tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-353588992024-03-08T00:33:53.859+00:00Audio Drama: Beyond RadioConor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-20817055319491271872007-10-05T22:16:00.000+01:002007-10-05T22:28:23.194+01:00This is it!Damn. This is it. Many apologies for the lack of correspondence, but it's all because I've left the BBC to enjoy the snow in Geneva. I'm working at the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation as part of a team setting up a national, English language radio station with loads of cross-platform fun in the mix. In theory (doesn't launch until next month. <br /><br />So, where does this leave the Audiotheque? <br /><br />In good hands! Jeremy Mortimer is the main BBC contact for now, with Rob Watson from Leicester de Montfort keeping the flame alive. I've had a look at the beta and it's pretty cool. Thanks to Rob and Nathan.<br /><br />I'm convinced it will be a great success and I'm planning to set up a version from Switzerland and work with The Audiotheque. <br /><br />Thank you all for your support and interest: it has been incredibly exciting to meet you and realise how many of you are excited by the possibilities of creative audio in the current media environment. <br /><br />I'm signing off from this blog, but will continue Swiss-based musings on http://europuddings.blogspot.com/<br /><br />Yours, ConorConor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-90289210828848051552007-07-20T15:10:00.001+01:002007-08-15T12:01:44.207+01:004th Audiotheque newsletterWelcome to the 4th Audiotheque newsletter, delayed by workshops, conferences and nearly being flooded out of my home earlier today. Really.<br /><br />First of all, a big thank you to Bryan Rudd and his Radio Studies Conference team at Lincoln University. On Monday I gave a presentation on The Audiotheque to several academics working in the field of audio & radio from around the world. I got a very positive response and found that the general tone of the festival was very upbeat: this is clearly a very exciting time to be working in radio (or audio, depending on what side of the semantic fence you sit).<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.audiblepictureshow.org.uk">THE AUDIBLE PICTURE SHOW</a><br />Anyway, I want to belatedly kick off this month with a look at the Audible Picture Show, run by artist Matt Hulse. Matt's being making innovative short films for a while now, and you can find out more about him at www.idlevice.com. The Audible Picture Show is a project whereby Matt asks fellow film-makers to make short films, with no image present, for a cinema release. You can hear a short clip from each piece but if you've been to a screening let me know what it was like...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sonicpostcards.org">SONIC POSTCARDS</a><br />This is a fantastic project set up by the Sonic Arts Network to encourage young schoolchildren to think about sound in a creative way. Use your arrow keys to navigate a cute-looking sonic explorer around the map. When she lands on a hotspot you can hear some of the work created by the schoolchildren. My favourites are from Woodside School in square F7 but there are loads of really interesting pieces here that wouldn't look out of place on an experimental Radio 3 slot.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thirdcoastfestival.org/shortdocs_2007_archive.asp">THIRD COAST FESTIVAL</a><br />And finally here's a competition you can get involved in right now, run by the team at Chicago's Third Coast Festival.<br />If you haven't visited the Third Coast Festival site before, have a good look around. There's a great selection of audio programmes from around the world and they have a couple of podcasts that are well worth signing up for.<br /><br />Have a great Summer, barring floods, hurricanes, pestilence etc!Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-52399185368917658912007-06-19T14:23:00.000+01:002007-06-19T14:31:56.363+01:003rd Audiotheque newsletterAnd here's the latest newsletter:<br /><br />THE AUDIOTHEQUE<br />NEWSLETTER 13 June 2007<br /><br />Welcome to the 3rd Audiotheque newsletter. If you haven’t received the other newsletters, you can read them at: <a href="http://audiodrama.blogspot.com/">http://audiodrama.blogspot.com/</a>. As usual, you can email me at <a href="audiotheque@bbc.co.uk">audiotheque@bbc.co.uk</a>.<br /><br />It's a particularly Europhile newsletter this month, with material from France and Germany, but don't worry if you're semi-bilingual because our French friends are helpfully speaking in English, whilst our German cousins have provided translations.<br /><br />ARTE RADIO FILM: <a href="http://blogs.arte.tv/Arteradio">http://blogs.arte.tv/Arteradio</a><br />The Audiotheque loves convergence, so the first piece of content in this newsletter devoted to short-form audio is, er, a short film. Thrill to the behind-the-scenes footage of Arte Radio in action, gasp at their success in attracting hip Parisian types to the site and marvel at their description of pre-Arte audio drama as a tired, ridiculous medium for the over-60s. Directed by me and edited by mini-genius Des Burkinshaw...