Editing End in Sight!

So, I've managed to finish second drafts for each episode! I've had some feedback from my lecturer and I'm quite pleased with the progress made. I don't imagine I'll be making more than one or two more drafts, which means that the end is in sight. I'll make a start on the paperwork on Sunday, things like the budget, music reporting form and presentation details. Hopefully, that shouldn't take more than a day, and after that I'll be writing my evaluation; I already have a load of books from the library. I'm looking forward to getting this all finished and moving on to the next chapter of my life.

Editing

Well, on Thursday I finished recording for my drama! It feels good to have all of the audio recorded, but now comes the hard part. I'm currently going through my recordings and selecting the best bits to fit into the drama. It's tedious work, but needs doing and will help me speed through editing. I have less than a month now to finish every aspect of this dissertation, including the evaluation. It doesn't seem like a lot of time when you think of it like that, but I'm confident I'll get it done with time to spare.

Casting and recording

It's been tougher than anticipated, I managed to nail down minor cast roles easily enough. However, the lead proved tricky, the man I had in place said he couldn't commit as much time anymore, and other actors I approached said they could only do one or two days a week. Which is not nearly enough time. Luckily, I was talking to a guy at my work and he offered his services, although he didn't rate his own acting skills, his voice sounded right for the part. Also, on the acting front, I'm still struggling to pin down an actor to play Mrs. Shaker, an older woman, though I have one person in mind, she has yet to confirm a day to ready the few lines for the character. I also had to swap a couple of roles over, I initially had a friend in Scotland down to play Mike, also an older character, but he lost his laptop on a train and cannot record the lines for another couple of weeks. So, I swapped the actor playing Snakes to play Mike and recruited a new actor in to play Snakes.

On the recording front, I've made good headway, I think. The monolgues are proving tough to get through as some of them a quite long and are proving a stumbling block for the actor, but we're getting there. I've recorded almost all of the other characters lines, I just need to record Lou and Mrs. Shaker. Then, from there it'll just be a matter of pinning down a few stray lines for the lead character, Jack, and getting the monologues done. I was feeling pretty stressed about all this the other day, along with people being sacked from my work and trying to find a new place to live once all of this is over, I've felt a lot of pressure. However, work has settled down, I'm finding some lovely, potential new homes and this project is plodding along, so I'm feeling a bit more confident about it all.

I've always disliked this part of making a radio drama, having to rely on other people, putting your potential grade in someone else's hands, if they turn up late or not at all, or if they can't commit the time you need, it can be very stressful. And I don't have the money spare to be able to pay actors, so they're all acting as a favour to me. But, the end is in sight, soon I'll have all the audio I'll need and it will just be a case of getting the perfect edit, flying through the paperwork and writing a strong evaluation, all before the 5th of October. When I say October it seems like an age away, but it's really not!

Scripting continues

I had the first draft of each episode finished and sent away to be looked at last Wednesday. I spent my weekend working, but found out that the actor I had in mind for me lead would not be able to commit a lot of time to the project so, I'm thinking of who could replace him. This afternoon I spoke with  my lecturer about my first drafts, he gave me some good advice, but said that I need to think more about metaphors. I've already re-drafted episode one and will work on two and three tomorrow. I really need to look at casting, as I should be recording next week really. I have friends in Scotland who record radio dramas and have thought about heading up to see them for a week or so and utalise their actor contacts. However, I'd have to take time off work and intrude on their busy schedules so it is probably not practical, but I feel I would get a better class of actor. The other option is to ask friends and colleagues, people from the university I know can act.
This was always the part I disliked about making radio dramas for university work, because this is the part I have the least control over and can potentially be the deciding factor in my overall grade. Radio dramas can fail or succeed depending on the quality of the acting, and I've no guarantee that any actors I approach will be reliable, as I don't have the funds to pay them. The people I approach may not even be actors, so will probably not have need of the experience or the material for a show reel.
Hopefully I'll get reliable people who are fairly flexible, the sooner I get the material recorded the sooner I can fiddle with the editing (my favourite part).

Go, go, go!

So, I had my second meeting with my mentor last Wednesday. We went through my my plot outlines for each episode and talked about the radio dramas I've listened to. Overall I feel that the meeting went well and I feel more confident about the project. I've not really done any work since that meeting, owing to my paid work. However, I am no sitting down to write my scripts! We decided that I should have the final drafts by the second week of August, which should be plenty of time... I also need to start contacting potential actors. In my meeting, it was suggested maybe trying location recording or binaural recording. I'm not overly keen on the binaural recording idea, however, location recording could be interesting, it was kind of hinted at that if I tried something like these ideas then I would be more likely to get a better grade. I guess even if I try and they don't work, it'll be something to reflect on and build on from. But, until I get there, it's scripting and keyboard tapping!

First Meeting

Had my first proper meeting with my project mentor today, we discussed how my work was to be assessed, my ideas so far and some radio dramas I should listen to. So far I've finished fleshing out the first episode and I've begun fleshing out episode two. I've been watching some film noir films and listening to crime dramas on BBC 4 Extra. Unfortunately, the radio dramas have all been period pieces and had nothing to do with film noir, however, they did give me some ideas for criminal activities I could include in my dramas. Moving forward, I've given myself until the 15th of July to have all three plots fleshed out, and the end of July to have the scripts ready to go. I then want to record though August and edit in September. I already have a couple of actors in mind and feel that the drama is really coming together. I'm going away for a couple of days, camping with family, but will be back to working on this project on Friday; I've got this weekend off work which means I'll be able to pick up the missed days this week.

Maps

After a very busy weekend at work I am now sitting down and getting some planning done! Hurray! I've started by creating the main characters that will feature either in one or all of the dramas. And I have just started planning episode 1's events. It's tough to start, as I'm still unsure of where I really want to go and how it should all end, but I feel a little more confident now I know the characters. It's all beginning to take shape. The title of this post has also reminded me that I should think about drawing a map for this 'Vase' city, as well as making some sketches of the characters and looking into their backgrounds... Here are a couple of pictures of my mapping so far:

I also have some rather sad news; on Friday I received a somewhat condescending email about my work on my weekly radio show. Recently, I've not been able to put my full effort into the show due to course work and paid work as well as other bits on bobs I've had to deal with, and on Friday one of the acting Programme Controllers sent me an email expressing his dissatisfaction with me. To cut a long story short, I decided (after a long think and a chat with my girlfriend) that firstly, he was probably right about my poor efforts, and secondly that, as my work on this project intensifies, I wouldn't be able to live up to their expectations. So, on the Saturday morning I replied saying that I would not continue my work on the show and wished them well.
I'm a little gutted by this as I'd have liked to have finished the show when I graduated, I feel that this would have been a nice, round conclusion to my time at the station and at university. I'll also miss the fun and excitement of the music and being live on radio. However, I believe that my passion for the show has waned recently and it's a bit of a relief, knowing that I'll now have a whole extra day to do whatever I need to do, whether it's work on this drama, catch up with work around the house, earn more money at my job, or even, heaven forfend, spend some quality time with my girlfriend and friends. I'm glad I left on my terms and I have no regrets.