Session 8 - 03-03-2011

Back from a week out, the team return for a full ships compliment!

This session was intended to finish up any outstanding recordings, check on the progress of the different groups, prioritise tasks that need to be done, discuss the logistics of the final event and generally move the project forward.

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Emma allocated jobs to various members of the group before the session. Claire and I went to the recording studio to re-record the introduction speech; Ayla, Josh and Louise went to the library to work on the poster; Alex and Vicky sorted through the soundscapes they had recorded over the last few weeks, before passing them over to Charlotte for final editing.

After our short and painless recording session we met up with the rest of the group as they were getting to work. People were buzzing around discussing their roles and their progress. The air was generally upbeat and enthusiastic.



Emma took me aside to discuss a few issues arising. We discussed how we were going to invite people to attend the event. So far, we have the website, an entry on CreativeTorbay and a Facebook event for friends and family. Emma suggested personalised invitations to certain groups in Totnes and other notable figures. I am in the process of compiling an invitation list of Totnes groups and people who have helped us in planning the process.

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We ended the session with every group updating their peers as to where they are. As it stands, nearly all the conversations are edited, the soundscapes are taking shape, the poster is still being compiled, transport has been arranged for next weeks testing trip to Totnes and everyone knows what they need to do for the next week.

Finally, taking advantage of a full attendence, I grabbed a quick photo of the students!

Session 7 - 17-02-2011

Recording time!



The second of our recording sessions was booked in a proper recording studio. The quality of soundproofing and technology made the process both more professional and more enjoyable!


As an added novelty, we had a full compliment of cast! This meant that we could crack on to get all the recordings done today.

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To start the session, we all gathered in the recording studio to discuss any changes to the script or any problems people were having with lines or accents. My role today would be to work with the cast on the vocalization and characterisation of the script, mostly helping with accentuation, diction, pace and clarity.

The recording crew decided to record everything at least twice if possible to facilitate the editing process. This allowed me to give input from within the recording booth to try and improve each speech the second time around.

The headphone intercom system allowed for us to be in communication with the people on the sound desk, who would offer technical advice to optimize the recordings. The technical setup in the studio was a novelty to those who had not experienced it before, but ultimately it was very fit for the purpose of which it was designed.

Sitting in on the recordings was wonderful. To hear my script come off the page was such a brilliant feeling. I was also great to see the vocal talents within the group, especially from those who I had not heard much from over the course of the process.

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The recording desk where the technical magic happens!

Session 6 - 10-02-2011

Script drafted!

Its been an interesting process trying to shoehorn all the information into the text, laying clues for the participants, creating interesting and diverse characters, all whilst trying to keep it short enough to maintain audience engagement. After gaining feedback from Jill (researcher) and Shiona (playwright), the positive reaction was very encouraging. Between them, they offered some very useful criticism to act on when redrafting.

Armed with the new script, I arrived to find...3 students out of 7...

Another disappointing attendance, especially with all 3 students assigned to the graphic design being absent. As we are running to a tight schedule, the two weeks assigned for voice recordings we all we had. Luckily, we had one of the larger parts avaliable to record. (The Narrator)

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Session 5 - 03-02-2011

The session today started with a meeting. The main purposes were to address the issues regarding distribution of roles, to read through the parts of the script that I had completed to date, and most importantly to allow the group to express their views on my strengths and weaknesses in my role as a teacher.

This proved to be a useful process. The group were generally very positive about my skills in my teaching role, yet we also picked up a few issues that I need to address in the near future. This will hopefully allow me to improve my skills as the process continues!

After the meeting, Colette took over to do some work on characterisation, which I felt linked very well with the work we started last week.

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After a break for lunch, we had a chance to use the recording equipment. As the whole cast was not present, we worked with the voices that we had. We played around with the parts to give everyone a chance to do some recordings. As part of the testing, we looked at factors such as background noise, distance from microphones, breathing whilst recording etc.



We found that the microphones cancelled out much of the background hum in the room, making recordings feasible. We also highlighted issues with the deeper male voices with regards to the distance at which they should talk into the microphones. We also took a brief look at some of the effects that you could put on voices to change pitch and tune, which may be useful to turn a female voice into a more convincing male voice.



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To end the session, we had a brief meeting to decide provisional castings. Most people seemed to have a good idea about what part they would like to try. This made the process of assigning parts very simple. We may still have to change some parts if we have problems with illness or attendance etc.

With the parts assigned, we took a look at the narrative paths and locations that we tested on Sunday 30th Jan. I explained to the group about the options available to participants with regards to the routes they could choose. I showed them marked on a map as well as how they appear on a flowchart. By planning each route with specific directions, we found that all the routes were entirely possible!

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This session was very productive. I gained some great feedback on both myself and the script. Colette's session about characterisation fitted in very well to get the students thinking about how to give personalities and back stories to the characters in our piece. The session in the afternoon with the recording

All in all, a very good session! Back to writing the script then...