4th year Film & Media student Chris Clark is the winner of the inaugural Audio Edit Competition. Chris edited a 3 minute showreel of the best student radio dramas from recent years, and the team at BBC Radio Drama in Glasgow announced him as the winner today. The prize is a trip through to the drama studios in the new year, where Development Producer of Radio Drama, David Ian Neville, will invite Chris to watch a drama being produced and also give him an opportunity to chat to producers, writers and actors, as well as get a tour of the studios. Many congratulations to Chris as well as huge thanks to BBC Radio Drama for being involved in the competition.
Chris’ showreel will also be used as part of our Open Days next year.
“Would you mind jogging on the spot for about thirty seconds before the next recording?” This was one of many unusual directions given to actors during the making of Hunger: The Legend of Sawney Beane, a project that I was proud and delighted to be a part of during my final undergraduate year at the University of Stirling. The process of planning, scripting, directing and recording this project, at first, terrified me. The thought of other students in my production group relying on me to produce a script that, not only had to be long enough to cover twelve minutes of program time, but coherent enough to be understandable using sound alone. And, just to further complicate matters, myself and my production group decided on producing a period piece, meaning a distinctive soundscape had to be created, to evoke a particular era and setting. Our story had to include facts relating to the period, as well as biographical details that made the story realistic, considering our story was based on the real life Scottish cannibal Sawney Beane, who did actually live with his family in a cave, abducting and murdering people from nearby villages.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of recording was going out to unique locations around Stirling, to find the best atmospheric sounds for our piece. I remember going on a road trip with the team to a cave just beyond Bridge of Allan, to record the inside of it to use as a sound bed for our scenes set in the cave of Sawney. We hiked through forests and hills and came upon a babbling brook carving its way though the valley. And with our boots disappearing in mud and coats heavy with rain, we found it, a small crack in the hillside, a cave that inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write part of ‘Treasure Island.’ We were a treat for passing hikers, who were confronted with the unusual scene of a group of young people, with microphones, shouting and chanting in the middle of a cave, as well as breaking apart tree branches and eating cabbage. Now, I can explain, there was method in our madness; the chanting was for battle cries, the branch breaking was for to imitate the sound of bones snapping, and the cabbage eating was used to mimic the sound of Sawney’s munching. Ah, the things we do for art.
We tried to also be very creative in the sound studio in regard to setting. For our scene set in horse and carriage, we had the actors sit on chairs with the microphones pointed downward towards them, to give the impression they were talking to each other in a cart, where they would be sitting down. In addition, for the cave scenes, we covered four chairs with a sheet of tarpaulin and had the actors sit cross-legged underneath the tarpaulin with the mics pointed down under it also. This gave a suffocating, echoing atmosphere to the scenes, and with added reverb on the mics, really gave an authentic impression that the characters were talking in a cave.
It was a pleasure to work with such talented people, the scenes I gave the actors weren’t easy, yet they were able to quite often put an astonishing amount of feeling into their voices, and make some of the hard to swallow parts of the plot seem very real, and very engrossing. We helped the actors perform their lines with more emotion by getting them to, for example, turn their head, smile, growl, or address another actor directly. By allowing the actors to either walk up to, or step away from, the mic, we created a sense of distance that added an extra vitality to scenes.
I learned how to choose locations for my dialogue that were the most aurally pleasing and distinct to the listener. Scenes located within pubs and churches for example have their own characteristics, such as echoing interiors or claustrophobic chatter, which really give a ‘sense of place’ and make them recognizable to the listener. I learned how to signpost characters, so that the listener doesn’t get mixed up with who is speaking, at any particular point. I learned that even a simple name drop helps to keep the story moving along, and helps to distinguish between each character. We were advised to have about two or three characters in our play, and again, we, or perhaps I should say more honestly, I, decided to have about ten, to give ourselves a challenge. Personally, I loved dealing with more characters, as there were then so many parts of the plot that we could explore.
In short, bringing all the unique sounds we went road trips for together, along with the twentieth version of the script, and the three-week recordings of numerous actors, we found ourselves eventually with a completed piece. A creation that we could play to the world and say that’s its ours, we can claim it as our baby, and there is very little that quite compares to the surge of pride you feel as all those words and sounds blend together, to the delight and entertainment of your listener, your captive audience.
I know that when hearing the words that I had written amongst a hushed, crowded room, being performed so well, and being part of a plot that I realized did make sense, and was engaging, and did leave an impression, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment, the like of which I had never felt before.
What I would say to any radio enthusiasts? Sign up for the radio drama module when the time comes. Sign up and grab it with both hands. And put the effort in. Get past the writer’s block and work every day, and you can make a work of art. A piece that you can show your children, or grandchildren, and say “I did that” and “Yes, I made that.”
My favourite line from the drama was “Remember, the man who treads the water’s edge and lives, is better than the man who dives into the deep, and dies.” Still one of the best things I’ve ever written. I dare you to write something better. Go on. Do it.