<br /><br />RESORT: <a href="http://www.myspace.com/hsdlondon">http://www.myspace.com/hsdlondon</a><br />As I've clearly diverted wildly from the avowed aims of this newsletter, i.e. promoting creative audio (http://audiodrama.blogspot.com/2007/04/1st-newsletter.html), I'll blunder on by including a 12 minute audio drama from the mini-genii at HSD. "Resort" is their riposte to Radio 4's "From Fact to Fiction" series (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/fromfacttofiction/), in which an audio drama based on the "big" story of the week is turned around in a week, and it's well worth comparing and contrasting the different approaches. As usual the sound production is top notch and there's some great acting. All recorded in the director's house apparently, and didn't cost a penny to make (apart from cake for the actors). Sound design by James Robinson, directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.<br /><br />WURFSENDUNG: <a href="http://www.dradio.de/wurf/index.php/en/Home/Wurfpaket/id/1">http://www.dradio.de/wurf/index.php/en/Home/Wurfpaket/id/1</a><br />(Apologies to those who've already seen this information on the blog).<br />And at last I can put up a link to Deutschlandradio Kultur's Wurfsendung page, because they've posted 3 of their "pakets" with English translations. So I have at least got some short-form creative audio to share this month. The Wurfsendung (which I'm told translates, poorly, as "postcards") are the original inspiration for the whole Audiotheque project: ultra-short mini-dramas packaged in the same way as a commercial break and dropped randomly throughout Deutschlandradio Kultur's schedule. Brilliantly produced, witty and surprising.<br /><br />FEEDBACK<br />As ever, keep sending me your stuff, or links to other people's interesting stuff, and feel free to get in touch with comments, news, opinion, whatever.<br /><br />A.O.B.<br />Many thanks to Toby Lichtig for plugging us in his Guardian blog: <a href="http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theatre/2007/04/the_podcasts_the_thing_to_revi.html">http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theatre/2007/04/the_podcasts_the_thing_to_revi.html</a> And yeah, I know it's iRiver. But what can you do, eh? And as we're back onto convergence, here's what the iRiver can do: http://85.159.184.112/for/.<br /><br />I promised details of the forthcoming Audiotheque competition this month, but I lied. It'll be in next month's newsletter. Honest.<br /><br />Thanks for reading/listening/watching.<br /><br />ConorConor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-8453346805587520262007-05-29T11:14:00.000+01:002007-05-29T11:23:08.625+01:00Ich Liebe WurfsendungI ran a meeting at the HQ of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) in Geneva last week, to kick of a creative audio project involving 6 member countries (UK, France, Germany, Croatia, Russia and Hungary) and thought I should share the latest on the form in Germany. Deutsche Kultur make these fantastic shorts called Wurfsendung, which play out as commercial breaks without the commercials. To be honest, ahem, the Wurfsendung were my main inspiration for getting involved in short-form drama, showing me just what you can achieve in with short duration (maximum 45 seconds!) content. They started by using radio commercials producers but now it's done mostly in-house. <br /><br />For those of you who are, like me, linguistically challenged there is now a section with English translations. Well worth a look.<br /><br />http://www.dradio.de/wurf/index.php/en/Home/InformationConor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-27932703409203927692007-05-09T10:45:00.000+01:002007-06-19T14:34:08.431+01:002nd NewsletterA few things have been going on behind the scenes since the last newsletter, but I'll keep them under wraps for now. All quite exciting though and I hope to be able to give out details soon. Until then, here's the text of the latest newsletter.<br /><br />THE AUDIOTHEQUE<br />NEWSLETTER 9 May 2007<br /><br />Welcome to the 2nd Audiotheque newsletter. If you haven’t received the first one, you can read it at: <a href="http://audiodrama.blogspot.com/2007/04/1st-newsletter.html ">http://audiodrama.blogspot.com/2007/04/1st-newsletter.html </a><br /><br /><br />First of all, thanks to everyone who’s offered feedback and comments since the last newsletter, sent out last month. I’ve heard back from quite a few of you since then, and have received an impressive amount of audio. Hopefully I’ve been in touch with you but if you’ve sent something in and haven’t heard back from me, do send another email to <a href="Audiotheque@bbc.co.uk">Audiotheque@bbc.co.uk</a>.<br /><br />This month I’m pleased to say that I’ve got 3 excellent pieces of creative audio to share, all of which have been brought to my attention as a result of the last newsletter. They are all from people who aren’t professional broadcasters, and who are at an early stage of their careers in audio.