto the radio resources (or similar) page they can act as a guide.

Snapshot taken from Technical standards for delivery of television programmes to BBC Worldwide (BBC(3) 2011, p.12-13) 

References
British Broadcasting Corporation. 2008. Delivering programmes to Radio 3. [online]. Available from: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/site/radio3_delivery_guidelines.pdf [Accessed 30 April 2010].

British Broadcasting Corporation(1). 2008. Recording & Delivery Requirements for BBC Radio Networks – 2008. [online]. Available from: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/site/bbc_recording_delivery_requirements_radionetworks.pdf [Accessed 30 April 2013]

British Broadcasting Corporation(2). 2013 Programme Information Guide. [online]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/radio/production-and-delivery/programme-information-guide/ [Accessed 30 April 2013]

British Broadcasting Corporation(3). 2011. Technical standards for delivery of television programmes to BBC Worldwide. [online]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/dq/pdf/tv/tv_delivery_of_programmes_to_worldwide_v1.0-2011.pdf [Accessed 30 April 2013].

Studio Session 29/04/13

Today we had our first recording session with Angela and Ian. We were intending on recording a full cast, however our extras were unable to attend. We set out with the initial plan of using the rehearse record method; breaking the script into scenes and rehearsing them a number of times until we were happy with the performance. We expected to get around half of the play recorded today.

Unfortunately from arrival we had some issues which set us back; the studio i/o had been changed and we could not get any sound coming from the system. Eventually we figured out the problem, however at this point I felt quite under pressure and I felt this had an impact on my directing performance.

Thankfully our performers were very good; they already had a good grasp of their roles and after a couple of rehearsal read through's we decided to record.

During recording I read the additional parts in an attempt to aid the natural flow of the performance. The performances were great; Angela and Ian made very few mistakes and I was extremely pleased with their rendition of the characters.
During recording we had some more technical issues; the Mac froze on us during recording on two occasions causing us to lose some takes.
In all we ran through the script about 5 times and by the end of it we had 3 full complete recordings of Archie and Chrissie's parts which we were confident we would be able to build the play with.

The whole recording phase was over in under 4 hours, Ian and Angela have offered to join us during the remaining sessions if there is anything we feel needs to be rerecorded.

The remainder of the session was spent cutting up the various tracks into segments (scenes, character lines, etc.)

I was very happy with the outcome of today's recording session, I felt the dialogue we captured was of extremely good quality; the parts were well acted, plosives and other issues such as sibilance were minimal. The actors worked well together in portraying their roles and I was very surprised how quickly we managed to get the parts recorded; another similar project I was involved in previously took a lot longer to get through and there was not even half the amount of dialogue to record.

In regards to my directorial performance, I was not so pleased; I had let the pressure of technical difficulties get to me, causing me to forget to use my previous recording plans-

• I was intending on recording performers in the positions characters would be in (eg. seated), instead they were recorded standing throughout. 
• The performers were positioned arms length from their microphones throughout (Neumann U87), while this is ideal for the majority of the production, I wanted to record Archie's thoughts at the beginning and the end of the play from a closer position. 

I accept it is my fault these procedures were not followed but I think it would be wrong to ask Ian to come in again due to this alone; he traveled a long way for no payment and the quality of the performance/recordings were great.

Recording Archie and Chrissie 29/04/2013

Recording

Microphones Used:-

1. Neumann U87 x 2
2. AKG C414 x 1 (Used For Guide Track)

The Recording Started at approximately 11.30 Am and was finished by 1.30 Pm. 

The Radio Drama was read through by both actors several times before the recording took place allowing them to get into character. The Drama was Recorded multiple times however several takes were deleted due to the Mac desktop crashing halfway through the recording process. This was a major problem as it deleted several good lines of dialogue which could have been used in the final mix. Out of 5 takes 3 were successfully recorded . 

The actors stood approximately an arms length away from the microphone in order to capture a more natural  vocal tone and to give a more spacious feel to the recording. We had planned to record Archie's Monologue using a more up close microphone to gain more presence which would help provide an effect which would indicate him thinking to himself, however due to several issues regarding the studio equipment this was overlooked.

 In order to provide such an effect EQ can be utilised in order to give the Vocals more presence.  

Voice Actors.

Ian Watt portrays Archie

Angela Branney Portrays Chrissie

Organising the Radio Drama.

The multiple takes were lined up in a separate session to be arranged. The best lines were separated from each recording and combined into one session for further editing and mixing.