Jack Ferguson and Eric Joseph
Jack Ferguson graduated in June 2017 with a First Class BA Hons in English Studies and Film & Media. He was also the recipient of the 2017 Mediaspec Prize for Best Radio Student.
The winners of the Jonathan Witchell Memorial Prize for Best Radio Feature 2017 are Laura Buchanan, Marco Di Gioia, Duncan Newton-Grant and Valentina Sagasti Vivanco. Their feature The Glasgow Night Shelter focuses on the staff and volunteers who work to help refugees who have come to the city. The family and friends of Jonathan Witchell thought it was a compelling subject which grabbed attention right from the start, saying it was a very brave piece to make. “We loved the visual description of the centre, and there was a great mix of different pieces of audio”. Everyone agreed it was a very well-produced feature.
The prize, donated by the family of former student Jonathan Witchell who died suddenly in 2007, rewards outstanding student work in the field of radio feature production. Jonathan was a graduate of the MSc in Media Management in 1997. After graduating from Stirling Jonathan moved in to radio from where he started his BBC career at Radio Devon, before moving on to Radio Lincolnshire. He then joined BBC Radio Kent in 1997 where he worked for nearly a decade.
Student Laura Buchanan was thrilled to receive the prize, and talked about the group’s experience working on the project. “The most rewarding part of this project was getting to work with the wonderful staff and residents of the Glasgow Night Shelter, and showcasing the amazing work they do for asylum seekers and refugees. We are delighted to be receiving this award and to have our hard work recognized, and we hope that our radio feature can continue to spread the good word of the Glasgow Night Shelter.”
Tom Witchell said that everyone involved in the judging process really enjoyed listening to the piece and wished the students well in their chosen careers.
The prizes were presented by Suzy Angus on 13th September
Honorary Professor Mark Rickards previews his next programme The Flying Colombians.
I’m often asked about how an idea gets commissioned by BBC radio and I’m delighted to be able to report that Stirling University can play its part in the process. Discussing ideas with students and staff has always proved rewarding, and on a recent visit I took the chance to talk to Research Fellow Maria Velez-Serna from Colombia.
Colombia is a country which has a difficult history of civil war and violence associated with the drugs trade, yet much has changed in recent years. I wanted to know what Maria felt was under-reported from the country, and we discussed the mountainous terrain of Colombia. She explained that the one thing that had united the different regions was a love of cycling, and a race which passed through the Andes called the ‘Vuelta a Colombia’. The first race took place in 1951, when many regions were dangerous to visit. So the event had a political purpose. ‘They started to think about how to put together the broken pieces of a country by pedalling’ to prove that it was still possible to travel through it.
The BBC World Service thought this was an excellent proposal – it combines an opportunity to look back at Colombian history through a new and unexpected lens: a cycle race. It also shows more a positive aspect to a country which has previously been defined only by the news agenda. I spent a week on the race as it toured the Andes and as one interviewee I met put it, “At such a polarised moment for the country, cycling brings the country together”.
You can listen to The Flying Colombians at 11.30am on Wednesday 13th September on BBC World Service.
Janieann and Suzy have produced a sound installation as part of the University’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. We’re sure you’ll recognise some of the sounds and voices! Perhaps you’ll hear yourself…
Audio Seen is now on Twitter. You can catch up with Suzy and Janieann and all things radio @audioseenstir or click on the icon. Look out for Sound Wave Wednesdays, plus other random audio news.
Join in the chat. We’ll see – and hear – you there!
Congratulations to Jack Ferguson, winner of the Mediaspec Prize for Best Radio Student 2017. Jack, who graduated with a first class degree in English Studies and Film & Media, was presented with his prize by Managing Director of Mediaspec Eric Joseph. Jack was awarded first class grades for all his radio modules and you can hear his work on the Features, Drama and Documentary pages on Audio Seen.
Congratulations to Jack and all our graduates! We wish them every success in the future.
The Jonathan Witchell Memorial Prize for Best Radio Feature 2017 has been awarded to Laura Buchanan, Marco Di Gioia, Duncan Newton-Grant and Valentina Vivanco. Their winning piece, “The Glasgow Night Shelter” was produced last semester as part of their third year module in Radio Feature Production. The programme profiles the volunteers who work at a centre for refugees. The prize is awarded in memory of Jonathan Witchell who was a Media Management Masters student at Stirling in 1997, and is donated each year by his family and friends. Speaking very highly of the winning piece, they commented that it was a brave and compelling subject, “strong editorially” with a wonderful ending.
Many congratulations to Laura, Marco, Duncan and Valentina, who will receive their prizes when they return in September. You can listen to their feature on here on Audio Seen http://www.cmcstir.org/theaudioseen/?page_id=138
The challenge of reporting world stories for international audiences
Rich Preston graduated from Stirling University in 2007. He now works as a Senior Broadcast Journalist for BBC World Service News. Here, he tells about his love of his job, his career progression, and the constant challenge of reporting international stories to world audiences.