<br /><br />Dark<br />The first piece is Dark, by Kevin Cadwallender. Kevin is an established writer of poetry and prose (<a href="http://kevcad.blogspot.com/">http://kevcad.blogspot.com/</a>) who wrote Dark, and created it at the University of Sunderland along with Becky Stefani and Francesca Sardone. It stars his daughter Charlie, who was 5 at the time. Dark is a haunting, sonically inventive work with great performances…<br /><br /><a href="http://www.switchpod.com/f25202.html?puser=none ">http://www.switchpod.com/f25202.html?puser=none </a><br /><br />On My Mind<br />In contrast, here’s a very funny piece written and directed by Sasha Yevtushenko and starring Mike Holt. Flipping between flash-backs, flash-forwards and stream of consciousness, it’s nevertheless easy to follow entertaining. There’ll be more from this team in the next newsletter.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kitchenproductions.com/omm1.htm">http://www.kitchenproductions.com/omm1.htm</a><br /><br />Clinic<br />The third piece if different again. Clinic’s narrative depicts a real situation, and intrigues the listener by withholding key pieces of information, leaving us wanting more without becoming frustrating. It was created and realised by Wana Udobang, a student at the University College for The Creative Arts in Farnham.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.switchpod.com/f27394.html?puser=none ">http://www.switchpod.com/f27394.html?puser=none </a><br /><br />That’s it for this month, except to say that I hope to have more details of the first Audiotheque competition, planned for later this year, and am still on the lookout for more creative audio. Keep sending it in!Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-17440713506386002252007-04-17T18:02:00.000+01:002007-04-17T18:03:17.792+01:001st NewsletterBelow is the text of the 1st Audiotheque newsletter, sent out at the start of April.<br /><br />I'm hoping to launch a competition this year, and I'll mention it in the blog as well.<br /><br />On another not, it's interesting to see how slick Channel 4 Radio's marketing is, although you'd think they were reinventing audio drama! Still, the competition is no bad thing for the form.<br /><br /><br />THE AUDIOTHEQUE Newsletter 1 02/04/07<br /><br />Here, at last, is the first Audiotheque email newsletter.<br /><br />You're receiving this because<br />a) you responded to an earlier email asking you if you liked the idea of this kind of thing<br />b) you heard me banging on about the idea at your university/college or<br />c) I thought you might be interested<br /><br /> It's been a while since I first started contacting people about this project so it might be a good idea to go over everything again (in brief). <br /><br />WHAT IS THE AUDIOTHEQUE?<br />The Audiotheque is a project to develop a community dedicated to Creative Audio and help new talent get their work on air. We want to create a place where new talent can send in their audio, where the best work would be showcased and from where the brightest talents could win commissions to make short-form audio for the BBC Radio networks. So SEND ME YOUR AUDIO! This project is in its infancy, and can only develop with your help. <br /><br />WHAT IS CREATIVE AUDIO?<br />Innovative, original audio with some kind of narrative. It could mix elements of fiction and documentary material, it might be completely dialogue-free. As long as it's fresh and different from standard radio drama. It also needs to be under 3 minutes long: some of the best examples I've heard so far have been about a minute and a half long. To give you an idea, here are some examples that I think are worth listening to.<br /><br />Enlevé, by Arte Radio. This is a sci-fi epic with no dialogue (apart from alien speech):<br />http://www.arteradio.com/son.html?21617 (hint: click on écouter)<br /><br />An Error Has Occurred. A series of mini-dramas starring computer-generated voices. <br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/drama/shorts.shtml<br /><br />Tim Bearder's band interviews. With a difference. From a series on BBC Oxford.<br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2006/02/21/young_knives_sky_dive.shtml<br /><br /><br />WHY DO WE NEED IT?<br />There has never been a place at the BBC to receive, process and showcase this kind of audio. If you write scripts, the writersroom (www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom) has a system for processing submissions, but with audio it's a bit more hit and miss.<br /><br />It has never been easier to record, edit and share audio and I think that there are a lot of you out there interested in making creative audio who would benefit from a national forum. The feedback I've had so far (from lecturers, students, BBC employees, independent radio producers) has been overwhelmingly positive: I think that there will be a lot of interest in this site, and I also think that this could be a good way for younger programme-makers at the start of their career potentially to get their work on a national BBC radio station. In order to push this forward, I plan to set up regular competitions in association with the national radio networks that may result in the winners being commissioned to make more short-form work for broadcast.