Cohort Project Page

My contribution began with the creation of the initial idea. This included quite a lot of historical research into mid-Roman Britain (especially place names) for accuracy purposes. I also did research into the BBC Writer’s room and other such sources for inspiration on how to write our script.

After the script was completed, my contributions became directorial. My job was to direct actors and Josh on recording days. this included editing my own script on the fly to help actors with pronunciation (Cam-You-Low-Dun-On) and removing grammar and syntax errors that may not be as obvious on the page as when an actor reads the line. I also acted both vocally and by generating the foley that Joshua would then record.

The entire recording process took place over two days due to an intense period of non-stop recording

After we had recorded all of the dialogue and Joshua had edited a draft, I had the job of editing our multitude of Foley sounds (as well as a few procured from FreeSFX on-line library) to form our finished product.

After researching, both myself and Joshua decided that , in a real world scenario, we would like to pitch to BBC Radio 4.

The reasoning behind this is that I personally listen to a lot of  radio drama on this particular broadcaster above the few others that broadcast it.

 

My research therefore focussed on the pitching process for an independent company to BBC Radio four, mostly contained on the R4 website.

It was on this site that I discovered the “BBC Independent Production Database”. It was from this point that we based our proposal. Though the requirements for the afternoon play are  for a “45 minute drama”, they also allow for multiple productions varying from ten to twenty minutes long. we decided to go for a 15 minute long pilot based on these parameters.

The BBC has several drama slots throughout it’s broadcast schedule, including;

 

“Monday-Friday 10:45-11am Radio 4 (repeated at 19.45 weekdays)

Woman’s Hour. Short form (15min) commissioned in multiples of 5, ideally a series with individual stories in each episode or short term stories that mature over 5 or 10 episodes.

Monday-Friday 2:15-3pm Radio 4 The Afternoon Play. Daily narrative drama strand. A complete story that is imaginative, accessible and entertaining.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 11-11:30pm Radio 4 Comedy Narrative. Light and entertaining comedy drama or sitcom.

Saturday 2:30-3:30pm Radio 4 The Saturday Play. Enjoyment and escapism. For example: love stories, thrillers, and extraordinary personal stories.

Sunday (time varies) Radio 3 Drama on 3. Radical drama such as The Wire, or classics and new theatre productions.” (BBC, 2014)

 

One of the first problems I had to get past as a scriptwriter (who had never written a radio script by myself before) was transferring sounds from my idea as it stood in my head, to the paper. this however can (and did) lead to an over abundance of sounds, making foley near impossible. on that subject, the BBC say;

” Radio is not about sound – it’s about significant, meaningful sound. So don’t be afraid of silence, or varying the distance between the speaker and the mike. The intimacy of a speaker with the listener can be immensely powerful. In real life, lots of sounds happen all at once.” (BBC,2014)

Applying this method to a radio project, be it drama or comedy, helps make a more polished product.I also circulated the script to some more accomplished friends who have done much more scriptwriting than myself to help with plot holes and other such deviations.

 

Monday November 10^th – Finished script.

10^th onwards:-Put out casting call for 4 actors after myself and Alex taking minor roles.

Monday 17^th November – Confirm casting, send scripts

Wednesday 26^th November – Had table read of script with actors

Wednesday 3^rd December – Finish recording “Ennio and Crispin” and start editing

Tuesday 9^th December – Recorded actors of “Gen”, “Lucia”, “Lucius”. Recorded Foley

Wednesday 10^th December – Recorded part of “Sinister Bandit”, edited dialogue in to place.

Thursday 11^th December – Finished dialogue editing and added atmospheric bases.

Friday 12^th December – Work on music and foley placing starts

Wednesday 17^th December – Product finished ready to be submitted

Thursday 18^th December – Deadline

Voice Cast

Tom Britton – Crispin – IN: “Iska..” OUT: “That’s all you had to do, get the right damned port.”

Max Dahle – Ennio – IN: “Well the weather isn’t as bad..” OUT: “You make on mistake.”

Alexander Pollard – Lucius – IN: “Lucia, Sister?..” OUT: “Go and take this welp with you, Guards!”

Ashleigh Parker – Lucia – IN: “I’m in the bath…” OUT: “…before Lucius realises I’m gone, Thankyou.”

Vashti Hayes – Gen – IN: “Had enough have you?…” OUT: “I’ll get the first round in.”

Joshua Sherlock – Sinister bandit – IN: “Are you okay down there?” OUT: “What!? No!”

Director

Alexander Pollard – Writer, script writer, director, Foley editor.

Joshua Sherlock- Engineer, broadcast assistant, dialogue editor, musical director.

The cast release forms can be found here

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ntrb1r26wyykno4/AACxWAwRjW4zQnHD5w94YzhGa?dl=0