My very first job with the BBC was with the World Service. It was in 2007, during the Kenyan election riots, and I distinctly remember the profound feeling of being in a newsroom in London and having people in Kenya want to talk to me about what was happening in their streets.
Over the next few years, I moved around within the BBC, including working in documentaries, producing arts programmes, magazine shows, and reporting technology stories.
In 2014, I returned to the World Service to work with an American correspondent from NPR covering western Europe for audiences in the US. This was during an incredibly busy time, with a flurry of major stories in the region. In just two years I covered the Scottish Independence Referendum, the UK 2015 general election, the Charlie Hebdo attacks, the November Paris attacks, the Brussels attacks, and the Brexit vote.
I recently went back to the World Service to work in a team that reports international stories for the BBC’s partner stations around the world predominantly in the US but also Africa, Australia, New Zealand and various parts of Asia.
The BBC has incredible resources, which makes covering world events an exciting job. When a story breaks, we have people there. We have more than 30 language services (and are about to go to more than 40…), so our regional expertise is phenomenal. We have teams like BBC Monitoring – journalists keeping an eye on local media around the world, including Islamist extremist experts, North Korea experts, China experts, Russia experts… All of these components add to what we do.
But it is still a tough challenge; reporting international news to audiences that may have little or no prior knowledge of the story you’re trying to tell them.
One of my daily jobs is to write and sometimes host something called ‘BBC Topline.’ This is a bulletin produced specifically for audiences in America to be broadcast during their breakfast news shows. In it, we give audiences the top BBC’s international news that hour, and usually aim for about three stories, including illustration, analysis and on-the-ground reporting. We have 90 seconds in total.
This requires sharp, snappy writing, good technical skills (for cutting audio to deadline), a good general knowledge of world affairs, and – above all – excellent editorial judgement. It’s a huge privilege to work for such an internationally-respected brand like the BBC, but with that comes a massive responsibility. If I go on-air, under the BBC’s name, and report something that is not true or not accurate, the consequences could be huge.
There are a few quirks of the job which you often don’t realise until you’re doing it. You might be speaking the same language, but you can still find translation issues. Trying to tell an American audience how many kilometres of something there is? Forget it. Try miles. Likewise, you need dollars rather than pounds. MPs become lawmakers, lorry becomes truck, and so on… These things make a difference. We have 90 seconds to tell a story so that it makes sense. If our audience has to pause halfway through to try and figure out what 10km is, they’re not going to hear the rest of what you say. And that matters.
I love the feeling of having eyes and ears around the world. In the same day, I can be talking to correspondents in Seoul, Sydney, Berlin, Nairobi, and New York. The next day it can be a completely new mix. It’s wonderful to have that global grasp, and to be able to pick out what you think is important and to share that. Our audiences want to know what’s going on in their world, and they’ve put their trust in us to tell them.
My time at Stirling University played a crucial role in building my career – including in ways you might not imagine. The skills and knowledge gained through the normal academic process was, of course, important. But the environment in which I learned also mattered. I was surrounded by a diverse mix of course mates, whose own passions and experiences broadened my horizons. And the tutors, lecturers and visiting guests were encouraging, experienced, and – perhaps most importantly of all – patient. Despite all the pressures of essays, exams and deadlines, there was always time to experiment, ask questions and (sometimes…) make mistakes. The media landscape is vast and can be difficult to navigate. It requires a hell of a lot of self-motivation – but behind that, I couldn’t have done it without my degree.
The winners of the Jonathan Witchell Memorial Prize for Best Radio Feature 2016 are Maria Craig, Jack Ferguson, Josefin Dahlin, Joel Rock and Alan Thurston for their piece Laughing Matters. Their feature focuses on how laughter therapy can help maintain health and well-being as well as being a lot of fun. The family and friends of Jonathan Witchell commented on the nice range of interviews, the honesty of the reporter and the excellent editing. They also said the sound of laughter throughout the piece was very infectious!
The prize, donated by the family of former student Jonathan Witchell who died suddenly in 2007, rewards outstanding student work in the field of radio feature production. Jonathan was a graduate of the MSc in Media Management in 1997. After graduating from Stirling Jonathan moved in to radio from where he started his BBC career at Radio Devon, before moving on to Radio Lincolnshire. He then joined BBC Radio Kent in 1997 where he worked for nearly a decade.
Student Alan Thurston summed up his delight in receiving the prize : “This award was very touching, especially since we got on so well as a group, and it’s lovely to know that our hard work was very much worthwhile and a prize to be given for it was very generous. With this project we wanted to capture both the seriousness and importantly the joy of laughter, and how it has the ability to bring people together.” Alan’s group colleague, Maria Craig, also agreed : “It was a real pleasure to receive this award and think it’s great that Jonathan’s family continue to recognise and support the work of students at Stirling University who are finding their way into radio production. We laughed a lot whilst working on the piece and the icing on the cake was in receiving the prize.
The prizes and certificates were presented by tutor Suzy Angus on 14th September.