<br /><br />WHAT FORMAT DO YOU WANT?<br />At the moment there is no site! However, now is the time to send me your work, because the more audio I receive, the more chance there is that the site will happen. So the best thing to do is to tell me where your work is, by sending me the link to the place online where your work is being hosted. There are plenty of free or cheap places to upload your audio. Some examples include www.switchpod.com, www.odeo.com and I'm sure you know of plenty more.<br /><br />FEEDBACK<br />I have my ideas of the kind of site this should be, but I want to know what you think. Is there audio out there that we're missing? Are there features the site needs to have? Let me know!<br /><br />(Links to other sites were reliable when posted. If a link doesn't work, it is because those Web pages have been removed from their Web site's server. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. If you're not interested in receiving this or any further newsletters email unsbscribe to audiotheque@bbc.co.uk. If you want to know more there's a blog on this subject that I update far too infrequently at http://audiodrama.blogspot.com)Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-50356477993099182932007-01-30T17:57:00.000+00:002007-01-30T22:05:52.784+00:00Drama without wordsSome of you may have heard me bang on about Andrew Sachs (yes, Manuel from Fawlty Towers)'s 1979 radio drama without words, "Revenge". An experiment never again repeated. Or so I thought.<br /><br />This is a short French piece called "Enlevé". You can find it, and much, much more on http://www.arteradio.com. I think it works...<br /><EMBED SRC="http://www.arteradio.com/sons/24danslatete2_fr.rpm" TYPE="audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin" AUTOSTART="false" WIDTH=400><br /></EMBED><br />Is this the audio equivalent of silent films?<br />Is that too pretentious for words?<br />Do I care?Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-79543069402651314372007-01-26T18:23:00.000+00:002007-01-31T10:31:18.409+00:00Unlikely interviewsA presenter based at BBC Oxford called Tim Bearder has sent me details of some interviews he's done with local bands. I'm sure Tim would appreciate ideas for even more unorthodox locations...<br /><br /><EMBED SRC="http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/realmedia/entertainment/young_knives_sky_dive.ram" TYPE="audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin" AUTOSTART="false" WIDTH=400><br /></EMBED>Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-68234292870624623572007-01-21T14:58:00.000+00:002007-01-25T23:08:05.054+00:00More contentHere's some more stuff you might find interesting: the first of a series of very short dramas starring computer-generated voices. The series is called An Error Has Occurred and it's entirely created by Susanne Weber, whose day job is studio manager at the BBC World Service. I think the dialogue and music are fantastic and I'm really glad that BBC7 have picked it up. The first episode is currently on air and on the Website. You can hit the Play button below to hear it.<br /><EMBED SRC="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/rams/filler/error1.ram" TYPE="audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin" AUTOSTART="false" WIDTH=400><br /></EMBED><br /><br />Listen out for another 10 episodes over the coming weeks.Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-35874383201551681702007-01-20T22:05:00.000+00:002007-01-26T18:23:05.919+00:00A La Web 2.0As I've got the Odeo player working I thought I'd stick in a short excerpt from something I was involved with a while ago. The whole thing is a bit longer than most of the things I'll be putting on The Audiotheque but you might find it useful to know that it was made without trained actors or a script, and recorded onto minidisc over a couple of evenings.<br /><br /><br /><embed name="odeo_player_gray" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" src="http://odeo.com/flash/audio_player_gray.swf" width="322" height="54" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="type=audio&id=7001903" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high"></embed><br /><a style="PADDING-LEFT: 110px; FONT-SIZE: 9px; COLOR: #f39; LETTER-SPACING: -1px; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://odeo.com/audio/7001903/view">powered by <strong>ODEO</strong></a>Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-90414254892921576872007-01-15T12:34:00.000+00:002007-01-15T13:33:07.242+00:00FAQsI thought I'd better stick this up now rather than when the 1st newsletter comes out as I've been fielding a few questions. I hope it helps. Please do comment if your questions aren't answered.<br /><br />WHAT WILL BE ON THE SITE?<br />Creative audio. This means anything from drama to sci-fi to horror to features to experimental soundscapes. As long as it has impact and an original voice and is different from the kind of thing you can already hear on the radio.<br /><br />HOW LONG DO YOU WANT THE PIECES TO BE?<br />Short is good! You can pack a lot into a minute. The maximum would be around 10 minutes but if it's really good work and it warrants more time then that's fine.<br /><br />WHAT DO I GET OUT OF IT?<br />Only the best work makes it onto the site so you'll know that your piece makes the grade if it's featured. You'll get the kudos of appearing on a BBC Wehsite and know that your work is being heard by BBC producers. I'll be organising regular competitions on the site where the winner will be commissioned to make something for one of the national BBC radio networks (eg BBC7, 1Xtra, Radio 4, Radio 3, World Service).<br /><br />SO WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?<br />I want you, your team and your listeners to send me your audio creations! Unfortunately we can't afford to pay you, but if you win a competition and are commissioned to make work for one of the networks you will get paid. If you don't have anything created but are interested anyway please let me know! A really important part of this project is the creation of a new community of audio enthusiasts. If you email me I'll put you on my mailing list. You'll be one of the first people to receive the Audiotheque newsletter. I want to kick-start debate and discussion about creative audio via this site and, in the meantime, via my blog: <a href="http://audiodrama.blogspot.com/">http://audiodrama.blogspot.com</a>. So spread the word!Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-5210321912821921972007-01-01T16:30:00.000+00:002007-01-01T16:33:21.108+00:00Tell me what you thinkIf you're reading this then you've probably been subjected to one of my mailouts. Hello. I'd be very interested to know what you think and what sort of stuff you'd like to see on The Audiotheque. I've characterised the audio as "anything from drama to sci-fi to horror to features to experimental soundscapes. As long as it has impact and an original voice and is different from the kind of thing you can already hear on the radio." What do you think? All comments gratefully received.<br /><br />Happy New Year!Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-81423346770425870242006-12-29T10:25:00.000+00:002006-12-29T10:36:40.205+00:00Spreading the wordHappy Christmas and welcome to that odd time of year referred to by some as The Perineum (not by me).<br /><br />The word about <strong>The Audiotheque </strong>has now gone out to universities, colleges, community radio stations and BBC local radio stations. I wanted to kick things off before 2007 and there have been a fair few replies already.<br /><br />If you're reading this as a result of my email then let me know: what kind of stuff would you like to see on the site? It may look a bit like the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork">Film Network</a> and I reckon there might be some crossover in audience. In terms of content, I'm a big fan of <a href="http://www.arteradio.com">Arte Radio</a> and would be ecstatic if we could get work of that quality on The Audiotheque. If you speak French have a listen to some of the audio on there. There are some great pieces that left me in awe. We'll see.Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-1166021277843410832006-12-13T14:42:00.000+00:002006-12-13T14:47:57.850+00:00What happened to November?Blimey, nearly Christmas and my first post since the end of October. Just what the Hell have I been doing? Well, continuing the development of The Audiotheque idea for one. The plan is to build a BBC community site for audio enthusiasts. The best material will be showcase on the site and there will be periodic competitions where the prize will be a paid commission for material to be included in a programme on one of the BBC radio statios. These are most likely to be Radio 4, Radio 3, BBC7 and the World Service but I'm hoping to get 1Xtra BBC involved. We'll see. Oh, and New Talent are keen to get involved in some way, eg holding Masterclasses and helping with the organisation of the competitions. <br /><br />That's where I am for now, but I'll probably start spreading the word amongst colleges, universities, community radio organisations etc in the New Year.Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-1162334946027493152006-10-31T22:39:00.000+00:002006-10-31T22:50:16.413+00:00From Fact to FictionMy first radio drama was on air last Saturday. Not one of the Fever Tree dramas, but United! by Mark Lawson (Front Row, Newsnight Review etc). This is because it was part of the From Fact to Fiction series, dramas turned around in one week. The idea is that we respond to the week's big story, which involves a certain amount of guess work (ie sitting down on Monday and deciding what story will still have legs by the the following Saturday. Struan Rodger was the star, playing the Gaffer at a fictional Premiership team.<br /><br />I have my reservations about the series: whether it really delivers quality drama to Radio 4 given the time restriction. However, that said, I'm quite happy with what we ended up with. An entertaining piece with a varied soundscape. Although we were in a studio in Bush House we used a location mic and used the toilets and corridors. I think this made a real difference to the sound (particularly the toilets). The recording was knocked off in 3 hours (for a 15 minute piece) but the recording took 4 and a half hours because there were a lot of hard cuts that needed careful timing.Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-1160947207364236552006-10-15T22:04:00.000+01:002006-10-15T22:20:07.390+01:00Notes from 1st production (12th - 14th Oct 2006)I've just recovered from my first studio days: 3 back-to-back productions of dramas adapted from some Ruth Rendell short stories. It all went pretty well, considering it was my first time working with "proper" actors (as opposed to the unscripted stuff I did for Resonance FM). Apart from nearly falling asleep with fatigue on the 3rd day (Saturday) it was a lot of fun. Really strong casts on all 3 days, lovely people and a good atmosphere all round.<br /><br />Of course, when you're knocking out 30 minutes of drama per day there's no time to experiment: as soon as one scene sounds good you crack straight on to the next one. I really wanted to make sure that these didn't sound like "traditional" radio drama, ie the sort of static, stagey stuff that people use as the reason they don't like listening to drama on Radio 4. And it's very difficult. I don't yet know if I succeeded, but the quality of the actors gives me a head start. Technically I tried out a few things in consultation with the studio manager beforehand. We gave Jenni (the spot person) an OB (outside broadcast) mic and asked her to follow the actors as they moved through the scene. This seemed to give a slightly different acoustic but I'll only really find out after the edit.<br /><br />But hey, I'm just happy we finished on time and recorded all the scenes. Next time I'd still like to experiment a bit more, though. What I want to do is get hold of a couple of actor, give them clip mics, let them loose in a city centre location and improvise a couple of scenes with them. I reckon it will work and, if so, I want to offer Radio 4 (or 3) a full-length version for broadcast.Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-1159909027082611782006-10-03T21:48:00.000+01:002006-10-24T12:10:21.720+01:00The BBCThe BBC is probably unlike any other media organisation, and, at the risk of sounding like a company man, it is possible to do things that simply wouldn't be possible anywhere else.<br /><br />Take Audio Drama, for example. Setting up an Audio Drama Website, where practitioners and enthusiasts can post their own material, with the chance to have it broadcast, and promoting professional content to a new audience. I can't imagine any other place where that could be done, but it's something I'm trying to get off the ground.<br /><br />I'm hoping this blog will be a place for discussing people's ideas about the form, as a precursor to a community that can grow via this, yet to exist, site.Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-1159740775642677392006-10-01T23:06:00.000+01:002006-11-02T18:56:50.560+00:00The future of audio drama...<div class="flickr-frame"><a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/45317328@N00/257823008/"><img class="flickr-photo" alt="Katya & Ros" src="http://static.flickr.com/86/257823008_59d8f20444_t.jpg" /></a><br /><span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/45317328@N00/257823008/">Katya & Ros</a>,<br />originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/45317328@N00/">Conor Lennon</a>. </span></div><p>I've been brainwashing my daughter into loving audio drama by bringing here into the studio. I think she's about 6 months old in this photo, being taught the ropes by Ros Mason, who is now a fine student studying fine art.</p><p> </p><p><br clear="all"> </p>Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35358899.post-1159738020882127032006-10-01T22:17:00.000+01:002006-10-24T12:26:51.533+01:00Beyond RadioHi, my name's Conor Lennon and I'm currently working as a development producer in the Radio Drama department at the BBC. For those of you who don't know, the BBC has the biggest radio drama industry in the world, making many hundreds of hours a year (I should check how many. I'll get back to you).<br /><br />I'm convinced, and have been for years, that radio, or, rather, audio drama (as it should now be known) is a massively under-rated form with a rich (yet currently poorly documented) medium.<br /><br />What's more, it's a form that should (and I stress the should) be invigorated by Web 2.0 and given a new lease of life. I'm planning to put down my thoughts about the future of audio drama, current BBC offerings and anything else on the subject that comes to mind. I'm also hoping to find like-minded people. We'll see...Conor Lennonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00629222201037908290noreply@blogger.com1